Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mrs Y’s application to renew her child’s blue badge. We could not add to the Council’s appeal findings, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our investigation, and any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complained the Council rejected her application to renew her child’s blue badge. Mrs Y said the Council did not properly consider the evidence she provided.
2. Mrs Y also said the Council only granted the blue badge for a year after her appeal. The period of appeal overlapped with the expiry of the existing blue badge.
3. Mrs Y wants the Council to issue the blue badge for three years and to compensate her for the period of overlap when the existing blue badge expired before her appeal had concluded.

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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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs Y and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs Y applied to renew her child’s blue badge. The council rejected the application. Mrs Y appealed the Council’s decision, providing information to support the appeal.
8. The Council said in its appeal response that certain criteria under hidden disabilities had not been demonstrated in the information Mrs Y had provided. The appeal response confirmed that the Council had considered the most recent information that Mrs Y had submitted.
9. We will not investigate this part of Mrs Y’s complaint. Mrs Y disagreed with the Council’s decision not to renew the blue badge so used her right of appeal which changed its decision. We could not add to the findings the Council made when considering Mrs Y’s appeal.
10. Because of Mrs Y’s appeal, the blue badge was granted for one year. Mrs Y complained to us as she felt the blue badge should be granted for three years.
11. The Council’s blue badges policy does not specify how long a blue badge should be issued for.
12. The Department for Transport’s 2022 guidance is non-statutory, meaning that Councils are not legally obliged to adopt it.
13. We will not consider this part of Mrs Y’s complaint. The Council took account of its own policy and information from Mrs Y when making its decision. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our investigation.
14. The Council’s blue badge policy states blue badge appeals can take up to 12 weeks. Mrs Y’s appeal was therefore considered within procedural timeframe.
15. Although Mrs Y was given a different timeframe when the Council acknowledged her appeal, any injustice this caused is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because we could not add to the Council’s appeal findings, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our investigation, and any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman