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.
Councils advised about school transport changes following Birmingham investigation
The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) is urging councils to consider carefully the impact any school transport policy changes have on existing pupils after an investigation led to a boy having his free school travel pass reinstated.
Family with left without adequate support after Birmingham City Council failed to help
A family, whose son with special needs was presenting very challenging behaviour, was left without support despite calling on Birmingham City Council for help, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) 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: 24 016 073
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- •Remind relevant staff of the Council’s duties to adhere to statutory timescales in the annual review process.
- •Remind relevant staff of the Council’s duties under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 and section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
- •Remind relevant staff of the importance of effective complaint handling.
Case reference: 24 012 349
Category: Transport and highways
Sub Category: Parking and other penalties
- The Council will update information on its website to include information about the backlog of approved applications for dropped kerbs and give an approximate timescale for completion of works following payment of the agreed fee.
Case reference: 24 009 995
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council has agreed to demonstrate to the Ombudsman it has a mechanism in place to ensure annual reviews of Education, Health and Care Plans are not missed.
Case reference: 24 007 865
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- In writing, remind staff of the importance of responding to communications within a reasonable timeframe.
Case reference: 24 006 068
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Other
- In writing, remind staff of the importance of meeting timescales outlined in the children’s statutory complaint procedure.
Case reference: 24 005 620
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- The Council will remind its SEND officers to adhere to statutory timescales when carrying out Education, Health and Care needs assessments to ensure Education, Health and Care Plans are issued by the 20 week deadline.
- The Council will review its communication process between departments involved in education to ensure that where there is evidence that a child is not attending school that it is communicated to the relevant officers so a decision can be made, at the time whether a duty is owed to provide alternative provision to the child.
- The Council will provide the Ombudsman with evidence that it has reviewed its communication process with schools to ensure information about children not attending school is passed to the Council at the earliest opportunity.
Case reference: 24 005 151
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Refuse and recycling
- The Council will issue a staff briefing to remind relevant staff of the importance of effective complaint responses and addressing all concerns raised by service users within them. This will help to ensure service users get a clear and full response to their complaints, ensuring all problems are addressed and prevent future complaints.
Case reference: 24 004 805
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council has agreed to take steps to ensure all decisions are properly recorded.
- The Council has agreed to investigate why the housing applicant's priority was reduced and take action to avoid such errors in future.
- The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure that, once a matter under review is resolved, the review is promptly closed.
- The Council has agreed to provide evidence of the action it is taking to ensure housing applicants do not receive blank attachments when officers are recreating letters.
Case reference: 24 004 224
Category: Other Categories
Sub Category: Leisure and culture
- Remind staff to provide clear rationale for decisions, and to ensure all complaint points have been addressed before issuing a response.
Case reference: 24 003 735
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Direct payments
- The Counil will remind relevant staff members of the need to complete support plans in a timely fashion and ensure interim arrangements are put in place in the event of a dispute over direct payments.
Last updated: 4 April 2015