Summary: We have upheld Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his Blue Badge application and appeal. The Council took significant time to deal with the matter and cannot now provide key records relating to its decision-making. The Council has agreed to apologise, carry out a fresh assessment, and review its record retention arrangements. This provides a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council wrongly refused his Blue Badge application. He says it relied on irrelevant information about his mental health support, failed to properly consider evidence of his ongoing conditions and support needs, and did not explain why his application was refused despite his circumstances not improving since a previous successful application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. If we investigated this complaint, we would be likely to find fault by the Council. The Council took a significant period to deal with Mr X’s Blue Badge application and appeal. It was also unable to provide key records which would normally allow the Ombudsman to see how the original decision was reached, including the original refusal decision and the independent assessment relied on during the application process.
6. The Council says the records have been archived or deleted in line with its retention arrangements and cannot be recovered. However, the complaint remained live while the appeal was being considered.
7. Because the Council cannot provide the records underpinning its decision-making, neither the Council nor the Ombudsman can now properly decide whether Mr X’s application was assessed correctly.
8. This has caused Mr X uncertainty about whether he was wrongly refused a Blue Badge and put him to avoidable time and trouble pursuing the matter.
9. We therefore asked to the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by its actions by taking the following action to resolve the complaint early:

• Provide a written apology for the delays in processing the application and appeal.
• Arrange a fresh Blue Badge assessment and get in touch with Mr X to gather and consider further evidence that he wishes to provide.
• The initial stage of the fresh assessment should be done within four weeks. The Council should provide Mr X with a reasoned decision, including review rights if the application is refused. The Council should share the decision with us.
• Review its document retention arrangements to ensure records are retained for a sufficient period, ideally 12 months following appeal to allow fair Ombudsman investigations.

Agreed action

10. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint. It has agreed to apologise to Mr X for the delays in dealing with his application and appeal.

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Final decision

11. We have upheld this complaint, and the Council has agreed to resolve it early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman