The Budget and Corporate Scrutiny Management Board met to discuss budget monitoring, customer feedback, the impact of scrutiny recommendations, and the board's work programme. The board reviewed the Quarter 1 Budget Monitoring report, the Customer Feedback Annual Report 2024/25, and the tracking and monitoring of scrutiny recommendations. The board also noted and considered its work programme for 2025/26, considering potential changes or additions.

Quarter 1 Budget Monitoring

The board reviewed the Quarter 1 Budget Monitoring report. Section 151 of the Local Government Act 1972 requires the Chief Financial Officer to ensure the proper administration of the council's financial affairs¹. Budget monitoring reports are produced quarterly for the cabinet, and the budget position is reported monthly to the Leadership Team. The report tracks progress against agreed budget decisions, considers any budget changes, forecasts any significant variances to the budget, and enables corrective action to be taken as necessary to ensure a balanced budget at year end. The board was asked to consider the report, provide comment, and make recommendations to the cabinet as it saw fit.

Customer Feedback Annual Report 2024/25

The board considered the Customer Feedback Annual Report 2024/25, incorporating information from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSO) and the Housing Ombudsman. The report summarised data, trends, issues, and lessons learned from compliments, complaints, member enquiries, and ombudsman enquiries across Sandwell Council from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.

The customer feedback summarised in this report, comprising 10,686 cases, represents less than 1% of the council's total 1,436,475 public interactions across all channels in 2024/25, including general enquiries, One Stop Shop, the Contact Centre, and MySandwell.

Key points from the report:

• There was a 75% increase in Stage 2 complaints from the previous financial year, mainly driven by Stage 2 investigations in Housing, which had a 106% increase.
• Stage 1 complaints saw a 10% decrease.
• 65% of all complaints received by the council were responded to within the target timeframes set by their Service Level Agreements (SLAs): 10 working days for Stage 1 complaints and 20 working days for Stage 2.
• The Housing Directorate received the highest number of complaints with a total of 1,506.
• MP enquiries were significantly down (62%) in 2024/25 compared to the previous year, due to the General Election in July and Sandwell electing four new MPs.
• Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, the Housing Ombudsman handled 38 cases relating to Sandwell Council.
• Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, the LGSCO dealt with 122 Sandwell Council complaints. Of these, 66 were not for them or were ready for them to investigate. The LGSCO assessed and closed 40 complaints and fully investigated 16 complaints.

The report included recommendations for actions to be taken in response to any issues/concerns raised. These included:

• Replacing the current systems used for logging and managing customer feedback with a single, easy-to-use, streamlined solution.
• Treating Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaints as a priority and responding to them within the required timeframes.
• Ensuring good communication through timely acknowledgement of complaints with responses that demonstrate empathy, use an appropriate tone, and are person-centred.
• Ensuring all directorates are capturing and applying lessons learned, helping to embed a culture of continuous improvement across the organisation.
• Developing a focused action plan to address delays within the Housing Resolutions team.
• Continuing to provide regular refresher training to service areas that face challenges in meeting complaint response SLAs.
• Continuing to monitor areas with high volumes of complaints and working with the relevant service areas to arrange and deliver sessions with the MP's officers.
• Reinforcing accountability by forwarding draft decisions to the Service Director for their consideration.

The report also detailed lessons learned from complaints, with examples from Children's & Education, Bereavement, Coroners, Register Office, Adults-Safeguarding, Property, Strategic Assets & Land, Museums and Libraries, Urban Design & Building Services, and Housing.

Tracking and Monitoring Impact of Scrutiny Recommendations

The board considered a report to track and monitor the impact of recommendations made by the Budget and Corporate Scrutiny Management Board. The consideration of this report facilitates the effective monitoring of progress on responses to and press with implementation of recommendations made by the board and identify where further action is required. Effective monitoring of recommendations facilitates the evaluation of the impact of the scrutiny function overall.

Work Programme 2025/26

The board reviewed its work programme for the 2025/26 municipal year. The work programme details the work of the Budget and Corporate Scrutiny Management Board for the 2025/26 municipal year and is reviewed periodically. A strong and effective work programme underpins the work and approach of scrutiny. It is good practice for work programmes to remain fluid, to allow for scrutiny of new and emerging issues in a timely manner. The board was asked to note the work programme and consider whether any changes or additions were required.