Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about public transport because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complained about the Council’s wrongly advised in 2024 that as his Personal Independent Payments (PIP) points were not high enough, he was ineligible for a Disabled Freedom Pass, when in fact he says he would have been eligible as someone with a learning disability. He is also unhappy with the Council’s response to his complaint.
2. Mr Y says this meant he did not receive a pass for two years despite being eligible, causing him inconvenience and financial loss.

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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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information Mr Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice because of something a council has or has failed to do. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered a serious loss, harm or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We do not normally investigate where the matter is not serious or significant.
7. In this case, Mr Y has told us he has experienced inconvenience and a financial loss, as a Freedom Pass lets you travel either free or with a discount on some travel services, and since his application was refused in 2024, he has paid to travel when he has used the bus.
8. However, he has also told us he does not use buses frequently and only uses buses occasionally. Consequently, Mr Y has not had a serious loss, harm or distress because of any alleged fault of the Council. As any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, we will not investigate.
9. As we are not investigating the main issue, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate the Council’s handling and response to Mr Y’s complaint. We will not investigate this.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman