Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 122 complaints. Of these, 66 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 40 complaints. We investigated 16 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
-
Complaints upheld
We investigated 16 complaints and upheld 14.
88% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 81% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council's population, this is 4% 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 2 out of 14 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
14% satisfactory remedy rate.
This compares to an average of 13% in similar authorities.
-
Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
We recorded compliance outcomes in 11 cases.
In 11 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 Sandwell Metropolitan Borough 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.
Council agrees to review its school transport policy following Ombudsman investigation
Sandwell council has agreed to review its school transport policy after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found flaws in the way it considered a family’s application for travel support.
Nursing home fails to provide dignified care to Sandwell woman - Ombudsman
A Sandwell woman suffered significant hair, diet and skin problems because the nursing home her local council placed her in failed to meet her cultural needs.
Council makes serious unsubstantiated allegations about asylum seeker during Ombudsman investigation
Sandwell council refused to let a vulnerable mother have her representative present at an important meeting – and made serious and unsubstantiated allegations about both of them during an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
All options should be considered when protecting potentially vulnerable children, says Ombudsman
The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) is reminding councils to fully consider their options when taking steps to safeguard potentially vulnerable children.
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: 24 008 435
Category: Environment and regulation
Sub Category: Refuse and recycling
- the Council has agreed to put in place, or strengthen, systems to ensure collection crews are aware of properties with assisted collections on their rounds, and what this involves in each case.
- the Council has agreed to put in place, or strengthen, systems to liaise with organisations that are planning large-scale roadworks to develop contingency plans to mitigate the impact of their work on waste collections, particularly assisted waste collections.
Case reference: 24 007 933
Category: Other Categories
Sub Category: Land
- The Council has agreed to send a memo to all complaint handling staff reminding them stage one complaint responses should include details on how to escalate a complaint to the second stage of its complaints process.
Case reference: 24 006 677
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Allocations
- Review the way it considers overcrowding and bedroom need, and ensures relevant staff are aware of and take account of the statutory overcrowding standards.
- Ensure relevant staff signpost complainants to the correct ombudsman.
Case reference: 23 016 019
Category: Housing
Sub Category: Homelessness
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the low threshold to trigger the Council’s duty to make inquiries into possible homelessness and that where this threshold is met, the Council must issue a decision with a statutory right of review.
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that inquiries into homelessness should include givingthe applicant the opportunity to provide relevant details and context.
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that victims of domestic abuse may not disclose abuse directly or voluntarily and that officers should exhibit appropriate professional curiosity to explore the reasons for apparent reluctance or refusal to provide information.
Case reference: 23 015 327
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- Produce an action plan to demonstrate how the council will meet statutory timescales for annual reviews.
- Provide staff training to ensure they understand the legal framework and obligations in relation to the faults found.
Case reference: 23 009 390
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will remind all relevant staff, including managers, of the Council’s duty to provide an education to children who are out of school (section 19 duty).
- The Council will remind all relevant staff, including managers, of the Council’s duty to provide the provision set out in Education, Health and Care plans to children who are out of school (section 42 duty).
- The Council will remind all relevant staff, including managers, of the Council’s duty to review Education, Health and Care plans within 12 months even if a child is out of school.
- The Council will remind all relevant staff, including managers, of the Council’s duty to decide whether or not to reassess an Education, Health and Care plan when asked to by a child’s parent, young person, or their educational placement. The Council must tell the child’s parent or young person whether it will complete an Education, Health and Care needs reassessment within 15 calendar days of receiving the request. If the decision is not to reassess, the Council must provide information about the right to appeal that decision to the tribunal.
- The Council will remind all staff in the special educational needs/Education, Health and Care plan team, including managers, of the Council’s complaints procedure and its expectations of complaint responses.
Case reference: 23 005 486
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- The Council will remind relevant staff where a child is not attending school they need to consider the Council's duty to consider if it needs to provide alternative provision or enforce attendance.
- The Council will remind relevant staff of the importance of keeping complete and accurate contact notes.
Case reference: 23 007 334
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Residential care
- The Council will issue written reminders to the care provider to ensure they are aware of Regulation 9, 10, 14 and 17 of the CQC guidance on how to meet the fundamental standards.
Case reference: 23 005 660
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- The Council will create an action plan identifying the actions it has already taken, and intends to take to reduce its significant backlog of care act assessments and reassessments. The action plan will identify the actions, the timescale for each, and the measure of success. The Council will review the action plan within three months of creating it.
Case reference: 22 016 928
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Assessment and care plan
- Remind staff of the Council’s duty to provide accurate and timely information to help people understand care home charges so they can make informed financial decisions.
- Remind staff of the Council’s duty to undertake Care Act and financial assessments in a timely manner.
Last updated: 4 April 2015