Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council sent her renewed concessionary bus pass to her old address, failed to reissue the bus pass in a reasonable timeframe, and delayed responding to her complaint. Mrs X said she spent a fortune in fares. She said it caused her stress, anxiety, and anger, and cost her time and trouble. We find the Council at fault and this fault caused Mrs X injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs X to reflect the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mrs X, complained that the Council sent her renewed concessionary bus pass to her old address. She complained that the Council said it would reissue the bus pass but failed to do so in a reasonable timeframe. She also complained that the Council delayed responding to her complaint.
2. Mrs X said she has spent a fortune in fares. She said it caused her stress, anxiety, and anger. She also said the delays cost her time and trouble.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information and documents provided by Mrs X and the Council. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments received before I reached a final decision.
7. I considered the relevant policies, set out below. I also considered the Ombudsman’s published guidance on remedies.

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What I found

What should have happened

Concessionary bus passes

8. The Council is responsible for issuing concessionary bus passes. When a concessionary bus pass is due to expire, the Council will send a new bus pass to the address it has on file for the person.
9. When people who receive a concessionary bus pass move address, they need to notify the Council of their new address. They also need to provide evidence of the new address (a council tax bill or a utility bill, for example).
10. If the person does not notify the Council of a new address, and provide the relevant proof, the Council will send the bus pass to the previous address it has for that person. If this happens, the person will need to pay £10 for a reissued pass.

Complaints procedure

11. The Council’s complaints procedure says it will respond to complaints within 20 working days of it confirming the issues it will investigate. If the complaint is complex in nature, the procedure says the deadline can be extended to 30 working days.
12. The procedure says the Council will always advise complainants when it is necessary to extend the deadline.

What happened

13. Mrs X is eligible for a concessionary bus pass.
14. In November 2021, the Council sent Mrs X a renewed concessionary bus pass because her concessionary bus pass was due to expire in December. The Council sent this renewed bus pass to Mrs X’s previous address.
15. In January 2022, Mrs X called the Council to say she had not received her renewed bus pass. The Council said it did not have Mrs X’s current address on file, and had sent the bus pass to the address it had on file, which she had moved out of five years earlier. The Council said Mrs X would have to pay £10 for the renewed bus pass to be reissued, and she would have to provide proof of her updated address.
16. A week later, Mrs X spoke to the Council. She said she told the Council her new address in 2017 over the phone.
17. In early February, Mrs X complained. The Council acknowledged her complaint and said it would send its response within a month. It said it would notify her if there were any delays.
18. Between March and the end of April, the Council sent Mrs X five letters apologising for the delay responding to her complaint. The Council said it would not be able to respond in the timeframes it had given her.
19. At the end of May, the Council sent Mrs X its complaint response. It said there was no record of Mrs X’s call to the Council in 2017 with her new address. It said it sent the renewed bus pass to the address it had on file for her. It said it gave information to concessionary bus pass customers which said when customers move address, they need to provide proof of the new address. Failure to do this may result in the bus pass being sent incorrectly, and the Council would charge the customer £10 for reissuing the bus pass. The Council said as it did not have a record of Mrs X’s changed address, it followed its procedure which was to ask for £10 to issue a replacement bus pass.
20. The Council said Mrs X said she had paid council tax at the new address for five years, and she had questioned why the departments could not liaise with each other. The Council said different departments have different systems. It said it is the customer’s responsibility to notify all relevant Council departments of a change of address.
21. The Council said different departments hold customer information on their own systems to provide the customer with that specific service. It said it needed to consider the laws on data protection when processing personal data. It said there needs to be a lawful basis to share information with another department.
22. The Council said that, given the length of time taken to resolve the matter, its concessionary fares team would contact the council tax team to confirm Mrs X was liable for council tax at that address (so Mrs X did not have to provide proof of her address). It also said it would waive the £10 fee as a gesture of goodwill because of the delays responding to her complaint.
23. Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman in May.
24. The Ombudsman contacted the Council in July because Mrs X still had not received her reissued bus pass. A week later, Mrs X received her reissued bus pass.

Analysis

Sending the bus pass to Mrs X’s old address

25. Mrs X complains that the Council sent her renewed bus pass to her old address.
26. I find that the Council followed its procedure when it sent Mrs X’s renewed bus pass to her old address. This was the address it had on file for her. Mrs X had not provided the Council’s concessionary fares team with proof of her new address since she moved.
27. As the Council acted in line with its procedure, I cannot find the Council at fault.
28. Further to this, I find that the Council was right to say different departments cannot share customer’s personal data. The laws on data protection are very clear about this. The laws are to prevent possible fraud, amongst other things.

Delay reissuing the bus pass

29. Mrs X complains that the Council said it would reissue the bus pass but failed to do so in a reasonable timeframe.
30. In its complaint response, the Council said it would send Mrs X’s reissued bus pass to her current address. The Council should have done this without delay. As I find below, there were delays responding to Mrs X’s complaint.
31. The Council did not respond to Mrs X’s complaint within the timeframe it initially set out (one month from the date of her complaint). I do not consider the delay here would have led the Council to make a different finding or a different outcome on her complaint. I therefore find it likely that the Council would have offered to reissue Mrs X’s bus pass to her new address at the beginning of March, had it responded to her complaint in the timeframe it initially set out.
32. Despite the Council saying it would reissue Mrs X’s bus pass in its complaint response at the end of May, it failed to do this. The Council says the reason for this was a breakdown in communication between its departments. This is fault.
33. The Council failed to reissue Mrs X’s bus pass until the Ombudsman asked about it in July. Shortly after this, the Council sent Mrs X her reissued bus pass.
34. I find this fault caused Mrs X injustice. The injustice is the cost of taxi fares Mrs X had to pay to get to medical appointments, and the unnecessary distress it caused.

Delays in complaint handling

35. Mrs X complains that the Council delayed responding to her complaint.
36. In acknowledging Mrs X’s complaint, the Council said it would respond by the beginning of March. It sent its response in late May. This delay of nearly three months is fault.
37. The Council kept Mrs X informed of the delays, which is good practice.
38. I find this fault caused Mrs X injustice, in that it cost her time and trouble.
39. I am satisfied the Council has apologised for the injustice caused by the delay.

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Agreed action

40. Within four weeks of this decision, the Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X in writing for the injustice caused by the delay reissuing her bus pass.
41. Within four weeks of this decision, the Council has agreed to make a payment to Mrs X of £387.40. This is made up as follows:
42. Between March (when I find the Council should have reissued Mrs X’s bus pass) and July (when Mrs X received the reissued bus pass), Mrs X spent £187.40 on taxis for necessary medical appointments.
43. The Ombudsman’s published guidance on remedies sets out a range of between £100 and £300 to remedy someone’s time and trouble. I consider a payment in the low-range appropriate, given the length of time involved and the Council’s updates on its delays. For this reason, I consider a payment of £100 remedies the injustice here.
44. Taking into account the guidance on remedies, I consider a payment of £100 is a suitable and proportionate remedy for the distress caused.
45. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

46. I have completed my investigation. I uphold Mrs X’s complaint because I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman