Service improvements

Birmingham City Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

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 21 - 30 of 44 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 (21 016 368)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Aug-2022

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to ensure her son, Y, received suitable full time education once his school placement ended causing distress and financial hardship. We found the Council at fault. We recommended the Council provide Miss X with an apology; pay £900 for Y’s missed education; pay £500 for distress; pay £180 for costs incurred and; act to prevent recurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind staff within its Special Educational Needs team of the need to keep minutes of key meetings, such as annual reviews.The Council will consider how it can improve access to special school places in its area and devise an action plan to share with the Ombudsman. This should include timeframes for action.

  • Birmingham City Council (21 016 008)

    Category: Housing Date: 10-Oct-2022

    Summary

    The Council failed to properly consider Mr B’s request for his application to be updated in relation to his mobility needs. It also failed to consider the evidence he submitted to support his request. As a result, Mr B remained living in unsuitable accommodation for around three months. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Mr B, and take action to prevent similar failings.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to take action to ensure its officers are aware that mobility awards can be removed at an applicant’s request without having another Occupational Therapy assessment.The Council has agreed to take action to ensure that applicants are provided with the Occupational Therapist’s recommendations following a mobility assessment.

  • Birmingham City Council (21 015 968)

    Category: Planning Date: 25-Sep-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to properly consider reports he made about an extension his neighbour built. We found the Council did not properly consider the relevance of permitted development rights in this case. However, we found that the outcome was unlikely to have been different. We recommended the Council carried out training for officers and apologised to Mr X and his MP for not explaining its position clearly.

    Service improvements

    The Council should also carry out appropriate refresher training about Permitted Development Rights with the officers involved in this case.

  • Birmingham City Council (21 015 830)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 25-May-2022

    Summary

    Mr Y complains the Council failed to consider a complaint about historic issues he experienced whilst he was a child in care. We find the Council did not properly consider the circumstances around Mr Y’s complaint before deciding it was too old to investigate. The Council will consider Mr Y’s complaint through the statutory children's complaints procedure, pay £100 to Mr Y for his time and trouble and issue a reminder to all staff who handle children’s service complaints.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind all staff who respond to children’s social care complaints about the requirement to consider historic complaints on a case-by-case basis before making a reasoned decision on how to progress a complaint.

  • Birmingham City Council (21 015 299)

    Category: Housing Date: 08-Aug-2022

    Summary

    The Council wrongly closed Miss B’s housing application and delayed carrying out a review of its decision. We have recommended that the Council carries out the review and takes action to prevent similar failings in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind relevant officers of the process for checking whether OT assessments have been requested.

  • Birmingham City Council (21 014 847)

    Category: Housing Date: 02-Nov-2022

    Summary

    The Council significantly delayed assessing Mr B’s brother-in-law’s housing application and delayed carrying out a home visit to establish who was living in Mr B’s house. The Council’s delays contributed to Mr B’s family living in significantly overcrowded conditions. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Mr B and to take action to prevent similar failings in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to investigate why no action was taken on this case for six months, and to take action to prevent such failings in future.The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure that home visits are carried out in a timely manner and applicants are not prevented from bidding while they are waiting for a home visit.The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure that housing applicants are offered interim accommodation if the Council has reason to believe they may be homeless, eligible for assistance and have a priority need. This duty applies to housing and homelessness applicants.

  • Birmingham City Council (21 014 688)

    Category: Housing Date: 24-Jul-2022

    Summary

    The Council’s decision about the level of housing priority to award Mr B was not made in accordance with its housing allocations scheme, and it delayed reviewing its decision. The Council has now reviewed its decision, awarded additional housing priority and backdated Mr B’s award date. It has also agreed to make a payment to Mr B and to take action to prevent similar failings in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind relevant officers that Disabled Facilities Grants are available to people in all housing tenures.The Council has agreed to review the Occupational Therapy assessment process to ensure future assessments are completed in line with its Allocations Policy.

  • Birmingham City Council (21 014 386)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 31-May-2022

    Summary

    Mr B complained that the Council had repeatedly tried to recover a housing benefit overpayment from him since 2015, despite agreeing he did not owe the money. In 2021 it recovered some of the debt directly from his wages and then delayed in refunding the money, causing Mr B frustration, distress and time and trouble. We found the Council at fault. It has agreed to pay Mr B £400 and to improve its recovery procedures for the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review its recovery procedure to ensure it contains sufficient guidance for staff on checking the complete history of a case before pursuing recovery and that staff are aware of the correct recovery procedure.

  • Birmingham City Council (21 014 172)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 11-Jul-2022

    Summary

    Miss D complained how the Council handled her council tax account. She says the Council continued to apply a student exemption to her account, even though she provided it with evidence of when her course was ending. We find the Council was at fault for failing to pick up on the end date of Miss D’s course. It also was at fault for how it dealt with her complaint. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review the wording of its complaint responses where it offers a remedy payment to ensure complainants are accurately advised of their options.

  • Birmingham City Council (21 014 058)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 04-Sep-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complains the Council was wrong to pursue him for business rates that he doesn’t owe. We find fault with the Council for failing to respond to Mr X, causing him frustration and distress. We have suggested remedies for the injustice Mr X suffered as a result.

    Service improvements

    2. The Council should also ensure all correspondence on a case is properly responded to before any legal steps are taken to recover local taxation debts.3. The Council should provide evidence of this in the next three months.

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