Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mrs X’s Blue Badge application and appeal. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault, in how the Council considered the matter, to justify investigating.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council refused her initial Blue Badge application and her appeal. She said this caused her distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X said the Council failed to consider her medical conditions during her application for a Blue Badge. She also said the walking assessment was flawed.
7. The Council considered all the evidence, assessments and points raised by Mrs X in her appeal. It considered the Mrs X’s reported pain and the medical information provided. The Council also acknowledged that the mobility assessment took place indoors and accepted that outdoor environments may present additional difficulty. However, having reviewed all available information, it concluded Mrs X still did not meet the eligibility criteria for a Blue Badge.
8. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault. On the information available in the reports, I have seen, and on balance of the evidence, the Council has followed the processes in line with guidance and the scoring mechanism. It also considered Mrs X’s medical needs, scored them in line with its assessment criteria and decided she did not meet the threshold for a Blue Badge. It also considered the additional information Mrs X provided as part of her appeal.
9. 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.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman