Summary: Mrs Y complained about the way the Council dealt with a blue badge application. We found no fault in the way the Council made its decision. However, we found fault with the way the Council communicated the outcome of her appeal. This caused uncertainty to Mrs Y and the Council agreed to apologise for this.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complains the Council wrongly refused a blue badge for her son, Z.
2. Mrs Y says this has caused stress to the family as they are unable to find suitable parking without a blue badge as Z can only walk short distances.

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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. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered the information Mrs Y and the Council provided.
6. Mrs Y and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered these comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Guidance

The Blue Badge Scheme

7. The Department for Transport’s (DfT) Blue Badge Scheme helps people with severe physical mobility problems, or other conditions affecting their mobility, to access goods and services. It does this by allowing them, or their carer, to park near their destination. The scheme gives parking concessions to blue badge holders. Councils are responsible for the day-to-day administration and enforcement of the scheme. This includes assessing applicants’ eligibility for the badge.
8. Since August 2019 the guidance has included the introduction of assessment criteria for people with severe mobility problems caused by non-visible (‘hidden’) disabilities.
9. The DfT guidance sets out what assessors may wish to consider when assessing a person’s mobility. The guidance is non-statutory. This means councils do not have to follow it, but most councils do. We expect councils to explain if they decide not to follow such guidance.
10. The guidance says councils must make sure they only issue badges to residents who satisfy one or more of the criteria set out in legislation.
11. There are two types of eligibility criteria:
1. where a person is eligible without further assessment, they will receive a blue badge;
2. where a person is eligible subject to further assessment, they have to fulfil one of two criteria to qualify for a badge. They must:

• drive a vehicle regularly, have a severe disability in both arms and be unable to operate, or have considerable difficulty operating, all or some types of parking meter; OR
• have a permanent and substantial physical or hidden disability that causes inability to walk or very considerable difficulty in walking.

12. Applicants who can walk more than 80 metres and do not display very considerable difficulty walking for any other reason, including very considerable psychological distress, or serious risk to themselves or others, would not be eligible. If an applicant is unhappy with the outcome of an assessment, they may ask the council to review the decision.

The Council’s Policy

13. The Council does not have its own policy around blue badges. Instead, it has confirmed that it uses the DfT guidance when considering eligibility for a blue badge. The Council also asks a series of questions when assessing non-visible (hidden) disabilities.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Principles of good administrative practice

14. In 2018 the Ombudsman published a guidance document setting out the standards we expect from bodies in jurisdiction called ‘Principles of Good Administrative Practice’. This includes being open and clear about policies and procedures and ensuring information, and any advice provided is clear, accurate and complete and stating the criteria for any decision making.

What happened

15. Mrs Y applied for a blue badge for her son, Z, in September 2023. In this application, Mrs Y said her son has a hidden disability which results in him being a risk to himself and others near vehicles, traffic and car parks. Mrs Y also said he finds it difficult or impossible to control his actions.
16. Mrs Y explained in the application that health services had referred Z for an autism assessment as he was displaying signs of autism, however there was a 24-month waiting list.
17. Mrs Y provided a speech and language therapy initial assessment report as supporting evidence for the application. This assessment stated that Z presents with moderate to severe speech and language difficulties and social communication difficulties.
18. In November, an occupational therapist completed Z’s blue badge assessment using the information from the application and a phone call with Mrs Y.
19. The result of this assessment was that Z was not eligible for a blue badge. The Council sent a decision letter and a copy of the assessment to Mrs Y to tell her this. This said that Z did not meet the criteria as he did not have an enduring or substantial disability. It also said the blue badge was not the only or most effective coping strategy to enable Z to access the community as Mrs Y has other coping strategies in place.
20. The Council’s decision letter provided Mrs Y with her right to request an appeal within eight weeks. The letter said that Mrs Y would need to provide new supporting evidence if she appealed.
21. Mrs Y appealed the Council’s decision to refuse Z a blue badge. Mrs Y told me in a telephone conversation this was because she did not think the assessor had included all the information she provided during the telephone assessment. She also said she did not agree that she could use other coping strategies, as she could not carry Z due to having a health condition herself.
22. Mrs Y said she did not tell the Council this information at any point during the assessment and there was no space on the online appeal form to add this.
23. The Council wrote to Mrs Y six weeks later to say it had considered the appeal, however Z was still not eligible for a blue badge.
24. The Council also said that although Z was waiting for an autism assessment, there was no confirmed diagnosis or evidence of an enduring disability. It also considered that with Mrs Y’s support, there were sufficient coping strategies in place to reduce any risks to Z when travelling in the community.

Analysis

25. The Ombudsman’s role is to review how councils have made their decisions. We may criticise a council if, for example, it has not followed an appropriate procedure, not considered relevant information, or not properly explained a decision it has made. We call this fault, and, where we find it, we can consider any consequences of the fault and ask the relevant council to address these.
26. However, we do not make operational or policy decisions on councils’ behalf, provide a right of appeal against their decisions, or seek to replace their judgement with our own. If a council has made a decision without fault then we cannot criticise it, no matter how strongly a complainant feels it is wrong. We do not uphold complaints simply because someone feels a council should have done something different.
27. What that means in this particular case is that it is not for me to make my own judgement about whether Z is eligible for a blue badge. However, I can consider whether the Council properly made and explained its decisions about this.

Blue badge assessment

28. Mrs Y told me the assessor did not include everything she said in the telephone assessment when completing the assessment tool. Mrs Y said she told the assessor that she and Z take the bus to school and then have to walk for 15 minutes. This is because the school is on a main road with double yellow lines and so they cannot park near. Mrs Y said the Council failed to include this information in the assessment tool.
29. I have not had a copy of the telephone assessment recording to confirm individual conversations. However, I have reviewed the assessment tool document. This refers to Mrs Y and Z getting the bus to school and walking for five minutes, or if they do not get the bus, walking 15 minutes to school. Therefore, I am persuaded the Council has considered Z’s eligibility in terms of risks associated with him walking for 15 minutes. So, even if the Council was at fault for not properly documenting Mrs Y’s information, the result would have been the same and there is no injustice to Mrs Y and Z.
30. Mrs Y was also unhappy that the Council decided Z was not eligible for a blue badge as he had not had an enduring and substantial disability for at least three years. Mrs Y said that Z had behavioural difficulties since he was a baby and so for more than three years. The guidance on this is clear and says the disability experienced by the applicant must endure for at least three years. As Z has no formal diagnosis of autism, and Mrs Y did not provide evidence of an enduring disability, this was a decision the Council was entitled to make and there is no fault here.
31. Mrs Y also complained the Council relied on her being able to carry Z as a reason to not issue a blue badge. Mrs Y told me in a telephone conversation that she had a health condition that prevented her from carrying Z and so the Council’s reasoning was wrong.
32. Mrs Y did not tell the Council this information and so the Council could not be expected to take this into account when considering her application or appeal. Therefore, there is no fault by the Council, on this matter.
33. However, there are examples where the assessor did not complete parts of the assessment tool fully. Mrs Y included a speech and language therapy assessment as evidence in the application. The assessor referenced this in parts of the assessment, however, did not complete the section about healthcare professional intervention. There are also eight other sections or tick boxes within the form that I would have expected the assessor to complete but remained blank. This is fault. However, completing these sections would not have changed the outcome of the decision as the assessor did make reference to the evidence that Mrs Y provided in other parts of the assessment. Therefore, this has not caused Mrs Y and Z any injustice.
34. The Council used the guidance provided by DfT in the assessment when deciding that Z was not eligible for a blue badge, and this is a decision the Council was entitled to make. There is no fault here.

Blue badge appeal

35. Mrs Y did not present any further information as part of the appeal. Mrs Y said this was because there was no option on the online form to add information. I have viewed the online appeals system, and currently the form enables a person to send further information and documents. The decision letter also contained other contact details for the department. Mrs Y could have used these methods to provide the Council with the information that she wished to be considered in the appeal. The Council was clear that new evidence should be provided as part of an appeal and therefore there is no fault here.
36. I am however concerned the Council sent Mrs Y a poorly written appeal decision letter. This letter stated that a “mobility assessment will be undertaken by an expert assessor” and then goes on to explain the appeal has been unsuccessful, suggesting that no such assessment will be undertaken. The letter is poorly written and difficult to understand in parts.
37. The letter is also unsigned and does not have the name of the officer who completed the appeal.
38. The Ombudsman’s guidance document ‘Principles of Good Administrative Practice’ states that Council’s should be open and clear about policies and procedures and ensuring information, and any advice provided is clear, accurate and complete and stating the criteria for any decision making.
39. This is not the case here as this letter provides conflicting and unclear information. This is fault and this has caused Mrs Y uncertainty about whether the Council has assessed Z’s appeal properly and whether the Council will complete a further mobility assessment or not.

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Agreed action

40. Within one month of my final decision the Council agreed to:

• apologise to Mrs Y for the uncertainty caused by providing an unclear appeal decision letter.

Within three months of my final decision the Council agreed to:

• complete a review of the standard letters used by council officers when reviewing blue badge appeals and amend the standard wording to ensure that they are all clear, accurate and complete.

41. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

42. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman