Sandwell MBC has made ‘significant progress’ following an independent review last year.

The Local Government Association’s (LGA) peer team said there has been ‘progress on all fronts’ for many of the recommendations it detailed in the original review in January 2018, in which it called for the council to ‘move on’ from a series of standards issues.

The LGA team commended the progress made in the last 12 months and said the council had ‘finalised the historical standards issues’.

They added: ‘Governance has gone back to basics to ensure there are robust processes in place – with plans for delivery.’

The LGA review went on to praise Sandwell MBC’s ‘excellent delivery in some key areas, including delayed transfers of care, youth offending and highways maintenance performance’.

Deputy leader Syeda Khatun said: ‘We are pleased the review team has acknowledged all the efforts made over the past year and the pace of improvement across many areas.’