Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to properly assess Mrs X’s application to renew her child’s blue badge. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council wrongly refused the application to renew her child’s blue badge.
2. She says without the blue badge she will no longer be able to use the disabled parking spaces which enable her child to transition from one environment to another in a safer way for them and those around them.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Council rejected Mrs X’s application to renew her child’s blue badge. The assessor said there was no evidence of:
• a severe speech and language impairment
• severe communication or comprehension difficulties
• severe learning difficulties or intellectual difficulties that would significantly impact on road safety awareness.
7. They also noted there was not enough up-to-date evidence of severely challenging behaviour or severe physiological distress when travelling.

The assessor did acknowledge Mrs X’s child:

• has social communication difficulties associated with autism
• does have sensory processing difficulties which may impact on his learning
• experiences emotional dysregulation and can display some challenging behaviour.
1. They noted Y needs additional support when travelling to keep him safe.
2. However, based on the information provided, when assessed against the criteria set out in the blue badge legislation, Y is not eligible for a blue badge.
3. We will not investigate this complaint. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. The Council considered the information Mrs X submitted and provided an explanation of why this was not sufficient for Y to qualify for a blue badge. Without fault in the decision-making process, we cannot criticise the decision itself.
4. The Council also confirmed Mrs X can reapply in six months.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we have not seen enough fault in the way the Council considered the application to renew her child’s blue badge.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman