West Sussex County Council (26 000 953)
Category : Adult care services > Transport
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 15 Sep 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse his blue badge application. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council failed to consider the evidence and information he provided when it decided to refuse his blue badge application.
- Mr X said this caused emotional distress. He wanted the Council to:
- reconsider its decision; and
- approve his application.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X applied for a blue badge. He provided medical evidence and information to support his application.
- The Council considered Mr X’s application and supporting evidence. It explained his circumstances did not meet the eligibility criteria, so it could not approve his application.
- 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 a Council followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was wrong, regardless of whether an individual disagrees with the decision the Council made.
- I have considered the steps the Council took to consider the issue, and the information it took account of when deciding not to issue Mr X with a blue badge. There is no fault in how it made its decision and I therefore cannot question whether that decision was right or wrong.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman