Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s Blue Badge application. This is because some parts of the complaint are late and there are no good reasons to consider it now. Of the parts remaining, there is not enough evidence of fault, in the Council’s decision, to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that the Council refused his Blue Badge application and subsequent appeals each year from 2019 to 2024. He said the Council did not properly consider his medical conditions, and he reported that this had a negative impact on his physical health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
5. 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))

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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. Mr X raised matters spanning several years. I will not investigate any complaints about the Council’s actions from 2019 to 2023. This is because those are late complaints, and I have not seen any evidence of good reasons why Mr X did not come to us when he had the Council’s decisions, on those matters, earlier.
9. I have considered Mr X’s complaint in so far as it affects the Council’s decision in 2024. Mr X said the Council failed to consider his medical conditions during his application for a Blue Badge.
10. The Council’s initial consideration of Mr X’s request and appeal correspondence demonstrates it considered Mr X’s medical conditions, but this still fell short of the level of impairment that would mean Mr X was eligible for a Blue Badge.
11. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether the complainant disagrees with the decision the Council made.
12. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s recent decision, because it is unlikely we would find fault. On the information available in the reports I have seen, there is evidence the Council have followed the processes and considered Mr X’s medical needs, scored them in line with its assessment criteria and decided he did not meet the threshold for a Blue Badge. It also considered the additional information Mr X provided as part of his appeal.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because some of it is a late complaint and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now. Additionally, there is not enough of evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman