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 1 - 10 of 16 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 (22 008 463)

    Category: Housing Date: 30-Nov-2022

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for the way it decided the review into Ms X’s housing register application and for the time taken to provide her with a decision. As a result, Ms X cannot be sure the Council made the correct decision and spent time and trouble pursuing the review with the Council. The Council agreed to make a payment to Ms X for the distress caused and to carry out a fresh review of Ms X’s housing application.

    Service improvements

    Provide the Ombudsman with an updated report to show what impact the measures it has taken to deal with the backlog of reviews have had.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 006 364)

    Category: Housing Date: 26-Mar-2023

    Summary

    The Council was wrong to close Mr and Mrs B’s homelessness case, which resulted in their removal from the housing register. The Council also delayed assessing and reviewing Mr and Mrs B’s housing application and failed to properly respond to their complaints. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Mr and Mrs B, and take action to prevent similar failings in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review its procedures for closing homelessness cases due to loss of contact, to ensure it always tries to make contact with the applicant before closing the case.The Council has agreed to remind officers of the correct procedure for reopening homelessness cases, to ensure the housing team is notified when a homeless duty has been accepted.The Council has agreed to highlight this case to relevant complaints officers and take action to improve the way it responds to complaints.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 003 062)

    Category: Housing Date: 02-Oct-2022

    Summary

    The Council failed to provide suitable accommodation for Mrs X’s family when they were homeless. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Mrs X and to take action to prevent similar failings in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide an update on the action it is taking to end the use of bed and breakfast as accommodation for homeless households. If the Council has not significantly reduced the length of time homeless families are staying in bed and breakfast accommodation since it last provided an update in April 2022, it will review its action plan and tell the Ombudsman what further steps it will take to address this issue.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 002 998)

    Category: Housing Date: 05-Dec-2022

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the support the Council provided after she became homeless in 2019. There were delays in how the Council considered Miss X’s requests for a review of its decision and how it responded to her complaint. This caused Miss X to miss out on the opportunity to move into a more suitable property and caused her avoidable distress, time and trouble. The Council agreed to pay Miss X a financial remedy and offer her a suitable property. It also agree to tell similarly affected people of their right to complain and review its practices.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to write to all people who asked for a review of their homelessness decision since March 2021 where the Council overturned its original decision outside the allowable time to complete a review. It should apologise for the delays in completing the review and tell those affected that they can complain if they believe any delays had an impact on them.The Council agreed to develop a plan to complete all outstanding homelessness reviews which have been waiting more than the maximum time allowed in law. It will share its plan with the Ombudsman and keep the Ombudsman updated on the process towards completing those reviews.The Council agreed to review its information sharing arrangements between its choice based letting scheme and the Council's housing team. It should consider whether it can better share information about decisions made by its homelessness team which affect applicants' priorities under the choice based letting scheme so that such priority changes are made as quickly as possible and the correct priority dates are used.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 001 224)

    Category: Housing Date: 09-Jan-2023

    Summary

    There was fault in the way the Council decided not to provide Miss B with interim accommodation when she told the Council she was homeless. The Council also failed to respond to Miss B’s correspondence and gave her incorrect information about her homelessness application. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Miss B and to take action to prevent similar failings in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide training and/or guidance to its officers about the duty to provide interim accommodation. The Council should ensure officers are aware that the legal test for having 'reason to believe' someone is or may be homeless is very low, and if the Council needs to make enquiries to establish if a person is homeless, there must be a reason to believe they may be homeless and so the interim accommodation duty applies.The Council has agreed to remind relevant officers of the importance of clear record keeping and responding to correspondence in a timely manner.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 000 363)

    Category: Housing Date: 24-Jul-2022

    Summary

    Miss X complained about Council delay in reassessing her priority band on the housing register. The Council was at fault. It will apologise and pay Miss X £500 to remedy the extra month she remained in unsuitable accommodation as a result of its delay, and her time and trouble pursuing the Council. It will review its processes to ensure it prioritises cases where applicants may be in unsafe or unsuitable accommodation as a result of domestic abuse.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provide an updated action plan to show the action it has taken and continues to take to reduce delays in dealing with housing allocation applications and review requests.The Council will review its process for identifying cases where there is an urgent move, for example, because the applicant's accommodation is unsafe due to the risks of domestic violence, to ensure that such applications are prioritised.

  • 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 (21 015 299)

    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.

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