Sandwell.
Labour Party-controlled metropolitan_borough. £434m net revenue. 24 wards across 4 parliamentary constituencies.
31 May 2026
Labour Party chamber, Labour Party MPs.
Sandwell is a metropolitan_borough controlled by Labour Party (27 of 29 seats). Net revenue is £434m for 2025-26. It covers 24 wards spanning 4 parliamentary constituencies.
Who sits in the chamber.
Labour Party 93% · last contested 2 May 2024
Councillors — the people.
| Councillor | Ward | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicky Hinchliff | Lab | Abbey | 2024 |
| Kerrie Carmichael | Lab | Blackheath | 2024 |
| Ellen Fenton | Lab | Bristnall | 2024 |
| Dalel Singh Bhamra | Lab | Charlemont With Grove Vale | 2024 |
| Vicki Smith | Lab | Cradley Heath Old Hill | 2024 |
| Elizabeth Ann Giles | Lab | Friar Park | 2024 |
| Connor Lee Horton | Lab | Great Barr With Yew Tree | 2024 |
| Will Gill | Con | Great Bridge | 2024 |
| Pam Randhawa | Lab | Greets Green Lyng | 2024 |
| Jackie Taylor | Lab | Greets Green Lyng | 2023 |
| Amardeep Singh | Lab | Hateley Heath | 2024 |
| Caroline Louise Owen | Lab | Langley | 2024 |
Where revenue comes from.
This is a grant-heavy councils (metropolitan_borough): 33% from council tax vs the cohort median of 44%.
Source · MHCLG — Final LGFS 2025-26 Core Spending Power table · derived (CT exact; grants/rates split from SFA baseline)
Band-D bill.
| Council slice | £1,824 |
| County / upper-tier | £0 |
| Police | £230 |
| Fire & rescue | £80 |
| GLA precept | £0 |
| Total Band-D | £2,133 |
Parish precepts apply on top, vary by parish
Use the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings.
How does Sandwell split its revenue across services, compared with peer councils (metropolitan_borough)-class councils? Each row is one of the ten standard service buckets. The vertical line at the centre is the cohort median share; the coloured square is where this council sits. Squares to the right of centre mean a bigger share of revenue than the median peer; to the left, a smaller share.
The subtitle on each row (“X% of net spend”) is what share of this council’s revenue goes to that service. The rank (“15 of 61”) is where this council sits within the cohort, sorted by that share descending. The delta (“+26% vs median”) is a relative reading: the council allocates 26% more of its revenue to that service than the median peer would. A small absolute difference can still be a big relative one.
Higher share doesn’t mean waste — it can reflect demographic need (more older residents), rurality, or a policy choice (e.g. keeping a service in-house). Lower share doesn’t mean efficiency — some councils move costs to fees, ringfenced accounts, or grants. £-per-head would be sharper than share-of-revenue; LAD population is pending ingest. Comparisons are within the same council type only.
Every invoice over £500, published under the Local Government Transparency Code. Best-effort, not statutory — counts and totals net negatives (refunds/reversals).
Top by total — last 180 days
| Supplier | Paid | Share | Pmts |
|---|---|---|---|
| SANDWELL CHILDREN'S TRUST | £25.79m | 15.3% | 8 |
| SERCO LIMITED | £7.47m | 4.4% | 53 |
| HIGGS LLP | £4.91m | 2.9% | 27 |
| JOHN A BATES (CONTRACTORS) LTD | £3.14m | 1.9% | 98 |
| SANDWELL COMMUNITY CARING TRUST (ASC) | £3.08m | 1.8% | 299 |
| RIVERSIDE GROUP | £2.76m | 1.6% | 3 |
| SANDWELL COLLEGE | £2.36m | 1.4% | 1 |
| PHOENIX SOFTWARE LTD | £2.28m | 1.4% | 10 |
| ACORN CARE AND EDUCATION LIMITED | £2.17m | 1.3% | 156 |
| SANDWELL FUTURES LTD | £2.17m | 1.3% | 54 |
By service area · top supplier
| Service | Top supplier | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Childrens Services | SANDWELL CHILDREN'S TRUST | £25.49m |
| Waste And Recycling | SERCO LIMITED | £5.02m |
| Adult Social Care | SANDWELL COMMUNITY CARING TRUST (ASC) | £3.08m |
| Housing And Homelessness | HIGGS LLP | £3.02m |
| Planning And Economic | SANDWELL COLLEGE | £2.36m |
| Corporate And Central | PHOENIX SOFTWARE LTD | £2.28m |
| Education | ACORN CARE AND EDUCATION LIMITED | £1.87m |
| Constituency | Wards | % of council | Current MP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smethwick | 8 | 33% | Gurinder Singh Josan | Lab |
| West Bromwich | 8 | 33% | Sarah Coombes | Lab |
| Tipton and Wednesbury | 7 | 29% | Antonia Bance | Lab |
| Halesowen | 1 | 4% | Alex Ballinger | Lab |
Sources, methods & last update
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (historic)
Core Spending Power table · 2025-26
vs 35 other councils (metropolitan_borough)
Police, Fire, Parish on top
19,086 payments · 3 Dec 2025 – 26 Feb 2026
2023 boundaries
Pending ingest at LAD level