Birmingham City Council
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 572 complaints. Of these, 232 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 226 complaints. We investigated 114 complaints.
More about this data
Complaints dealt with – the total number of complaints and enquiries considered. It is not appropriate to investigate all of them.
Not for us – includes complaints brought to us before the council was given chance to consider it, or the complainant came to the wrong Ombudsman.
Assessed and closed – includes complaints where the law says we’re not allowed to investigate, or it would be a poor use of public funds if we did.
Investigated – we completed an investigation and made a decision on whether we found fault, or no fault.
Complaints upheld – we completed an investigation and found evidence of fault, or the organisation provided a suitable remedy early on.
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council – the council upheld the complaint and we agreed with how it offered to put things right.
Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations – not complying with our recommendations is rare. A council with a compliance rate below 100% should scrutinise the complaints where it failed to comply and identify any learning.
Average performance rates – we compare the annual statistics of similar types of councils to work out an average level of performance. We do this for County Councils, District Councils, Metropolitan Boroughs, Unitary Councils, and London Boroughs.
For more information on understanding our statistics see Interpreting our complaints data.
Complaints dealt with
Not for us
Assessed and closed
Investigated
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Complaints upheld
We investigated 114 complaints and upheld 94.
82% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 81% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Birmingham City Council's population, this is 8.1 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.
The average for authorities of this type is
4.7 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents. -
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
In 5 out of 94 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
5% satisfactory remedy rate.
This compares to an average of 13% in similar authorities.
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
We recorded compliance outcomes in 82 cases.
In 82 cases we were satisfied with the actions taken.100% compliance rate with recommendations.
This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.
Annual letters
We write to councils each year to give a summary of the complaint statistics we record about them,
and their performance in responding to our investigations.
Reports
The Ombudsman has published the following reports against Birmingham City Council
Find out more about reports
We issue reports on certain investigations, particularly where there is a wider public interest to do so. Common reasons for reports are significant injustice, systemic issues, major learning points and non-compliance with our recommendations. Issuing reports is one way we help to ensure councils are accountable to local people and highlighting the learning from complaints helps to improve services for everybody. Reports are published for 10 years.
Birmingham to change complaints process following Ombudsman report
Birmingham City Council has agreed to revisit the way it responds to complaints about respite care for children with disabilities after it wrongly told families to appeal to the Ombudsman.
Ombudsman issues third critical report about Birmingham’s bin collections
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is again having to report on Birmingham’s waste collection services after the council had made assurances things would improve.
Birmingham wheelchair user left in unsuitable home for eight years by council
A Birmingham man has been left in unsuitable temporary accommodation for eight years despite the city council knowing it did not meet his needs as a wheelchair user, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Birmingham City council to refund 11 years of care home fees family paid in error
Birmingham City Council will repay a city family more than 11 years of care home fees after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found the family should never have been charged.
Councils warned to ensure grant processes are transparent following Ombudsman complaint
Councils administering Disabled Facilities Grants need to ensure their processes are transparent and accountable, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has said.
Birmingham bins not returned because of council squabble
Bickering Birmingham bin workers have left residents in one city street having to return their heavy communal bins to the right place, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has said.
Ombudsman investigation highlights housing delays in Birmingham
The high number of families trying to join councils’ housing lists is being highlighted by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman following one family’s complaint about their situation.
Birmingham City Council has agreed to revise its home to school transport policy and review all its decisions to issue a travel pass over the past three years following several complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
City council in foster carer dispute after girl’s mother dies
Birmingham City Council considered allowing an 11 year-old girl to be deported during a dispute with her foster carers, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has discovered.
Birmingham bin problems highlighted in Ombudsman report
From repeated missed collections to failing to return vulnerable people’s bins to the proper place, Birmingham’s refuse service has been criticised in a report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
A Birmingham mother had to drive five hours a day to take her adult son, who had ‘severe and critical needs’, to his specialist college, because Birmingham City Council did not provide him with transport, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Service improvements
The Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation.
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.
The latest 10 cases are listed below – click ‘view all’ to find all service improvements.
Case reference: 25 000 375
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Charging
- 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.
Case reference: 24 023 098
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- 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.
Case reference: 24 021 904
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Other
- 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.
Case reference: 24 020 825
Category: Benefits and tax
Sub Category: Housing benefit and council tax benefit
- The Council also agreed to remind officers to refer cases to its appeals team if disputed decisions are not changed following a reconsideration request
Case reference: 24 018 891
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Charging
- The Council will complete contract monitoring checks to ensure a local adult care provider is adhering to call durations in council-commissioned care packages. This can be by a sample of care packages for the previous three months.
Case reference: 24 017 769
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will ensure it has robust procedures to check provision is secured after a Tribunal decision within the time limit.
- The Council will keep clear records of its decisions following Tribunal recommendations in ‘extended appeals’ and ensure it provides detailed reasons in writing to the family within five weeks of the recommendation.
- Children’s social care assessments and care plans will be completed in a timely way with provision put in place as soon as possible.
- The Council will review how it manages complex EOTAS packages to ensure provision is co-ordinated and monitored as set out in the Plan by a suitably experienced officer.
Case reference: 24 017 036
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the process to follow when a request is made for a direct let.
Case reference: 24 016 918
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant officers to accurately record the reason housing applicants have given for refusing offers of accommodation.
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant officers that the 21-day timescale for considering reviews of housing priority decisions starts from the date of the decision, not the date the accommodation was refused.
- The Council has agreed to amend its housing allocation scheme to make it clear that all applicants in Band A will be demoted to Band D if they refuse a suitable offer of accommodation.
Case reference: 24 016 565
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- The Council has agreed to ensure housing applicants are able to provide their reasons if they are unable to provide all the documents the Council requires them to submit. The Council will then consider this information before deciding whether to close their housing application as incomplete due to missing documents.
Last updated: 4 April 2015