Government ends intervention at council

Sandwell Council said a "huge amount of work" had "got us to this point"

Government intervention to improve the performance of Sandwell Council is to end.

Local government minister Simon Hoare said in a letter on Thursday the authority had continued to make "significant changes".

He added that commissioners considered the council was now more resilient, and improvement was more "embedded in the culture" and sustainable.

But Conservative MP for West Bromwich East Nicola Richards said she remained dissatisfied with "Labour’s inadequate vision for our borough".

The government said it was content to let the intervention expire on 22 March, exactly two years after it began.

It has meant government-appointed commissioners overseeing the council's work, as they are now doing at neighbouring Birmingham City Council.

The minister said he understood the authority had agreed with the Local Government Association that it would provide less formal "support and challenge" over the next 12 to 18 months.

'Different place'

Council leader Kerrie Carmichael said it was delighted the directions could be lifted, adding: "To have achieved this within two years is testament to the huge amount of work that has got us to this point."

Chief executive Shokat Lal stated it was "great to see" the hard work of staff paying off.

The council was moving to a second phase of its journey, including becoming an "efficient" organisation that "has consistent, high customer service standards", he added.

Ms Richards said that when she was first elected, it took on average 82 days for the council to reply to residents' concerns, but since the intervention, that had fallen to nine.

The authority said external auditors Grant Thornton had recently decided to lift three statutory recommendations, due to progress made since a review in 2021.

The MP said when she was elected, she "made it a priority" to deal with allegations of corruption, adding: "It was a stain on Sandwell’s record."

Ms Richards stated that while there was still "a lot of work to be done", she was grateful for the efforts that had gone into "ensuring we are in a different place".