Service improvements

Birmingham City Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025

Find out more about service improvements

When we find fault, we can recommend improvements to systems and processes where they haven’t worked properly, so that others do not suffer from these same problems in future. Common examples are policy changes; procedural reviews; and staff training. Service improvements from decisions are published for 5 years and those from reports are published for 10 years.

Showing 11 - 20 of 39 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for Birmingham City Council as a CSV file.

  • Birmingham City Council (24 003 362)

    Category: Housing Date: 06-Jan-2025

    Summary

    The Council placed Mr and Mrs B in unsuitable accommodation for four months, failed to record the reasons for its decisions and failed to properly communicate with Mr and Mrs B. It also wrongly decided it no longer owed Mr and Mrs B the main housing duty and delayed carrying out reviews of its decisions. We have recommended that the Council makes a payment to Mr and Mrs B, makes an offer of suitable accommodation and makes service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind officers that they must record the reasons for their decisions and that offers of accommodation to discharge the main housing duty must be made in writing.The Council has agreed to provide an update on the action it is taking to reduce the time it is taking to carry out reviews of homelessness decisions.

  • Birmingham City Council (24 002 037)

    Category: Housing Date: 22-Nov-2024

    Summary

    There was no fault in the way the Council determined Mr B’s housing priority, but it delayed assessing his application and reviewing its decision. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Mr B and backdate his housing priority. It has also agreed to make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide an updated action plan to show the action it is taking to reduce delays in processing housing applications and carrying out reviews. It will also provide a report showing how long it is currently taking to assess applications and carry out reviews, and how this has changed over the last year. It will explain the reason for any periods when delays have increased.

  • Birmingham City Council (24 000 823)

    Category: Housing Date: 13-Feb-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained that the Council did not deal with her housing properly. Based on current evidence the Council is at fault because Mrs X had to spend longer than she should have in bed and breakfast accommodation, and it has delayed a financial remedy. Mrs X has suffered avoidable distress and financial loss. The Council should apologise, pay Mrs X the financial remedy agreed and review its policies.

    Service improvements

    Review its policies to ensure rent arrears are notified to those in temporary accommodation.

  • Birmingham City Council (24 000 304)

    Category: Education Date: 06-Jan-2025

    Summary

    Ms B, on behalf of Z’s parents, complained the Council failed to provide a suitable full-time education for him between February and December 2023. This caused Z, a previously looked after child, feelings of neglect, abandonment and worthlessness. The Council failed to provide a suitable full-time education between September and December 2023 and a suitable remedy is agreed.

    Service improvements

    Remind staff, either by training or briefing note, of the lessons learned from this case including the need to take action within six days following a permanent education and to provide full time alternative education when a child cannot attend school.

  • Birmingham City Council (23 021 237)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 22-Jan-2025

    Summary

    There was fault by the Council. It gave Miss X unclear advice about her son’s eligibility for a discretionary housing payment. It also failed to properly consider whether it should assess her son’s housing situation under its homelessness duties. The Council’s shortcomings caused Miss X and her son uncertainty, and contributed to Miss X losing money and her son owing money to his landlord. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy the injustice.

    Service improvements

    Share this decision with the relevant housing and complaint handling staff and remind them that the Council must be alert to the need for a potential homelessness assessment in their interactions with the public.

  • Birmingham City Council (23 020 966)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 21-Jan-2025

    Summary

    The care home commissioned by the Council failed to keep proper records and failed to carry out a thorough assessment before Mr B was admitted. As a result, it did not identify that Mr B had difficulty using his hands, and he sustained a burn to his leg when he spilled a cup of hot tea. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mr B. It will also ensure the care home makes service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to ensure the care home is carrying out thorough assessments before admitting new residents.The Council has agreed to ensure the care home establishes clear procedures for documenting all aspects of care and treatment provided to residents. This should include specific guidelines for the level of detail required in daily records, such as documenting observations, treatments, care decisions, and any concerns raised.The Council has agreed to ensure care home staff are reminded of the correct process to follow when a resident says they are experiencing pain.

  • Birmingham City Council (23 020 666)

    Category: Housing Date: 21-Oct-2024

    Summary

    The Council failed to consider information Mr B provided to support his housing application which led to it wrongly deciding he did not qualify to join the housing register. The Council then delayed assessing the information after agreeing to fast track his application. As a result, Mr B was unable to bid on the housing register for around 11 months. We have recommended that the Council apologises, makes a payment to Mr B and backdates his application award date. We have also recommended service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to investigate why it did not fast track a housing application after agreeing to do so, and take action to prevent such failings in future.The Council has agreed to ensure that when a housing applicant provides supporting documents, they are promptly attached to the applicant’s case, and officers properly check whether information they have requested has been received before assessing the application.

  • Birmingham City Council (23 020 612)

    Category: Education Date: 28-Aug-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to properly consider her appeal for home to school transport for her child. There was some fault in the way the Council decided Mrs X’s appeal, but this would not have changed the outcome. There was additional fault as the appeal was delayed, the stage two appeal decision letter lacked detail and Mrs X was not given the opportunity to make verbal representations. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and take action to prevent recurrence of the faults.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the need to clearly explain the reasons for its decision in its school transport appeal letters.The Council has agreed to ensure it makes parents aware of any action they need to take, and that they are given the opportunity, to make verbal representations at stage two of the school transport appeal process if they want to.

  • Birmingham City Council (23 019 891)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 24-Apr-2024

    Summary

    We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to provide a replacement pod insert for the complainant’s recycling bin. The Council has now taken satisfactory action to address the complaint.

    Service improvements

    In response to our enquiries asking for an update on when the replacement recycling bin pod inserts would be delivered, the Council said it would be delivered that day.

  • Birmingham City Council (23 018 801)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 28-Jan-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to ensure that his son received adequate care whilst he was placed with foster carers. We find the Council at fault for its delay handling Mr X’s complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mr X.

    Service improvements

    Using the example of this case, remind relevant officers about the timescales for handling complaints at each stage of the statutory complaints procedure and the importance of adhering to these.

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