SMBC Leadership Emails

2026 Entire SMBC Leadership Team

17 February 2026 – Formal notice confirming non-response to January and February escalation emails

On 17 February 2026, I formally notified Sandwell MBC senior leadership, Sandwell Safeguarding Adults Board, Info Management, elected representatives, advocates, GP and care-related services that I had received no substantive response to formal notices sent on 15 January and 11 February 2026.

That notice recorded that my 6 January Care Needs Assessment had not been provided, no accurate Care and Support Plan had been issued, safeguarding risks remained active, preventable injury risk continued, and no senior officer had provided a substantive written response. It asked who held responsibility for responding, whether the non-response was intentional or administrative oversight, and when a substantive response would be issued.

2024 to 2025 James McLaughlin - Assistant CEO & Sukhjinder Sahota (Then Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Team Leader)

📆6 November 2024 I raised some EDI Concerns wit the team at Sandwell Council.

📆7 November Sukhjinder Sahota (Then Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Team Leader) escalated my concerns to James McLaughlin

📆 February 2025 James, Sukhjinder and I were joined by an Aspire Charity Housing Advocate for a two hour meeting.

📆11 February 2025 – Assistant Chief Executive apology and commitment to review housing/adult social care barriers

In this email, Sandwell MBC Assistant Chief Executive James McLaughlin apologises on behalf of the Council after meeting with me and hearing about my experiences.

He confirms that he had “agreed to speak with colleagues in Housing and Adult Social Care” to see what could be done to “unblock the housing issue” preventing me from moving to a suitable property in Cornwall.

He also states that there was “a lot of information to review” and that “we will do that,” with an update promised by the end of the following week.

This email is significant because it shows that senior leadership had accepted the matter required cross-departmental review involving Housing and Adult Social Care. It also confirms that the Council had acknowledged the seriousness of the issues and the need to remove blocks.

📆17 February 2025 Manifoldia Grange 

Janet Millet my SMBC Housing Officer and Lisa Ellis SMBC Complaints Team Leader, re-housed me at a property known to be inaccessible and refused all aids and adaptations.

📆3 March 2025 Aspire Charity Housing Advocate follow up to James McLaughlin

📆16 October 2025 – Later statement that Housing and Adult Social Care were outside his remit

In October 2025, after months without the promised substantive resolution, James McLaughlin wrote to Maria Wiseman from Sandwell Community Offer stating that Housing and Adult Social Care did not fall within his remit.

This appears inconsistent with his February 2025 email, where he had already confirmed that he would speak with colleagues in Housing and Adult Social Care to unblock the housing issue.

The relevance of this email is the governance contradiction: senior leadership first acknowledged responsibility to review and coordinate the issue, then later redirected it as outside remit, without providing a clear formal outcome, written decision, or resolution.

2024 Sarah Ager - Assistant Director Asset Management 

📆2024 Letter from Sarah Ager explaining why repairs had taken one year longer than expected.  

This response was several months late and lacks a reference number.  

Elizabeth Deegan from Aspire Charity and multiple agencies from around the country raised concerns about my health and safety between November 2020 and present, to date none of the accessibility issues at 8 Boldere Court have been addressed.

📆8 September 2025 Work on the Kitchen was booked

While I was an inpatient at Rowley Regis Hospital, recovering from a fall at home, because an insecure toilet frame fell over.

⚖️Why this matters

These emails are not being published as isolated correspondence. They form part of a wider evidence trail showing repeated escalation, senior awareness, safeguarding risk, delayed responses and unclear ownership across Sandwell MBC departments.

The central issue is simple: I have repeatedly asked Sandwell MBC to identify who owns the risk, who is responsible for responding, what action has been taken, and how I can obtain a formal written response.

To date, the practical reality remains unresolved: I have had to manage unsafe toileting arrangements, fit my own toilet frame, chase missing care paperwork, and continue public documentation because private escalation has not produced accountable action.