Service improvements

Birmingham City Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024

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 - 5 of 5 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 (23 003 615)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 09-Jan-2024

    Summary

    Mr X complains the Council wrongly refused his footway crossing (dropped kerb) application. There was fault by the Council. It has agreed a remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind officers they should provide the correct reasons for refusal for a footway crossing when sending a decision to an applicant.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 017 487)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 10-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Mr F complained the Council had failed to install a dropped kerb since his application was approved in 2021. We found fault which caused Mr F uncertainty and time and trouble. The Council has agreed to make a payment to him and review its processes.

    Service improvements

    •Review its process for checking progress of dropped kerb survey requests to utility companies. Its process should ensure orders are reviewed more frequently, the account is checked to be clear whether invoices have been paid and a single, clear record should be kept of contact with the utility company and all actions taken by the Council on the case.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 009 141)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 18-Apr-2023

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council incorrectly issued penalty charge notices to her partner, Mr Y, for driving in a Clean Air Zone. The Council was at fault for issuing Mr Y PCNs for a vehicle not owned by him, and continued to do so for a period after Mr Y had highlighted the problem. The Council has already apologised and has agreed to pay Mr Y £100 for the inconvenience, frustration and his time and trouble.

    Service improvements

    Introduce a procedure which requires officers to keep people (who have provided evidence that the vehicle is not theirs) informed of what the Council is doing to prevent the problem of issuing incorrect Penalty Charge Notices reoccurring.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 008 129)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 20-Jun-2023

    Summary

    On behalf of Mr C, Mr R complained the Council had not considered its duties under the Equality Act to cater for deaf members of the public. Mr R also said the Council had failed to deal with his complaints in a timely fashion. We have not found the Council failed to consider its public sector equality duty. However, we have found the Council at fault for not highlighting existing accessible services, or considering whether it could make reasonable adjustments in Mr C’s case. We have also found fault with the Council’s complaint handling. We have made recommendations to remedy the injustice caused. There are parts of Mr R’s complaint we cannot investigate. We have explained why in our statement.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind officers of the Council's duty to consider what reasonable adjustments it can make for individuals who may face barriers to accessing its services.The Council has agreed to remind officers of the accessible contact options it has already put in place to remove barriers to accessing its services.The Council will ensure its video sign language service is clearly signposted for individuals who may need it.

  • Birmingham City Council (22 006 362)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 14-May-2023

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to properly deal with his application for a dropped kerb. We found the Council was at fault because there was significant delay and poor communication throughout the process. This caused Miss X the injustice of frustration and put her to the time and trouble of complaining. To remedy this, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Miss X, reduce the quotation and take immediate action to progress her application. It will also take action to improve its service to customers.

    Service improvements

    The Council will reflect on the issues raised in this decision statement and identify any areas of service improvement. The Council should prepare a short report setting out what the Council intends to do to ensure similar problems do not reoccur. This report should be sent to the Ombudsman.

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