Herefordshire Council (25 021 489)
Category : Transport and highways > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council handled the suspected misuse of a Blue Badge. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigating.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council approached her and accused her of misusing a Blue Badge. She says the officers acted outside of their powers and intimidated her. Mrs X also complains of poor complaint handling.
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 Mrs X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Council officers approached Mrs X when she parked in a disabled bay with a Blue Badge displayed which belonged to her husband. Mrs X informed the officers she had dropped off the Blue Badge holder at a nearby destination prior to parking the car.
- I reviewed the body camera footage from the incident that Mrs X complains of. The Council officers acted professionally and in line with its powers. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.
- We will also not investigate how the Council dealt with Mrs X’s complaint as it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint handling when we are not looking at the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council handled its Blue Badge misuse investigation. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman