Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s assessment and refusal of his daughter Miss Y’s blue badge application. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s process to warrant us investigating and it would be reasonable for Mr X to make a further application to the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X is Miss Y’s father. Miss Y has several physical and mental health conditions, including epilepsy. Mr X applied for a blue badge for Miss Y in 2024 which the Council rejected then refused again on appeal. Mr X complains the Council:
1. has not taken proper account of Miss Y’s Personal Independence (PIP) scores and medical evidence when deciding the blue badge application;
2. failed to seek further evidence from Miss Y’s medical consultant.
2. Mr X says the lack of a blue badge has significant impacts on Miss Y’s ability to travel and he is concerned isolation will worsen her depression. Mr X wants the Council to ask for further information about Miss Y’s conditions from her consultant and to renew the blue badge.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
4. 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; or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We are not an appeal body. We may only criticise a council’s decision where there is evidence of fault in its decision-making process and but for that fault officers would have made a different decision. So we consider the processes councils have followed to make their decisions. We cannot replace a council’s decision with our own or someone else’s opinion if the decision was reached after following proper process.
7. Mr X has provided copies of Miss Y’s PIP decision and the Council’s decision on her blue badge application. Miss Y’s PIP assessment was that she can stand and move for between 50 and 200 metres aided or unaided. Officers noted there was no information in the application showing Miss Y had very considerable psychological distress when walking or taking a journey, or that she was a risk of serious harm to herself or to others when travelling. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process to warrant an investigation. The information shows the Council considered the evidence as presented within the application to make its decision to refuse the blue badge, and applied the relevant eligibility criteria set down by government. We recognise Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision, but it is not fault for a council to make a decision with which someone disagrees.
8. We note Mr X argues the Council should have sought more information from medical professionals involved in Miss Y’s care. But it is not the Council’s role to do this. It is for the blue badge applicant to submit the evidence they consider is relevant to their application, not for officers to pursue that evidence. If Mr X and Miss Y believe there is further relevant information about the impacts of her conditions on her mobility, then they can make a fresh application, submitting that new information to the Council for its consideration. It is reasonable for them to do this because it is the Council which is the authority with the powers to decide to issue the blue badge Miss Y seeks.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:
• there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify us investigating; and
• it would be reasonable for him to reapply for a blue badge for Miss Y, providing any additional evidence in support of the application.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman