Statutory intervention at West Midlands council to end this month

The statutory intervention at Sandwell Borough Council will end when government directions expire later this month (22 March), the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has confirmed.

Commissioners were sent into the local authority in March 2022 after a value for money governance review by the council’s external auditors, Grant Thornton, which called on the local authority to take “effective grip” of longstanding service issues.

The intervention was said to be unprecedented as there had not been a best value inspection or a Government review, although it was less extensive than at other authorities.

Confirmation of the end of the intervention comes after the Commissioners sent into the local authority, in their fourth report issued in December 2023, said: “When we started at Sandwell, the organisation was still recovering from long-term historic mismanagement and severe breakdowns in trust, which its scrutiny and accountability arrangements were ineffective at handling. Though we were welcomed by staff who were eager to move forward and work hard to improve the council, there was much to do.

“We are pleased to say that the council we see now is a far cry from the organisation we first encountered: the staff, the elected members, and most importantly, the residents, have all noted the changes.

“The scrutiny and accountability systems, including performance and risk management, are robust and being rigorously upheld. The improvement work which was once seen as a standalone priority has now been interwoven with the ‘business as usual’ strategic planning of the council. In short, we believe the council is now meeting its Best Value duty and is capable of taking forward its improvement independently.”

In a written ministerial statement, issued today (7 March 2024), Minister for Local Government Simon Hoare said: “It is right that, as the Commissioners acknowledge, improvement ‘is never finished’: Sandwell is not perfect.

“However, the draft statutory guidance on Best Value Standards and Intervention, which we intend to finalise shortly following the consultation last summer, is clear that ‘local authorities are not expected to be perfect before an intervention ends’ and that an intervention should ‘resolve incidents of failure to the point where the authority can demonstrate that it now has the capacity and capability to sustain its own journey of continuous improvement without the need for further external involvement’.”

Hoare added: “It will take continued, concerted effort for the council to sustain the rate of improvement, build further resilience and ultimately continue to improve outcomes for residents. The Commissioners note that part of that striving for excellence will include the continued development of the council’s partnership working with its neighbours, the wider local government sector and supporting its staff and elected members.”

The minister said he was pleased to note that the Local Government Association would be working to support Sandwell over the next 12-18 months, “to ensure a steady path out of intervention”

Welcoming the announcement, the Leader of Sandwell Council, Cllr Kerrie Carmichael, said: “We are delighted ministers have concluded that the directions can be lifted. To have achieved this within two years is testament to the huge amount of work that has got us to this point.

“From the outset of this process we accepted that we needed to make significant improvements. Our focus throughout has been to make sure we are set up to deliver the best possible outcomes for our residents, and that has meant changing the way we operate.

“This is not the end of our journey. We are really pleased to have made sufficient progress to get out of intervention but are determined to continue this trajectory and are striving for excellence. I want to thank council officers for their efforts and the Commissioners for the constructive way in which they have approached their role.”

Shokat Lal, Chief Executive of Sandwell Council, said: “It is great to see the hard work of our staff paying off, alongside the political leadership of Cllr Kerrie Carmichael and her Cabinet, with the significant improvements we’ve made being recognised in this decision to end intervention.

“Our ambition is to become an outstanding council, so we are not going to be complacent with intervention ending and see this only as the end of the beginning.”

Lal added: “The first phase of our improvement journey has been about responding to the issues raised through external reviews and intervention, and we’ve had a real focus on becoming brilliant at the basics.

“Part of that has been about fixing some of our governance processes; but fundamentally we know that it’s not simply new policies, strategies or procedures that help you deliver excellent services, it’s about people and our organisational culture and making sure we’re all working together to make a difference and help change people’s lives for the better.

“We are now moving to a second phase of our journey which is about fully embedding a culture of continuous improvement, embracing transformational change and becoming a modern, efficient and agile organisation that has consistent high customer service standards.”

Last month external auditors Grant Thornton lifted all statutory recommendations made for Sandwell in light of "appropriate progress", but warned that urgent steps were needed to deliver delayed financial statements.