London Borough of Islington (23 005 806)
Category : Transport and highways > Public transport
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Oct 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a disabled persons Freedom Pass because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
- Mrs Y complained on behalf of her husband, Mr Y, that the Council wrongly refusing him a disabled persons Freedom Pass. Mrs Y says this is causing her husband difficulty in travelling.
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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information Mrs Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs Y has complained that the Council has refused her husband a disabled persons Freedom Pass, despite having approved his application for a blue badge. This was on the basis of a mobility assessment, completed for the blue badge application, albeit that additional documents were used after the blue badge assessment for that application to be successful.
- The Council has found no fault in its decision not to award a Freedom Pass to Mr Y, but it has offered to carry out a further mobility assessment to determine the outcome of the application. If we were to investigate, and found fault, we would likely ask the Council to reconsider Mr Y’s application. This would include a further assessment of Mr Y’s mobility to fully understand his circumstances at the present time, as the previous assessment would be at least ten months old.
- As this same remedy has been offered within the Council’s own complaint response, it is not a good use of public money to further investigate this complaint where a different outcome is unlikely to be achieved. Therefore, we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman