Service improvements

Birmingham City Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026

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 47 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 (25 008 199)

    Category: Housing Date: 26-Feb-2026

    Summary

    Mr B complained that the Council failed to provide him with appropriate assistance when he was homeless. We find the Council was at fault for failing to provide interim accommodation to Mr B when it had reason to believe he may have been homeless, eligible and in priority need. As a result, he was sofa surfing with his child for over six months and suffered avoidable distress. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Mr B and make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind staff that there is an immediate duty to provide interim accommodation if the Council has reason to believe that the applicant is homeless, eligible for assistance, and in priority need. The “reason to believe” threshold is low and officers should not delay the provision of interim accommodation while waiting for evidence of eligibility or priority need.The Council will ensure its procedures and training materials make it clear when it has a duty to provide interim accommodation.

  • Birmingham City Council (25 006 158)

    Category: Housing Date: 19-Feb-2026

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council did not assist him and his family with finding accommodation after he was served with a Section 21 eviction notice from his privately rented property. Mr X says the Council disregarded his communications both before and after he was evicted. Mr X says this added to his distress and had the Council responded more quickly, it could have avoided the family staying in inadequate conditions for almost six weeks. We have found fault in the Councils actions for failing to take action after being advised Mr X was due to be evicted. The Council has agreed to write to Mr X to apologise, pay him a symbolic payment and complete service improvements.

    Service improvements

    In writing, remind staff to make appropriate records detailing how decisions are made.In writing, remind staff to create and issue Personalised Housing Plans in line with the Housing Act 1996, section 189A and Homelessness Code of Guidance chapter 11.

  • Birmingham City Council (25 003 130)

    Category: Housing Date: 26-Mar-2026

    Summary

    Mr B complained that the Council offered unsuitable accommodation to discharge its homelessness duty to him. We find the Council was at fault because the property was too small for his family. The Council then failed to move the family to suitable housing for 12 months, including seven months after it became aware that the property was also unsuitable for Mr B’s mobility needs. This caused prolonged overcrowding, daily access difficulties and avoidable distress. The Council has agreed to offer a payment to Mr B and take action to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind its officers to verify bedroom need and property type before making formal offers in discharge of its homelessness duty.

  • Birmingham City Council (25 002 191)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 28-Jan-2026

    Summary

    Mr X complained about the Council’s decision-making regarding Mr Y’s care plan. He complained the Council should increase the provision for Mr Y. He says this increased Mr Y’s isolation. He complained the Council did not provide transport for Mr Y to attend a day centre. He says this caused him unnecessary stress. We find no fault with the Council’s decision-making regarding the amount of provision in Mr Y’s care plan. We do find fault with the Council’s decision-making regarding transport for Mr Y. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, make a fresh decision and take service improvement action.

    Service improvements

    The Council will complete an action plan to establish whether its failure to offer acarer’s assessment to Mr X highlights a wider issue, and if so to tell us howit will improve how officers offer carer’s assessment to eligible people.

  • Birmingham City Council (25 002 123)

    Category: Education Date: 26-Jan-2026

    Summary

    Miss X complains the Council has not dealt properly with her son Y’s education. The Council is at fault because it did not comply with statutory timescales when it produced Y’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Miss X suffered a delay to receiving her right of appeal and the delay caused Y to miss Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Miss X and make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    • Produce an action plan to demonstrate how the council will meet statutory timescales for needs assessments and issuing EHC Plans.

  • Birmingham City Council (25 001 135)

    Category: Education Date: 09-Jan-2026

    Summary

    There was fault in the way the Council decided to offer a bus pass as its free home to school transport offer for a journey over 3 miles to an ‘eligible’ pupil. It failed to assess whether the pupil, who has special educational needs, could manage the journey independently and wrongly put responsibility on the parent to accompany the child. This caused distress, inconvenience and financial loss to the family. The Council has agreed to apologise, reimburse taxi costs and make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will revisit its policy, guidance and training for officers to ensure that it is clear to all relevant officers, panel members and members of the public:• There is no legal expectation that parents accompany children ‘eligible’ on the grounds of distance or low income. Accompaniment is only a consideration where a previously unsafe route within statutory walking distance can be made safe if an adult accompanies the child. • The onus is on the council to assess the individual child’s circumstances, and this may involve seeking evidence from professionals or carrying out a risk assessment and this applies irrespective of whether a pupil has an EHC Plan.The Council will ensure it provides written transport decisions that clearly sets out the Council’s rationale.

  • Birmingham City Council (25 000 375)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 07-Nov-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the Council’s delay in sending information about her father’s contribution to his care fees. She also complained about the Council’s delay in completing a new care assessment for her father after she raised concerns about the care he was receiving. We find the Council was at fault for its delays in completing the financial assessment and for its failure to send the financial assessment to Mrs X’s email address. It was also at fault for its delay in assigning a social worker to complete a new care assessment. These faults have caused Mrs X distress and upset. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X, make a payment to her, agree a payment plan for the outstanding care fees and a implement a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they complete financial assessments within a reasonable timescale and without undue delay. Staff should also ensure they send the financial assessment to the individual/their representative via their preferred method of communication.

  • Birmingham City Council (24 023 342)

    Category: Housing Date: 20-Jan-2026

    Summary

    Miss B complained about the Council closing her housing application. We find that the Council did not clearly explain which documents she needed to provide and then closed her application as incomplete without specifying what additional evidence she needed to supply. The Council also failed to make a referral to its homelessness team. The Council’s failings caused Miss B unnecessary frustration and inconvenience and meant she did not receive timely housing advice. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to Miss B, and make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind staff to check all information included on housing application forms and to make a referral to the Council’s homelessness team if an applicant indicates that they may be homeless.

  • Birmingham City Council (24 023 098)

    Category: Housing Date: 18-Sep-2025

    Summary

    Mr B complained that the Council failed to properly deal with his housing and homelessness complaints. We find that the Council failed to carry out a homelessness review, determine what duty it owed him, issue a written decision and appropriately address Mr B’s complaints. This caused him avoidable distress, uncertainty, and unnecessary time and trouble in trying to resolve his housing situation. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mr B. It has also agreed to make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to update information on its website to clearly outline its role in complaints about supported exempt accommodation and who complaints should be directed to.The Council has agreed to provide guidance to relevant staff about the Council’s role in dealing with complaints about supported exempt accommodation.The Council has agreed to investigate why a request for a review was not actioned, and take action to ensure requests are not missed in future.The Council has agreed to remind complaints handling staff that complaints should not be dismissed as duplicates unless all matters within the complaint have previously been addressed.The Council has agreed to provide training and/or guidance to ensure staff are aware that they must make enquiries and issue a written decision if they have reason to believe someone may be homeless or threatened with homelessness.

  • Birmingham City Council (24 021 904)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 03-Sep-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to act on his requests for street cleaning in a timely manner. The Council was at fault. It responded to Mr X’s requests for street cleansing but it acknowledged there were delays in providing the service. This was fault and the Council apologised to Mr X for this delay. We found the apology suitable to remedy Mr X’s injustice. The Council agreed to also update its website to better manage expectations around how it responds to requests from residents for street cleansing.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to consider amending its website to manage resident’s expectations around timescales for responding to and carrying out street cleaning requests. The Council also agreed to consider whether it is appropriate to amend the timescales throughout the year where other priorities may impact on the timeliness of responding to cleaning requests.

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