Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s rejection of Miss X’s blue badge application. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision making to justify an Ombudsman investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council rejected her blue badge application. Miss X said she has had a blue badge for around nine years and it is required to assist her with her long-term health issues.
2. Miss X said that the refusal of a blue badge caused her stress and frustration and impacted on her ability to attend work events.
3. Miss X was also unhappy with how the Council treated her after she raised issues with it about her application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
5. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Miss X made an application to the Council for a blue badge and following its refusal, Miss X appealed this decision. The appeal was also refused by the Council.
9. The evidence at hand suggests the Council has followed the correct process to assess Miss X’s eligibility for a blue badge by obtaining a report from an expert assessor and considering this alongside other evidence and information provided by Miss X.
10. The Council’s actions appear to be in line with the blue badge guidance provided by the Department for Transport.
11. While I appreciate Miss X’s disappointment with the Council’s decision, there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation. The Ombudsman is not an appeals body and therefore we can only look at how the Council reached their decision. It is not for us to decide whether a blue badge should be granted.
12. Finally, as we will not investigate the substantive matters of the complaint, which are the Council’s decisions, we will not investigate the Council’s handling of Miss X’s complaint because it is not proportionate to do so.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman