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“Sandwell is a great place full of people who look out for each other and get things done.
“As one of the largest councils in the country, we serve more than 340,000 residents, and whilst it’s not our normal way to shout about ourselves, we’re proud that in our recent survey our residents scored us 5% higher than the national benchmark for overall satisfaction levels with the way the council is run.
“From our work to support vulnerable children and adults to maintaining our highways and parks, we’re always looking to deliver the best possible services for our community.”
Shokat Lal, Chief Executive of Sandwell Council, said:
“It is really pleasing to see the hard work of council officers paying off, with the significant improvements we’ve made being recognised in this report.
“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.
“We have much to be proud of, including our outstanding track record in attracting funding into our borough and the incredible Sandwell Aquatics Centre which is the best community leisure facility in the country.
“There are opportunities for us to really build on these foundations so we can ensure we re-establish our rightful place in the West Midlands and in the country, and tell a new story about Sandwell so we’re spoken about for very different reasons than we have in recent years.”