Manchester City Council (25 005 570)
Category : Transport and highways > Traffic management
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Sep 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about being unable to use her blue badge to access bus gates. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.
The complaint
- Miss X complains that the bus gates prevent her from accessing disabled parking at the front of a library. Miss X says blue badge holders should be able to go through the bus gates. Miss X says that she is now unable to access the library which is impacting on her mental health.
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 the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The bus gates have been in place for several years as part of the Council’s strategy to reduce congestion and promote sustainable travel.
- Miss X says that the bus gates make it impossible for her to access disabled parking spaces outside a library. Miss X has a disability which means she is unable to walk very far and she has therefore been awarded a blue badge
- The Council considered Miss X’s complaint and other relevant information including the Traffic Regulation Order and its own systems for monitoring bus gate usage. The Council concluded it was not practical to allow blue badge holders access through the bus gates.
- If the Council followed its process correctly, we cannot question that decision even if a complainant disagrees with the decision made. I will not investigate this complaint. I see no evidence of fault in how the Council reached its decision not to allow blue badge holders access through the bus gates.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman