Sarah Ager

Correspondence and documents in chronological order.

2024-12-11About your outstanding repair job

From: Sarah Ager, Assistant Director Asset Management and Improvement

Retained PDF letter. Visible date: 11 December 2024. Visible sender: Sarah Ager, Assistant Director Asset Management and Improvement. The letter states it is an update on the outstanding repair job, refers to a repairs backlog, says a contractor will be appointed and that a further update will follow. Open the retained source to view the original document.

2026-01-05T16:21:23+00:00Re: Open letter to Shokat Lal

From: "Info (SCIE)" <Info@scie.org.uk>

Recovered email record
Date (UTC): 2026-01-05T16:21:23+00:00
From: "Info (SCIE)" <Info@scie.org.uk>
Subject: Re: Open letter to Shokat Lal
Attachment count: 2

--- Recovered email body ---

Dear Marie, Thank you for including us in your email below. I am writing to confirm that Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) are not in a position to act in response to your email as we have no regulatory duties. You may be aware already but if not, we have a web page Concerns about yours or someone else’s safety - SCIE that provides some information on how to take forward your concerns. Kind regards, Vijay Patel (he/him) | Head of Safeguarding| Social Care Institute for Excellence | T: 0203 8404080 | W: www.scie.org.uk | Isosceles Head Office, One High Street, Egham, TW20 9HJ | SCIE is a charity registered in England and Wales Reg. No. 1092778, Company Reg. No. 4289790 Please register for our SCIEline bulletin here - https://www.scie.org.uk/register/ Follow SCIE on LinkedIn , X or Facebook From: Marie Meronym < MarieMeronym@outlook.com > Sent: 20 December 2025 9:04 AM To: Shokat Lal < Shokat_Lal@sandwell.gov.uk > Cc: Sarah Coombes Coombes < Sarah.coombes.mp@parliament.uk >; Parvez Muzaffar < parvez_muzaffar@sandwell.gov.uk >; Nanette1 Parker < nanette1_parker@sandwell.gov.uk >; LCO Leadership Team < LCO@sandwell.gov.uk >; jackie_taylor@sandwell.gov.uk < jackie_taylor@sandwell.gov.uk >; Steve Melia SMBC Mayor < Mayors_parlour@sandwell.gov.uk >; james_mclaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk < james_mclaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk >; alan_lunt@sandwell.gov.uk < alan_lunt@sandwell.gov.uk >; Surjit Tour < surjit_tour@sandwell.gov.uk >; Lisa Ellis < Lisa_ellis@sandwell.gov.uk >; Janet Millett < janet_millett@sandwell.gov.uk >; Alice Davey < Alice1_Davey@sandwell.gov.uk >; Cathy Leyser < cathy_leyser@sandwell.gov.uk >; Christine Guest < christineanne_guest@sandwell.gov.uk >; Colin Marsh < colin_marsh@sandwell.gov.uk >; Kerrie Carmichael < kerrie_carmichael@sandwell.gov.uk >; David Wilcox < david_wilcock@sandwell.gov.uk >; Info Management < info_management@sandwell.gov.uk >; Koser Shaheen < Koser_Shaheen@sandwell.gov.uk >; Lina Martino < lina_martino@sandwell.gov.uk >; Lisa McNally < lisa_mcnally@sandwell.gov.uk >; Nigel Collumbell < nigel_collumbell@sandwell.gov.uk >; Paul Moore < paul_moore@sandwell.gov.uk >; Paul Fisher < paul_fisher@sandwell.gov.uk >; Rachel Cotterill < Rachel_Cotterill@sandwell.gov.uk >; Rashpal Bishop < rashpal_bishop@sandwell.gov.uk >; Sarah Ager < sarah_agar@sandwell.gov.uk >; Suzanne_Hartwell@Sandwell.gov.uk < suzanne_hartwell@sandwell.gov.uk >; Trisha Blackstock < trisha_blackstock@sandwell.gov.uk >; Vinod Verma < vinod_verma@sandwell.gov.uk >; Vicki_Smith@Sandwell.gov.uk < vicki_smith@sandwell.gov.uk >; WestBromwich Support < westbromwich_support@sandwell.gov.uk >; Sandwell Enquiry < sandwell_enquiry@sandwell.gov.uk > Subject: Open letter to Shokat Lal CAUTION: This email originated from outside of SCIE. Please exercise caution when responding, opening attachments and clicking links. Urgent: Non-Compliance with Complaints Procedure Dear Mr. Lal, I am writing to express my grave concern regarding the complete failure of Sandwell MBC to respond to my four formal complaints submitted since April. To date, I have received only two acknowledgements, neither of which adhere to your statutory policy or the requirements outlined in the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman guidance. Your staff’s ongoing disregard for established policy and procedure constitutes not only administrative negligence but potential breaches of statutory obligations, including but not limited to: The Local Government Act 2000 – mandating proper governance and accountability within local authorities. The Public Sector Equality Duty (Equality Act 2010, s.149) – requiring public bodies to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality, and foster good relations. The Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 – protecting individuals raising concerns about maladministration. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 – establishing standards for safeguarding and quality care practices. It is particularly alarming given that Sandwell Council has previously been cited in government reports for “a deep-seated culture of poor governance and leadership” (BBC, 2022), with interventions required to rectify systemic failures. The ongoing lack of response undermines public confidence and continues a pattern of governance failures documented in prior investigations (BBC, 2022; BBC, 2021). I require an immediate, substantive response detailing how you will comply with your complaints policy, rectify the procedural breaches, and prevent further governance failures. Failure to respond promptly will leave me with no option but to escalate this matter to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and pursue all appropriate legal remedies. Sincerely, Marie Meronym 🤬 X 🤐 Youtube 🧑🏽 ‍ 🏫 Facebook 📷 Instagram ⚖ ️ LinkedIn 🙏🏽 Nextdoor 🧑🏽 ‍ 🦽 Euan's Guide 🧑🏽 ‍ 🦽 Google Maps From: Shokat Lal < Shokat_Lal@sandwell.gov.uk > Sent: Monday, March 24, 2025 8:50:59 PM To: MarieBrownUK@outlook.com < MarieBrownUK@outlook.com > Subject: Responding to Linkedin message Hi Marie, I am just following up on the message you left on Linkedin on Sunday. I understand that there are some issues which you have raised and a number of officers need to look intoi, I have been told that they are looking into those and will be coming back to you but I would be happy for you to let me know the exact issues that need resolving? Thank you Shokat Shokat Lal Chief Executive Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council Sandwell Council House Freeth Street Oldbury B69 3DE Office: 07721 687878 www.sandwell.gov.uk

2026-02-11T12:03:53.475553+00:00Request for Multi-Agency Liaison – Immediate Coordination Required

From: Marie Meronym

Recovered email record
Date (UTC): 2026-02-11T12:03:53.475553+00:00
From: Marie Meronym
Subject: Request for Multi-Agency Liaison – Immediate Coordination Required
Attachment count: 0

--- Recovered email body ---

Dear all, I am forwarding my recent email to Ali Asghar regarding my Care Needs Assessment (6 January 2026) and ongoing safeguarding concerns. I am now formally requesting that you liaise directly with one another regarding my current circumstances. I am experiencing significant burnout and am no longer able to continue translating information between services. At present: • I do not have an agreed copy of my Care Needs Assessment. • I am managing ongoing fall risk and impaired mobility following injury. • I cannot self-propel my wheelchair reliably. • I am reliant on limited support (2 hours per week via The Gables since 27 January 2026). • I am unable to access housing payments or disability easements to stabilise Universal Credit issues. • I am facing council tax court proceedings and debt collection despite long-standing requests for floating support. • I am simultaneously navigating criminal proceedings, ADHD and autism assessments, safeguarding concerns, and housing inaccessibility. I am currently putting in 40+ hours per week in life administration simply to remain afloat. This is not sustainable. Each of you is professionally positioned to address part of this situation. However, without coordinated communication between agencies, I remain stuck without the correct paperwork, shared understanding, or aligned action. I am therefore requesting: Confirmation of who is taking lead professional responsibility. A coordinated case discussion (virtual is fine). Clear written confirmation of actions, timescales, and information sharing. Please treat this as a request for multi-agency coordination due to cumulative risk, not as individual correspondence. I need systems to talk to each other so that I can focus on stabilising my health. Kind regards, Marie Meronym Non-Chronological Records 🧑🏽‍🏫💭 DEI Concerns DEI Education Personal 📸 Instagram ⚖️💭 LinkedIn 🧑🏽‍⚖️ X 📹 YouTube From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2026 10:11:21 AM To: Ali Asghar <ali_asghar@sandwell.gov.uk> Cc: Sandwell Safeguarding Adults Board <safeguarding_SSAB@sandwell.gov.uk>; safina_begum@sandwell.gov.uk <safina_begum@sandwell.gov.uk>; Shokat Ali Lal <shokat_lal@sandwell.gov.uk>; adrian_scarrott@sandwell.gov.uk <adrian_scarrott@sandwell.gov.uk>; Rashpal Bishop <rashpal_bishop@sandwell.gov.uk>; James McLaughlin <James_mclaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk>; Jackie Taylor <Jackie_Taylor@Sandwell.gov.uk>; Lisa Ellis <Lisa_ellis@sandwell.gov.uk>; Sarah Ager <sarah_agar@sandwell.gov.uk>; WestBromwich Support <westbromwich_support@sandwell.gov.uk>; Enquiries team <enquiries@socialworkengland.org.uk>; Janet Millett <janet_millett@sandwell.gov.uk>; Lisa Gardner <lisa_gardner@sandwell.gov.uk>; Mandy Amos <Mandy_amos@sandwell.gov.uk>; Info Management <info_management@sandwell.gov.uk>; Kerrie Carmichael <kerrie_carmichael@sandwell.gov.uk>; Alan Lunt <alan_lunt@sandwell.gov.uk>; Steve Melia SMBC Mayor <Mayors_parlour@sandwell.gov.uk>; Council Tax SMBC <billing@sandwell.gov.uk> Subject: Follow-Up – Care Needs Assessment 6 January 2026 / Ongoing Safeguarding Risk Dear Ali, I am following up on my previous request for a copy of the Care Needs Assessment completed on 6 January 2026. I have not yet received it despite multiple written and text requests. Since that assessment: • No one has attended to bolt down the toilet frame. • I am having to hold urine and bowel movements for up to ten hours between calls or request emergency response assistance to avoid falling. • My health is being impacted by dehydration and bowel retention as a direct consequence. • The STAR Team have been attending four times daily since 23 January 2026 to act as human grab rails following my injured elbow on 22 January 2026. This is not an appropriate long-term solution for a bathroom that is not wheelchair accessible, in a bungalow and garden that are also not wheelchair accessible. I have been informed that attempts by the Community Alarm Team to raise safeguarding concerns have again been blocked by Adrian Scarrott and colleagues. I am also aware that a response from James McLaughlin regarding earlier escalation is now over a year overdue. I have a medico-legal assessment on 24 February 2026 relating to my fall on 5 December 2022 and all subsequent documented falls and injuries. I require the 6 January 2026 assessment for inclusion in my evidence bundle. Please confirm when I will receive a full copy. I require it no later than 17 February 2026. Kind regards, Marie Meronym #LetReePeeSafely #SandwellStory From: Ali Asghar <ali_asghar@sandwell.gov.uk> Sent: Friday, January 23, 2026 3:17:41 PM To: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com> Subject: RE: Notification of fall and ongoing risk following hospital discharge Dear Ms Brown Meronym I have made an urgent request to the Occupational Therapy team to fix the metal frame to the floor in the toilet and also to look at any other measures to make it easier for you to use your accommodation. Kind regards Ali Asghar From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com> Sent: 23 January 2026 14:58 To: James McLaughlin <James_mclaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk>; Shokat Lal <shokat_lal@sandwell.gov.uk>; Lisa Ellis <Lisa_ellis@sandwell.gov.uk>; Jackie Taylor <Jackie_Taylor@Sandwell.gov.uk>; Sandwell Enquiry <sandwell_enquiry@sandwell.gov.uk>; Janet Millett <janet_millett@sandwell.gov.uk>; Kerrie Carmichael <kerrie_carmichael@sandwell.gov.uk>; Mayors Parlour <Mayors_parlour@sandwell.gov.uk>; Vinod Verma <vinod_verma@sandwell.gov.uk>; LCO <LCO@sandwell.gov.uk>; Parvez Muzaffar <parvez_muzaffar@sandwell.gov.uk>; Vicki Smith <Vicki_Smith@Sandwell.gov.uk>; Suzanne Hartwell <Suzanne_Hartwell@Sandwell.gov.uk>; Alan Lunt <alan_lunt@sandwell.gov.uk> Cc: Ali Asghar <ali_asghar@sandwell.gov.uk>; Sarah Coombes Coombes <Sarah.coombes.mp@parliament.uk>; WestBromwich Support <westbromwich_support@sandwell.gov.uk> Subject: Notification of fall and ongoing risk following hospital discharge CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Council / Children's Trust. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe. I am writing to formally notify you of a fall and ongoing safety risk following my recent discharge from hospital. I was discharged home on 22/01/2026 with significantly reduced upper-limb function. Since returning home, I have been unable to safely propel my wheelchair or use the toilet independently. On 23/01/2026, I experienced a near-fall while attempting to access the bathroom. This risk was foreseeable given my injury, fatigue, and the inaccessibility of my bungalow. I have since required multiple emergency and urgent care interventions to meet basic activities of daily living safely. Community alarm staff have attended and recorded safeguarding concerns. I am currently receiving short-term support from the STAR team, who are attending multiple times per day to assist me to toilet safely. While their care has been compassionate and professional, this level of intervention highlights that my current environment and support arrangements are not safe or sustainable. I am notifying you to ensure this incident and the associated risks are formally recorded and treated as an ongoing safeguarding concern, and to request urgent review of: • the safety of my discharge • my current living environment • interim care provision • and any necessary equipment or adaptations Please confirm receipt of this notification and advise what immediate steps will be taken to reduce the risk of further harm. Kind regards, Marie Meronym 🧑🏽‍🦽🧠 Euan's Guide 💭 Facebook 🧑🏽‍🦽🧠 Google Maps 📸 Instagram 🧑🏽‍🏫 LinkedIn ⚖️ X 📹 Youtube

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 16:31:48 +0000Ongoing failure to respond and next steps

From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>

Recovered Gmail email record
Archive: marie_gmail
MBOX position: 455
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2026 16:31:48 +0000
From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>
To: Shokat Ali Lal <shokat_lal@sandwell.gov.uk>
Cc: Alan Lunt <alan_lunt@sandwell.gov.uk>, Alice Davey
	<Alice1_Davey@sandwell.gov.uk>, Anna Blennerhassett
	<anna_blennerhassett@sandwell.gov.uk>, Cathy Leyser
	<cathy_leyser@sandwell.gov.uk>, Christine Guest
	<christineanne_guest@sandwell.gov.uk>, Claire Mackowski
	<Claire_mackowski@sandwell.gov.uk>, Colin Marsh
	<colin_marsh@sandwell.gov.uk>, Jackie Taylor <Jackie_Taylor@Sandwell.gov.uk>,
	James McLaughlin <James_mclaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk>, Janet Millett
	<janet_millett@sandwell.gov.uk>, Kerrie Carmichael
	<kerrie_carmichael@sandwell.gov.uk>, Koser Shaheen
	<Koser_Shaheen@sandwell.gov.uk>, LCO Leadership Team <LCO@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Lisa Ellis <Lisa_ellis@sandwell.gov.uk>, Lina Martino
	<lina_martino@sandwell.gov.uk>, Mandy Amos <Mandy_amos@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	"Marnie  Cavell" <marnie_cavell@sandwell.gov.uk>, "Martha  Chikobvu"
	<martha_chikobvu@sandwell.gov.uk>, Nigel Collumbell
	<nigel_collumbell@sandwell.gov.uk>, "Parvez  Muzaffar"
	<parvez_muzaffar@sandwell.gov.uk>, Paul Fisher <paul_fisher@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Rachel Cotterill <Rachel_Cotterill@sandwell.gov.uk>, Rajiv Kapoor
	<rajiv_kapoor@sandwell.gov.uk>, Rashpal Bishop
	<rashpal_bishop@sandwell.gov.uk>, Sarah Ager <sarah_agar@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Steve Melia SMBC Mayor <Mayors_parlour@sandwell.gov.uk>, Surjit Tour
	<surjit_tour@sandwell.gov.uk>, Suzanne Hartwell
	<Suzanne_Hartwell@Sandwell.gov.uk>, Trisha Blackstock
	<trisha_blackstock@sandwell.gov.uk>, Vicki Smith
	<Vicki_Smith@Sandwell.gov.uk>, Vinod Verma <vinod_verma@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Yvonne Willets <Yvonne_willets@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	"safeguarding_ssab@sandwell.gov.uk" <safeguarding_ssab@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	"Elizabeth  Deegan" <elizabeth.deegan@aspire.org.uk>
Subject: Ongoing failure to respond and next steps
Message-ID: 
 <OSEP279MB1389E5E7D3F949803CA66EA8C193A@OSEP279MB1389.NORP279.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>
Attachments recorded: 1

--- Recovered email body ---
Dear Mr Lal,

I am writing to note, again, the absence of any substantive response from you or your office despite extensive correspondence, evidence, and repeated opportunities to engage constructively.

For clarity: I currently have no practical ability to go outside or live independently in my home due to unresolved accessibility and safeguarding failures. As a result, I have time, capacity, and patience. I will therefore continue to document and upload screenshots of correspondence, photographs, and timelines across social media and other public channels, accurately and contemporaneously, until these matters are properly addressed.

I am calm, regulated, and methodical. Please do not mistake this for disengagement.

I am also conscious that there appears to have been an assumption, common but incorrect, that a disabled person who is overwhelmed, distressed, or navigating trauma is somehow confused, unreliable, or incapable of understanding systems and accountability.

That misperception often substitutes for meaningful action. It is also a recognised equality and inclusion failure.

Should Sandwell Council wish to improve practice in this area, I would be willing to discuss the design and delivery of a disability, equality, and inclusion training<https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583457821635> package grounded in lived experience<https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariemeronymsmbctenant/>, governance, and safeguarding realities. My CV is attached.

That said, this is secondary to your immediate responsibility to respond to the substantive issues already raised.

I remain open to a prompt, written response that:

• acknowledges the outstanding failures,

• explains why previous correspondence has not been addressed, and

• sets out concrete next steps with timescales.

Absent that, I will continue to ensure the public record reflects the situation accurately.

I look forward to your response.

Kind regards,

Marie Meronym<https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0oLRUjiLwgchTR6BwnAhoh?si=IUWluULTRSOaT8of-9RqLQ&pi=8XIApYQnSZGSv>
💭Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/share/16Kxzf4Bd6/>
📸Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/wobblywanderer.sandwelltenant?igsh=MWk1Y2c2bW8zcDl3cg==>
🧑🏽‍🏫LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariemeronymsmbctenant?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app>
⚖️X<https://x.com/SandwellWoman?t=-L5j4M0dS90Mqzzc5tDgVA&s=09>
📹Youtube<https://youtu.be/XDT5VFfK1bU?si=SsIa3wh7-FmBt-6h>

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:04:59 +0000Formal escalation: safeguarding, Equality Act adjustments, care

From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>

Recovered Gmail email record
Archive: marie_gmail
MBOX position: 187
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2026 11:04:59 +0000
From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>
To: Ali Asghar <ali_asghar@sandwell.gov.uk>, Shokat Ali Lal
	<shokat_lal@sandwell.gov.uk>, Sandwell Enquiry
	<sandwell_enquiry@sandwell.gov.uk>, "Sarah Ager (SMBC SW)"
	<sarah_agar@sandwell.gov.uk>, Info Management SMBC
	<info_management@sandwell.gov.uk>, WestBromwich Support
	<westbromwich_support@sandwell.gov.uk>, West Bromwich Local Centre
	<westbromwich_local@sandwell.gov.uk>, Rashpal Bishop
	<rashpal_bishop@sandwell.gov.uk>, "Ritchie_Massey@sandwell.gov.uk"
	<Ritchie_Massey@sandwell.gov.uk>
Cc: Sarah Coombes MP <Sarah.coombes.mp@parliament.uk>, Helen Charles
	<helen.charles@sandwelladvocacy.org>, "elizabeth.deegan@aspire.org.uk"
	<elizabeth.deegan@aspire.org.uk>
Subject: Formal escalation: safeguarding, Equality Act adjustments, care
 charging, social work closure and outstanding information requests
Message-ID: 
 <OSEP279MB1389246CA39B0F12850E3377C1E82@OSEP279MB1389.NORP279.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>
Attachments recorded: 0

--- Recovered email body ---
Good morning👋,

Please treat this email as a formal escalation regarding my Adult Social Care case, the handling of safeguarding concerns, the proposed closure of social work involvement, the failure to complete a financial assessment before issuing care invoices, and the continued failure to make reasonable adjustments for my disability-related communication and access needs.

I am attaching/sharing the transcript of my 16 June 2026 meeting with Ali Asghar, SMBC Social Worker, and Evette Hipkiss from SHARP. The transcript was generated by Otter. It is being provided as evidence of what was discussed, what was raised, and what remains unresolved.

I am sending this to the people copied because the pattern is no longer confined to one worker, one team, or one complaint route. Formal escalation routes repeatedly result in senior staff accepting responsibility briefly, then no clear action, no dated references, no named accountable officer, and no reliable written follow-up.

This email is intended to preserve a clear audit trail before I submit further evidence to external agencies, including the Housing Ombudsman and relevant regulatory bodies.

For clarity, this is not a general expression of frustration. It is a safeguarding, disability access, continuity of care, information governance, and public law concern.

My core concern about Ali Asghar
Ali has been involved since December 2025.

During that time, I have repeatedly raised safeguarding concerns and practical risks, including unsafe housing, lack of adaptations, falls, inaccessible bathroom/kitchen/garden, broken mobility equipment, care charging, Universal Credit barriers, and the need for written reasonable adjustments.

Instead of coordinated safeguarding action, the response has repeatedly narrowed the issue to “care calls” or “carer times.”

That is not an adequate response to the risks I have been raising.

In particular:
Ali commissioned carers in a way that effectively used human beings as grab rails. That was not the support I had asked for. It was unnecessary intimate care, it was degrading, and it did not address the environmental risks causing the problem.

When I refused inappropriate intimate care, this appears to have been treated or described as me refusing care, rather than me refusing the wrong care.

Ali then commissioned or involved further care arrangements without resolving the original mismatch between my actual needs and the service being offered.

I still have not received an updated written care plan reflecting what was actually discussed and agreed.

I still have not received confirmation that the care agency has been properly updated following the 16 June review.

I still have not had a financial assessment, despite invoices being issued and a DRO last October addressing unaddressed SMBC Care charges from 2018)

My disability-related expenses, currently around £110 per week, have not been properly assessed or taken into account.

Safeguarding concerns I have raised since December remain unresolved, including the unsafe property, the unsecured/ad hoc toilet frame, exposed wires, holes in walls, lack of kitchen sink, inaccessible garden steps, and my inability to safely access parts of my home and garden.

At the 16 June meeting, Ali indicated that he intended to close social work involvement after making care-call changes, despite unresolved safeguarding concerns and despite my request that he remain involved until the revised care arrangements had actually been confirmed and safely implemented.

I explicitly explained that continuity of involvement is a reasonable adjustment. I have had multiple social workers in a short period. Repeated closure and referral back through duty creates a translation burden, destroys continuity, and predictably causes the same issues to be reset, reframed, or lost.

This is not a personality issue. It is a systems failure.

Reasonable adjustments required
Please record the following as reasonable adjustments across all relevant SMBC departments, including Adult Social Care, Housing, Repairs, Complaints, Safeguarding, Revenue and Benefits, CCBU, and Information Management:

  1.
All significant decisions, actions, appointments, changes, and cancellations must be confirmed in writing.
  2.
Phone calls must not be used as the only record of decisions or agreed actions.
  3.
Where a phone call takes place, I require a written summary by email or text afterwards.
  4.
My communication should not be reframed as confusion, non-cooperation, aggression, or refusal where I am raising specific access, safety, evidence, or legal concerns.
  5.
I require continuity of case handling wherever possible. Repeated referral back through duty is not accessible for me and causes foreseeable loss of information.
  6.
My support worker, advocate, solicitor, or nominated person should be included where appropriate, especially for complex meetings or decisions.
  7.
No case should be closed while active safeguarding risks, care-plan errors, financial assessment issues, or housing safety issues remain unresolved.
  8.
Evidence should be reviewed in the form provided where possible. I cannot repeatedly convert thousands of emails, screenshots, social media records, recordings, and documents into whatever format each new officer prefers.

These are practical adjustments. They are not optional politeness extras.

Safeguarding concerns requiring written clarification

Please confirm, in writing, whether safeguarding concerns have been opened, reviewed, screened, closed, or declined in relation to the following:

  1.
The continued lack of safe and suitable disability adaptations at my home.
  2.
The lack of kitchen sink, meaning I am still washing dishes in the bathroom sink next to the toilet.
  3.
Exposed wires and holes in walls.
  4.
The bathroom/wet room remaining unsafe and not properly adapted.
  5.
The toilet frame I had to secure myself because the fitted safety measures were not provided, including the remaining protruding screw/trip hazard.
  6.
The inaccessible garden steps and the refusal/failure to demonstrate how I am expected to navigate them safely in a wheelchair.
  7.
The failure to provide or complete suitable grab rails/adaptations despite repeated falls and agency concerns.
  8.
The broken TriRide/mobility equipment, which has left me unable to leave the street independently and has increased my dependence on taxis, Bus on Demand, carers, and support workers.
  9.
The repeated failure of agencies and officers to follow up after safeguarding concerns were raised by external bodies including Community Alarm, ambulance staff, fire service contacts, support workers, hospital staff, advocates, and others.

For each item, please provide:

  1.
The safeguarding reference number.
  2.
The date it was opened.
  3.
The officer/team responsible.
  4.
The current status.
  5.
Any decision not to progress it.
  6.
The written rationale for that decision.
  7.
The action plan, if one exists.

If no safeguarding concern exists for any of these issues, please explain why repeated reports of falls risk, unsafe adaptations, inaccessible essential facilities, and agency concerns have not triggered one.

Care charges and financial assessment
I have still not had a proper financial assessment for the care being charged.

Invoices and “friendly reminders” have been issued without a completed financial assessment, without a clear written charging decision, and without proper assessment of disability-related expenditure.

I have repeatedly explained that I have disability-related expenses of around £110 per week. These include practical support, equipment, mobility-related costs, and other expenses directly arising from disability and from SMBC’s failure to provide safe adaptations and accessible support.

Please confirm:

  1.
The date my current  current written care plan.

Please also confirm:

  1.
What care was originally commissioned.
  2.
What care I was recorded as accepting or refusing.
  3.
Whether my refusal of inappropriate intimate care has been incorrectly recorded as refusal of care generally.
  4.
What instructions were given to the agency after the 16 June review.
  5.
Whether Monday/Saturday or revised call times have been agreed.
  6.
Whether the agency can actually provide the revised support.
  7.
Whether Ali will remain involved until the revised arrangement is confirmed, implemented, and checked.
  8.
If Ali’s involvement has already been closed, please provide the closure date, closure rationale, and the name of the accountable manager who approved closure despite the unresolved issues listed in this email.

Housing and adaptations
My housing situation remains unsafe and unsuitable.

I still do not have a kitchen sink. I am still washing dishes in the bathroom sink next to the toilet. There are exposed wires and holes in walls. I have not seen my housing officers since I asked them to demonstrate how to navigate the garden steps safely in a wheelchair last summer.

I now have an NHS wheelchair that does not injure me in the way previous arrangements did, and I am trying to reclaim access to my garden and build an accessible cooking/growing space.

However, I am still being left to design workarounds around unsafe infrastructure rather than being provided with safe, lawful adaptations.

Please confirm:

  1.
Who currently owns the housing/adaptation risk register for my property.
  2.
What actions are open.
  3.
What actions have been closed.
  4.
Who closed them.
  5.
What dates and references apply.
  6.
When I will receive a written plan for the kitchen sink, bathroom, toilet frame, garden access, exposed wires, wall holes, thresholds, and other outstanding safety issues.

If SMBC’s position is that my garden, bathroom, kitchen, or entrance routes are safe for wheelchair use, please provide a written explanation and arrange for a relevant officer to demonstrate the safe route and method being relied upon.

Universal Credit and sick notes
I remain unable to properly access Universal Credit and I am being sanctioned or placed at risk because I cannot provide sick notes in the form being requested.

The GP keeps trying to describe me as depressed. That is not an accurate description of my functional position. My actual barriers are autism, ADHD, spinal cord injury, pain, mobility impairment, executive function barriers, and inaccessible systems. The issue is not lack of willingness to work. The issue is that the systems around housing, care, paperwork, benefits, and medical evidence have repeatedly failed to make reasonable adjustments.

I need practical support to resolve this, not more circular signposting.

Please confirm whether Adult Social Care, Housing, Revenue and Benefits, or another SMBC team accepts responsibility for coordinating with Universal Credit where council housing records, rent/housing element issues, care charges, and disability-related evidence overlap.

Information Management and SARs
Information Management is copied because lawful access to my own records is now central to every complaint, safeguarding concern, and legal submission, your delayed responses to previous concerns and incomplete SARs responses are hereby noted.

I have made legally valid requests for information. I require written clarification of:

  1.
The current status of all outstanding SARs/information requests.
  2.
The reference number for each request.
  3.
What searches have been completed.
  4.
What searches remain outstanding.
  5.
Whether any exemptions are being relied upon.
  6.
Whether any deadlines have been extended.
  7.
The date by which disclosure will be completed.

If SMBC is unable to provide records because records are missing, incomplete, inconsistent, or held across departments, please say that clearly rather than allowing silence to function as a shield.

Public record and external evidence
I have been documenting these issues publicly because internal routes have repeatedly failed to produce safe outcomes.

Relevant context is available here:
https://sites.google.com/view/wobblywanderer/context<https://sites.google.com/view/wobblywanderer/context⁠>
https://www.facebook.com/share/1946UMS7Ux/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariemeronymsmbctenant/details/projects/
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT81GELjAY3/?igsh=MWhxNGNwZHVxbGcwZA==

My wider public record and social media evidence can also be located by searching “Marie Meronym.”

I have asked Elizabeth Deegan to forward the first packet of SMBC leadership emails to the Housing Ombudsman with a list of other open references and an analysis of delay tactics around adaptations. I am also preparing submissions to other agencies.

This email is being sent to show that I am still approaching formal channels, still being open about the evidence, and still giving SMBC the opportunity to correct the record and act.

What I am asking for now
Please provide a written response confirming:

  1.
Who is the named accountable officer for this escalation.
  2.
Whether Ali Asghar’s case involvement remains open.
  3.
If it is closed, who approved closure and why.
  4.
What safeguarding concerns are open and under what references.
  5.
What safeguarding concerns have been declined or closed and why.
  6.
The current care plan.
  7.
The current agency instructions.
  8.
The status of the financial assessment.
  9.
Whether care-charge recovery is paused.
  10.
How disability-related expenditure will be assessed.
  11.
The current housing/adaptations action plan.
  12.
The status of all outstanding SARs/information requests.
  13.
The reasonable adjustments now recorded across SMBC systems.

Please acknowledge this email within 2 working days.

Please provide a substantive written response within 10 working days, or explain which statutory/complaints route is being used and the applicable response deadline.

For the avoidance of doubt, I do not consent to these concerns being reframed as a communication difficulty, personality issue, refusal of support, or general dissatisfaction. I am raising specific, evidenced concerns about safeguarding, disability access, care planning, charging, information rights, and continuity of public authority decision-making.

I am not relying on a response, because the pattern of non-response and partial response is already evidenced. However, I am formally giving SMBC and copied parties another opportunity to identify the accountable route, correct the records, and act before further external submissions are made.

Regards,
Marie Meronym

Transcript 2026 06 16 Ali Asgar SMBC Social Worker And Evette Hipkiss From Sharp My Support Worker (Ali keeps forgetting that using otter is a NECESSARY reasonable adjustment) I have many more recordings, but I'm saving the most useful.

Marie Meronym 0:02
Good morning.

Evette Hipkiss 0:19
I'm from a charity we're called Sharp, Sandwell Homeless and Resettlement Project. I'm a support worker. I support Marie a few hours a week, Ali.

Marie Meronym 0:34
And then Ali, I

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 0:38
thought it's gonna be a carer, but it's okay.

Marie Meronym 0:42
Yeah, no, I said my support worker support worker.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 0:45
I assumed it was gonna be one of your carers. Well, it's fine. Yeah,

Marie Meronym 0:50
yeah. No, the carers are due this afternoon.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 0:53
Yeah, a couple of minutes, I The first thing I always say to Marie is, don't record me, please. Yeah, it's an ongoing thing now, this one. Yes, I The weather's taken turn for the better.

Evette Hipkiss 1:39
It certainly has.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 1:40
It's going to get to the point now that we're gonna start complaining about it, because

Unknown 1:45
I complain in

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 1:52
the cold,

Unknown 1:54
you complain

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 1:55
when it's hot, even though there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Unknown 2:00
There

Marie Meronym 2:07
could you pass me that please Evette? I need to like renewing that blue badge to it, because run out, and that's been a pain. The carer was trying to park at the supermarket, like park on the end of a row, so that there's room for the chair, and no one will park it, but then, because it's lid, or people just park where there's not a space, like they park on the end of the row anyway, which then

Evette Hipkiss 2:33
have you got your pip letter?

Marie Meronym 2:37
Yeah,

Evette Hipkiss 2:37
with all your, you know, what points you get, yeah.

Marie Meronym 2:43
I

Evette Hipkiss 2:43
think that's all you need is a book to date photo.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 2:49
Marie, have you got a copy of that name change?

Marie Meronym 2:53
I've got it. I haven't got it signed yet by Vic, who's a friend of mine, who's I've known more than 10 years, so it's currently waiting to meet up with her to get a signature, and then I gotta take it with me to the solicitors at Blackpool on the 22nd of June

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 3:10
name is called your name down as Marie

Marie Meronym 3:12
at the moment. Yeah,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 3:16
I will change it to Marie Marie Name once you change it. Yeah,

Marie Meronym 3:20
yeah, I haven't done the finish the updating yet, because my tri ride has been damaged since last Easter. I broke it on the doors at the hospital trying to open them, so I've been patching it up since then, but it finally gave up the ghost on Friday, so I'm no longer able to get off the street unless I can walk was on demand or a taxi.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 3:48
May I take your name again, please? Sorry,

Evette Hipkiss 3:50
Evette Hip Kiss, Hip Kiss.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 4:00
Which organization

Evette Hipkiss 4:02
I work

Evette Hipkiss 4:25
for? Sharp, it's just Sharp. It's sandwwll homeless and resettlement project, I project,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 4:28
we say six months. How long do you support? For

Evette Hipkiss 4:30
I've been supporting about six months. Started

Marie Meronym 4:33
in January.

Unknown 4:37
Yeah, yeah. So we met pretty in December,

Marie Meronym 4:41
and then

Evette Hipkiss 4:42
that's right, yeah,

Marie Meronym 4:42
you came middle of January to talk about what you been doing.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 4:49
Good memories, I expect you're advocating with ourselves with housing department.

Marie Meronym 4:54
No, Elizabeth

Marie Meronym 4:56
Deegan from Aspire charity, and the solicitor called Michael

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 5:01
Vincent Elizabeth Egan.

Marie Meronym 5:04
Yes, she's been.. she's been in

Marie Meronym 5:07
the liaison with Aspire since January. Sorry, with the housing since January 2023

Unknown 5:17
people.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 5:21
I, regarding your housing, yet my purpose of this meeting is to go over the the support plan that we have in place at the moment, yeah, and see how does meeting lead and whether it needs any tinkering or whatever, yeah, make it more suitable for Marie's needs. You went on these before, don't you, Marie? Yeah,

Marie Meronym 5:57
well, my first concern, as I've raised several times, is that I have not had a financial assessment for this care, so I have to sign the contract without any forewarning or foreknowledge as to how much it's going to cost me. I have not received any paperwork about an assessment, but I have received invoices.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 6:19
So, first of concern is cost of care.

Marie Meronym 6:22
Yes,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 6:23
and you've been asked to sign something, have you?

Marie Meronym 6:25
Yeah, I had to sign a contract with the agency in order for them to provide the care, but there was no information about the financial cost of this care,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 6:43
this one you be assessed by ourselves, not by the agencies.

Marie Meronym 6:47
I understand that, but that's what I've been asking for, and so far nobody from Sandwell Council has contacted to

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 6:55
our joint care business unit. Yeah, this one's for assessing and billing, yeah, yeah, I did that, and they should be in touch with you.

Marie Meronym 7:06
They haven't gotten in touch with me, and so that really needs following up, because Sandwell policy and procedure, the care stuff does say that there will be a financial assessment, and that disability-related expenses will be taken into account, and I have bank statements going back to 2018 that show that I regularly pay 50 pounds per week in disability-related expenses for the kind of help that I need amongst other things, there's also the equipment that I haven't been able to claim back for, and things.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 7:51
So, you're aware of what procedures anybody got to charge? Oh,

Marie Meronym 7:54
yes. In fact, I've got correspondence with CBBU about that, going back to around 2019 and I had to take out a DRO road in October last year, specifically because of these care charges, I had to take out the DRO specifically because of the what did they call it, unfair care charges, was I think what they put on it's a debt relief

Marie Meronym 8:34
order,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 8:35
a debt relief order you

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 8:37
took a DRO,

Marie Meronym 8:38
I bid,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 8:39
is that against or fall, or

Marie Meronym 8:42
it means that the debts with Sandwell Council for rent, council tax, and care charges were written off for a period of one year, or frozen for a period of one year, along with other debts that I couldn't address because of the Sandwell situation, so if my financial situation changes during this year, and I come in to a lot of money, then I will need to pay the other debts off, but if I do not, which, given it's already been, and I still haven't even been able to sort out my Universal Credit yet. I seriously doubt that my satin situation is going to change before October. Then all of that debt gets written off entirely, and I just start rebuilding my credit history from zero, which is far easier than the situation I've been in. So I'm already halfway there, I and then so that obviously relieved a lot of stress, but then Sandwell CCBU have immediately issued new invoices in November and for this care agency, without providing any financial assessments, looking at my disability-related expenses, or doing a fair charges assessment, and they're continuing to send me what they call little friendly reminders that I owe them money that I don't need to owe

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 10:19
them. They've been sending you charges since November

Marie Meronym 10:22
statements and invoices, they did correct an invoice for some unbilled hours or some hours that they billed before previous

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 10:32
care.

Marie Meronym 10:32
So they did the same thing when Claudette arranged carers last year. She also did not give me any financial assessment or information before having you sign a care, a care agency contract.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 10:48
Can I make a distinction?

Marie Meronym 10:49
Yes,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 10:50
between what you sign with ourselves and what you sign with the care agency.

Marie Meronym 10:55
Yes,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 10:57
the care agency stuff is it's one of their sort of own internal, you know, do's and don'ts. Yeah, under what circumstances they provide care. Yeah, it explains all their own rules and regulations, and anyone they're sort of providing a service to, the expected sign that to say that they'll abide by the rules, they're not required. They about to look at it. Yeah, it's quite comprehensive in terms of the obligations that the agency has towards you, and you know what you have basically a contractor working with you. It is so plus what we do. That's

Marie Meronym 11:47
nothing to do with the payment that is that isn't that's in order to be able to get the help from the agency, but before agreeing to the agency and saying yes, I like I'm signing the contract for your help. There is a financial implication for it through Sandwell, and so legally, according to their own policy and procedure, in between agreeing with the assessment with Ali and saying yes, this care plan matches the needs that we discussed in my assessment, and I'm happy to sign this and proceed. There should then be a financial assessment by Sandwell to say, right, for 12 hours of care per week, or in my case, out hours of care per week, based on the information that you've provided, your financial, like the amount of money that you have left over is x amount, your care charges are this amount, so they, they, they total it all based on how, like, what the care agency charges per hour. So this agency has agreed to provide eight hours of care for me at a set cost to Sandwell. At what point, like, there, they're going to transfer that cost of care to me, and they will make a deduction, or they will base that cost of care, what I pay towards it on my financial situation, and so that financial assessment, although it's not a part of the care agency's remit, it should have been completed before the care agency involved. I cannot Sandwell council, and I should have known before signing that contract, I should have had written information to say, Marie, if you accept this care support from this agency, they're going to give you eight hours care as per their contract, and Sodwell is going to charge you this amount of money as per your available funds after you've met these basic needs, and then they have very set figures. This is from when I worked at Citizens Advice,, so they sound well, have got set figures that are for their set by CFS, Sandwell have no control over these figures, and it has allowances for things like groceries and personal care and stuff like that, and that said that assessment hasn't been done since 2018 and it's not been a year, but

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 14:03
Well, can I just say that the reason it happens like this is because inevitably the CCBU assessment, they take longer than ours, so either we could wait, either we can wait until that's done, and then start the service. Yeah, most cases nobody wants that. They want to start the service first.

Marie Meronym 14:29
Absolutely, which is why I signed the contract, even though I didn't know how much it's going to cost me.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 14:35
But the whole out of that is that the contract, the, they're going to assess you later,

Marie Meronym 14:42
right? But my assessment hasn't taken place, Ali, and

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 14:48
it doesn't take place. They're taking their time, yeah, which is why I've been

Marie Meronym 14:54
asking you to chase that as my social worker and the person that put the care plan in place.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 14:59
I did chase them, okay?

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 15:01
Yeah, I did send an email to them yesterday. They do it automatically, yeah,

Marie Meronym 15:05
yeah.

Marie Meronym 15:06
Once they contact them, please them yesterday. Could you please serve stuff, because causing a stress? Yes,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 15:12
yeah.

Marie Meronym 15:15
Can I

Marie Meronym 15:17
ask, why you took action yesterday? Because it's been a while since I emailed you, so I mean, did it take you that long to get through your emails?

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 15:25
No, no, Marie, they, as soon as the plan's put in place, yeah, that triggers an assessment from them. It doesn't require me to chase them, but require me to say to them, go on assessor now. Okay,

Marie Meronym 15:39
okay, that seems to be a systems process at Sandwell.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 15:42
Okay, so what do you want to do? Then you want to start, you want to continue with the care, or do you want to wait until it's assessed?

Marie Meronym 16:01
I need to continue with the care, because, especially with a broken tri ride, I have no other way to get a bridge in the grocery shops, but because the tri ride is broken, I need the agency to send carers with a vehicle that they can drive to the store, because I've been telling them, might be why my tri ride broke, I've been towing the carers that don't have car on the tri ride trailer, and that works for a bag or to a groceries, because we can get down to the shop very quickly, get what I need, and then put the shopping on the trailer to bring it back, and they walk alongside with the basg.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 16:40
What's it called a tri ride? Yeah,

Marie Meronym 16:43
yeah, there's a trailer behind the wheelchair.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 16:45
It's broken down.

Marie Meronym 16:46
No, the tri ride itself is broken down. It's been playing up since last year, I can't afford to pay for insurance because I up to now been struggling just to cause food until the car went back. It should be covered by warranty. That's one of the things I've got a query with the manufacturers, although the warranty required

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 17:21
repairs trying it.

Marie Meronym 17:24
I have no idea. That's something that I've got to troubleshoot during next week, but I've got enough stuff stacked up to deal with for this week that I'm just for this week I'm just doing the work around for the tri ride. So that and I have got a list of my commitments for this week, and we'll get on to booking those on demand, and or making notes of when I need taxis after you've left.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 17:49
Are you helping organize

Evette Hipkiss 17:54
trying to.. well, Marie organizes me to do what she tells me to do.

Marie Meronym 17:59
I can, I can plan out my calendar, but trying to book the bus on demand or talk to people on the phone is beyond me, and so

Evette Hipkiss 18:08
we've got a few appointments to make. Yeah,

Marie Meronym 18:12
yeah, Evette basically steps in on behalf of any of my processes that don't work and translates for me on the phone, so you're my human translator with

Evette Hipkiss 18:34
anybody trouble hearing me today.

Marie Meronym 18:37
Speaking of which, would you like me to do your quick honey and Lemon,

Evette Hipkiss 18:38
no.

Evette Hipkiss 18:41
Thank

Marie Meronym 18:41
you. Sure, I

Evette Hipkiss 18:42
went 100% positive. Thank you. My granddaughter went to a little birthday party last week, or the week before, and I had to take her because the mom was at work, and one of the little boys there had a snotty nose that kept saying to this little boy, go to your mommy, get Mommy to wipe your nose. My granddaughter decided to play with this little boy, so she's got cold, but passed it on to one of us.

Marie Meronym 19:10
Parents that take their kids to parties when they're clearly sick, so just

Marie Meronym 19:17
no responsibility or consideration.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 19:24
So they're coming today, yeah, they're going to take you with them, are they?

Marie Meronym 19:27
Yeah, so what I was being talking with the agency about, and they said I'd need to discuss with you, is to please change the day of my course, because we've been having lots of trouble coordinating to meet up for swimming, and at Dorothy Parks, just because their call can start up to half an hour before or after. So I've had carers arrive 10 minutes after the swimming session started, which didn't allow me time to swim that day. If we can separate, I'll make my own way to Dorothy Parks and swimming. I've now found ways to just make the buildings be accessible instead.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 20:07
So you make

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 20:08
your own way to work.

Marie Meronym 20:09
I'll make my own. I'll do swimming and my exercise independently. I don't have to change at Dorothy Parks. I can just go in my kit, do the class, come straight home, and so Bus on Demand will work for that, or a taxi, if I can't get Bus on Demand. Yeah, for the pool, the local disability groups have agreed that the building in accessibility is the issue, that disabled people shouldn't have to pay for a carer,

Evette Hipkiss 20:39
exactly, with it being a brand new building, they should have made it accessible,

Marie Meronym 20:43
so then just keep naming the MP and challenge that. But in the meantime, I can get to the pool, and then the staff at the pool have actually agreed that I can leave my wheelchair poolside, and the guards will keep an eye on it as best they can, although they can't take responsibility for it, but if a parent lets their white kid climb on the pack on the chair, I'll just make them pay 20 quid for me to go and take it up to the laundry and get a cushion dry straight away. Time to watch their kids, but I am going to put cover over it as well to make that harder, because I don't, I just don't want wet kids on my chair. But then the staff will get it back to the changing room, and they agree that there should be something like supermarket trolley storage at the poolside to facilitate both disabled people and pushchairs. So, from the carers' perspective, if they could, if I could have the calls on a Monday and a Saturday,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 21:40
so which, which call you on changing both of them?

Marie Meronym 21:42
Yeah, if the Tuesday call could move to a Monday, or

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 21:49
if

Marie Meronym 21:50
they need it on the same day, just later that same day. If it's possible to change the day, then to make it a Monday anytime, anytime to sit there,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 22:04
Tuesday calls changed to Monday.

Marie Meronym 22:06
Yeah, I either change on Monday anytime to accommodate the agency, because it would be to go shopping and library, so there's no.. I don't.. I don't want to have the carers need to meet a set time anywhere that got really stressed or really fast. No,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 22:25
but they have to be set times,

Marie Meronym 22:30
but I can work with their whatever the agency has available. Well,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 22:34
let's set some notional times. Okay, so notional

Marie Meronym 22:37
times 10am in the morning, I'm usually composed,

Evette Hipkiss 22:43
yeah, you're

Evette Hipkiss 22:43
normally good to go by then,

Marie Meronym 22:49
so it'd be 10 till two or two till six if they, if they prefer the afternoon slap, so you

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 23:10
realize they can't be that fluid, they can't be that fluid. No, I know,

Marie Meronym 23:15
I know. Yeah, so they might, for example, even if they say yes till yes for the 10 till two, say they might arrive 930 or 1030 depending on traffic and stuff like that. If someone say has a fall or something, they might be later because they'll be delayed. I get all that. That's why I said I'm not, I don't need to specify a time, just whatever four hour block works best, long as it finishes by 6pm

Evette Hipkiss 23:47
You and me both,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 23:49
okay? What about the second call? So

Marie Meronym 23:51
the second call on a Thursday, the exercise class finishes at two, so if it has to be the same day, then it needs to be 330 onwards, would be to make sure that I can get back from my exercise class and get back before they arrive, but otherwise have a couple

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 24:17
times first. Yeah, yeah,

Marie Meronym 24:19
3:30pm on a Thursday or on a Friday from 12pm onwards, 330 till, oh, four hours, 730 Well, I would have my dinner during the call, and when they leave, I wouldn't have been on screen, so I'll be cleared to fall in bed.

Evette Hipkiss 24:47
That's a happy table all over that boy. Did I tell you that I'm wonderful? So, when the car is meeting you on

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 24:56
330

Marie Meronym 24:57
at home to come to come to here, and then we can go shopping in library, and then

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 25:06
go to the library. Yeah,

Evette Hipkiss 25:08
and shopping

Marie Meronym 25:12
now. It's a bit more local, but I'll have to get to the market West Bromwich myself too quick to get to the town center, good, yeah, and that no stress, because I can just book that anytime, you know what I mean, like just go on the app and be like, right, I haven't got where would the

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 25:33
carer meet you on the Monday

Marie Meronym 25:36
at home, yeah, but just from here it's too stressful trying to make sure I can get transport to coordinate than a with meeting somewhere else, because they could turn up half hour before or after me. to start and end the call here and go from here to shopping and library and also now with the two different chairs can fit in any other cars, there's not been a car that they couldn't

Marie Meronym 26:14
fit in so far anyways, most cars just

Marie Meronym 26:23
put it on the front seat. It's been challenging with having different people, because there's no accountability when things get broken. I've had to replace things or put things aside to replace most weeks, and also because they don't know me, they don't understand the systems here, so they move things around. I was telling the vet someone unsorted three loads of laundry, they're taking me nearly an hour to move everything to the right place in like two minutes, and it took me four days to get caught up.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 27:04
Okay, so it's been a bit challenging, yeah. Anything else,

Marie Meronym 27:11
which is the stress of not knowing how much it's going to actually cost when an assessment does take place. Yeah, but I'm just saying, but there's the stress around that isn't isn't helping, and then yeah, when I, when I contact the office, and this is my mistake that I'm taking responsibility for. There's been two times where I've contacted the office, and we've discussed a change, and then I've forgotten, so one example was last Thursday I spoke to Heena and explained about the trouble with coordinating meeting the carers away from home, because I don't know if they're going to be driving or not, and things, and we agreed

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 27:55
just go straight with the care of the carers office. Yeah,

Marie Meronym 27:58
so and we agreed that we would cancel meeting the carers at venues until I could talk to you and they would just come straight to the house at the start of the call instead and I'll just skip those activities to the picture of it and and this is where my mistake came in during the call I said I would still go into the seated exercise last week, because it was on my app. There's transport already booked, and I was like, the amount of work that went into that, I'm not canceled.

Evette Hipkiss 28:29
Yeah,

Marie Meronym 28:30
or after the call I had, like, after that phone call the next morning, first thing I had a physio appointment, and I'd forgotten about it until 10 past seven when the phone came on, because battery died nightmare morning, but I made it to physio for 730 Well, then I ended up canceling Dorothy Parks, thinking I surely must have thought about I remembered talking to Heena about canceling meeting the carers out and about, and thought that I was supposed to have canceled the Dorothy Parks, and because I didn't have anything written to remind me, I went ahead and canceled transport, and then the poor carer went to Dorothy Parks to meet me, and I said, "I'm really sorry, this is my fault, I'll tell the agency you've checked in from whatever time you arrived there, but please can you come to the house? So that was on me for not remembering, but I have asked in writing a few times that if I have a phone call with anyone that I get sent over a text or an email or some sort of written confirmation,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 29:38
you forgot about the physio.

Marie Meronym 29:41
No, it was on my calendar. My phone battery had died, so I, when I turned my phone on when it got bit charged, and the first thing it said was physio at 730 and I looked at the clock, and it was 711 so I panicked and booked an Uber, scrambled to get my shoes on, I was already dressed because I slept in my clothes that night after course, so that I can remember stuff, having the calls start and end at the house would sort out the transport coordination problem, that's that's it. They've been really helpful last week's. I think her name was Anj or Anji Brilliant. She's got a son who's on the spectrum, and just the extra time she gave me to respond to things I and patience when I forgot something at the supermarket, and we had to loop around, was really appreciated. She was a really good match, I

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 31:06
so basic, basically, times are the same, but you're doing different things, getting shopping and library,

Marie Meronym 31:15
yeah, well, the the library, instead of, instead of seated exercise, but yeah, like these are things that I normally do, but normally I use the tri ride to go to the library and just stop by whenever I've got library plus. If I roll up and they're closed, I can still get in, so I don't normally do a set day or time for it. Just swing by on a Friday, Scott Arms Loop.

Evette Hipkiss 31:42
What's that? time

Marie Meronym 31:45
you sign up and then you can just go in the library when they're closed, you just use a library card at the door and type anything till 10pm I used to use it to get a toilet until 10pm so and then now I've

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 32:06
got to say review is that maybe not to those changes. Yeah, and then the continue without social work. Yeah, okay. So you won't help me for social work anymore. All

Marie Meronym 32:31
right, so you're not going to review in six weeks to see if these changes are working out or follow up to make sure that review that or anything.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 32:40
We're looking at what is happening, and you accept what the change, what changes you want.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 32:46
Yeah, so we put those in place, okay. And then

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 32:52
if she needs a social worker in future, she's got to go through a duty.

Marie Meronym 32:56
Well, hang on, before we do that, I've got

Marie Meronym 32:58
the emails here that I sent you, because I was warned that something like this might happen, and there were, as you'll recall, a lot more issues than just the carers when you were first referred, or when I was first referred to you in December, and all of those issues are still outstanding, for example, the council tax court cases, and all the benefits issues, the welfare rights council tax stuff. There are their issues, the new ones with the CCBU that are causing issues. My tri ride equipment being broken means that my mobility around the community has been severely impaired.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 33:41
What

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 33:41
other issues you

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 33:42
have,

Marie Meronym 33:42
I okay. Well, with the broken tri ride, I can't afford to repair it, and so without that, I'm unable to leave this street. So getting anywhere, I'm now very restricted down to the bus on demand and needing assistance to get off the street, so some help to apply, for example, for a grant to get the tri ride repair from either local welfare provision or specific disability fund would be greatly appreciated. I've been advised that for

Evette Hipkiss 34:20
I could look into it for a boy, or could have looked into it for you. Okay,

Marie Meronym 34:28
then the

Marie Meronym 34:31
issues around safety in the property. So, although I note from the emails that you had asked for someone to bolt down the frame, I ended up doing that myself, as I explained back in March. Now that reduced my falls to next to zero. I've had one fall in the garden since then, because the garden remains inaccessible. As far as the toilet frame goes, the OT has chased this, as well as have community alarms, I believe. But when I bolted down the toilet frame, being disabled, I wasn't able to get all of the screws into the floor. I had a spinal cord injury, and that job required a hammer drill. It's called an SDS drill, some specialist equipment. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the last hole deep enough, and there's a screw that's still sticking up that's both a trip hazard as well as quite sharp and potentially dangerous. Couple of agencies have raised safeguardings around that, and just the fact that the bark, the frame has only been bolted down by a disabled person and can't be considered as a solid fitted frame for safety purposes.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 35:51
You close the OT, haven't you?

Marie Meronym 35:52
About that, I've told Trish the OT. She said that she'll follow up with repairs around getting the wet room floor fixed.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 36:02
This was

Marie Meronym 36:03
her name is Trish, Trish Edwards. She called last Friday, said that she was getting back in touch with repairs, and got several emails from her regarding repairs, and several questions for Sarah Ager about both complaints around repairs receptions and safe learning,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 36:34
that's with right people. These are dealing with that, they're the right people to deal with it. Anything else

Marie Meronym 36:40
from the social care perspective, yeah, so I'm Yvette's helping me to chase the GP today, but I've been having an issue with Universal Credit and Sandwell Council, where first of all the GP wants to issue or issues, any sick note that said, "I'm depressed. I'm not depressed. What the GP note should say is that I'm capable of working part-time with support, and that the reason that I need the support is because I've got ADHD, autism, and spinal cord injury. Instead, depressed would not provide the support that I need to be able to work, so I've been asking for a face-to-face appointment with the GP in writing for several months now, and instead they just keep either phoning out of the blue and then saying we'll have to look into this and get back to you, or just ignoring the emails completely, so I've been stuck in a circle for several years now where I can't get housing payments because Sandwell Council keep telling Universal Credit that I don't need housing payments or that situation here is housing

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 37:59
benefit payments I

Marie Meronym 38:00
don't get any housing benefit payments or housing element of Universal Credit, and I have the housing

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 38:10
department, right,

Marie Meronym 38:11
but they come under social in terms of when I'm looking for support for these things, and so social practitioners at the social practitioner at the surgery, along with several of our advocates, have all been trying to deal with the housing alley as well as social care, so it's not just me that's having the communication issues with Sandwell, while there is several, yeah, her name is Samina, no, Fahima Ali, she's a social prescriber, and I've got emails from her going back to November, simply saying I've tried contacting Samuel Council, and no one gets back to me.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 38:54
So she's been trying to raise the housing issue. Yeah,

Marie Meronym 38:56
yes. So, how's your Jektarina from the fire service since I was at Manifold Year Grange last March, and she's been raising concerns about both properties, regarding wheelchair accessible, and raised like two safeguard and concerns that remain unaddressed, I

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 39:27
You're dealing with housing as well,

Evette Hipkiss 39:30
not exactly that.

Marie Meronym 39:33
There are already six other assets involved, so no, Evette helps me with the fallout from all of this.

Evette Hipkiss 39:39
I'm not prepared to get involved with the housing side of it, because of that many people are already helping with

Marie Meronym 39:46
it and

Evette Hipkiss 39:49
getting in a mess when other people are already doing things, plus

Marie Meronym 39:54
it would be a waste of events' time, as I said, Fahima

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 39:59
social prescriber,

Marie Meronym 40:00
there's a social prescriber called Fahima Ali. There's Elizabeth Deegan the Aspire person.

Evette Hipkiss 40:09
Slow down, see the thing is,

Marie Meronym 40:11
but we've already discussed this

Marie Meronym 40:13
several times since January. You should already be in the notes, all of it.

Evette Hipkiss 40:17
It can't type fast enough together.

Marie Meronym 40:20
They should already be on the report,

Evette Hipkiss 40:22
that's his baby, he can't read an old report and write new stuff at the same time, so what he's doing is he's refreshing everything, and then more than likely go back, and

Marie Meronym 40:40
so at the moment there's Elizabeth Degan from Aspire charity. She's been involved since 2023 There was Councilor Jackie Taylor between 2020 and 2023 but she ghosted me and just disappeared after the MDT that she arranged. Nothing's been followed up since. True story. you know that's the time when she actually got that position that she's in now, working for them under a very nice salary.

Evette Hipkiss 41:11
So, is she still a local councillor?

Marie Meronym 41:14
I'm not sure.

Evette Hipkiss 41:16
Have you got a poster?

Marie Meronym 41:18
My counselors don't show up on that, it's something I've been posting online about. I'll show you separately, but when I click on my counselors, that's been blank for several years. I've been sharing screenshots.

Evette Hipkiss 41:29
Okay.

Marie Meronym 41:32
Systems

Marie Meronym 41:33
analysis. So, Elizabeth Deegan from Aspire Charity, since January 23 Councilor Taylor from 2020 until 23 there was also Michelle O'Neal from Key Ring. She was for two years, I think, between 2020 Michelle O'Neal, she was from Key Ring, she There was Maria Weissman

Evette Hipkiss 42:09
just picking at names in the phone book bag

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 42:14
being involved.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 42:16
She's

Marie Meronym 42:17
from Community Offer over at St Albans. She got you involved,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 42:21
because

Marie Meronym 42:22
she, what happened with her was, she seen the emails from when I met with James McLaughlin in February. She reached out to James McLaughlin in November, knowing that I had had a meeting with him, because she discussed the content at that meeting with Elizabeth, and James emailed her back, saying, "Oh, this isn't my remit, you need to talk to an Helen Oxley, Helen, I believe this is someone that people from housing have been dealing with. Like, he doesn't know anything about it, so that's why she got you involved, because you can see that it's BS time. So you're my shield, yeah. And then after solicitors, so in terms of solicitors, as Express Solicitors, they've been involved since 2023 several people there, they'll be submitting claims for every single fall recorded, for whoever it was recorded, the council, the GP, the ambulance service, or hospital,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 43:25
we got so many people involved.

Unknown 43:26
Yes,

Marie Meronym 43:27
supporting you and

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 43:28
your housing, that's why I won't get

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 43:29
involved.

Marie Meronym 43:30
Yeah, because they're

Marie Meronym 43:31
all meeting the same blocks, so there's a housing ombudsman, then are reviewing every open complaint going back to 2016 because they're all connected, so that's taken a while, and then the housing we've already said the housing solicitor, there was see Jim Brennan, he was from Kaleidoscope, this therapy, yeah, bloody good guy for two years,

Evette Hipkiss 44:01
he's brilliant.

Marie Meronym 44:02
Oh, he tried his

Marie Meronym 44:03
best, he was, he was fab, but he met the same, Kaleid Escape.

Evette Hipkiss 44:14
He's been off sick foot on and off for a little bit.

Marie Meronym 44:21
There was Lorraine Ashman from Sean Bailey's MP office. So, my MP, Sean Bailey, was involved for a while. He's not an MP anymore. I'm not surprised he was rubbish. Almost as bad as Sarah Coombes. I've been asking her for help for over a year and documenting that online, and I'm about to step that up and show what she's actually meaning, local

Marie Meronym 44:49
businesses, or the only thing on here for

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 44:52
me to do is to review the times from the agency, yeah,

Marie Meronym 44:58
or to chase up the financial side of the contracts that you have, they

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 45:05
should not do their job, okay?

Marie Meronym 45:07
But if they don't, rather than just deflecting, Ali, wouldn't it be better to get for you to follow up on everything that you put in place, just to make sure that nobody else

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 45:18
write this up, make the changes, and then it'll be closed from me, yeah.

Marie Meronym 45:22
Okay. Well, I don't feel that you're closing it without checking that anything that you put in place. However, if that's what you choose to do, you go ahead and do that.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 45:33
That doesn't mean we're going to stop helping you. Any further help you need, you contact us by inquiry in the duty officer,

Marie Meronym 45:40
okay? So the problem with that is this is what keeps happening, and then there isn't anyone that actually understands neurodivergency involved, or any, any like continuation of care. So I've had you were social worker number seven in less than a 12 month period, Ali, and it has taken six months to get to the point where the care plan is as far as it is, I don't actually have any idea from this conversation how this discussion is going to pan out. What days the care agency is going to get in touch to be able to do when you submit that. For example, if this agency says we can't accommodate those dates, then I'm going to get in touch with, put in touch with an entire new agency that's going to generate a new contract, so I appreciate it if you could actually stay involved,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 46:29
go to don't jump ahead to the point where it's not going to work.

Marie Meronym 46:33
I'm not

Marie Meronym 46:33
saying it's not going to stay involved until you're sure that things have gone through smoothly, and the new care plan is in place, rather than just dropping the ball now, so that if there is a problem, I would have to start from scratch. That's a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act, Ali, to make sure that there is a continuation of care for once from Sandwell Council, because making

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 47:03
taking digs,

Marie Meronym 47:05
but I've clearly three times why I would appreciate you saying really things can go wrong.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 47:16
I've told you what I'm going to do. You made a valid point, and I'm going to write that down, okay? And

Marie Meronym 47:22
you're still going to close it anyway.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 47:24
Sorry,

Marie Meronym 47:24
that's what I'm asking. I'm challenging you. Closing.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 47:24
Let me finish what I'm saying. Just

Unknown 47:26
listen, okay? Finish

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 47:28
what I'm saying. You've asked for these times, yeah? Right, I'm going to change them. You made the valid point that please check with the agency that they can do it before signing off. Okay, which I will do. That was a reasonable thing to say.

Marie Meronym 47:46
Thank you. And I'm agreeing to that.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 47:52
You can make your point, do

Evette Hipkiss 48:38
Thanks to my grand daughter,

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 48:39
you had. Thank you very much for attending.

Evette Hipkiss 48:41
I was here anyway. I'm going to give you my office one back. It's oh 1215589329 Is 9329 If I'm not there, they will always take a message. I have to make that same with you. Did Igive you the office number?

Marie Meronym 48:55
Yeah,

Evette Hipkiss 48:55
because the problem I've got is with the mobile phone, it rings three times and cuts off, so I don't always get to the phone in time, and if I'm driving, I can't answer it anyway.

Marie Meronym 48:55
Well, if I don't, and you don't answer, I'll normally, unless it's urgent, I'd normally just send a text to say, "don't worry, I was just calling because X Y Z C whenever you have time.

Evette Hipkiss 48:55
You're one of the sensible ones. Two missed calls from a private number yesterday, and no voicemail.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 48:55
Thank you. you for that. Yeah, thank you. You

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 48:55
need this, don't you? Not me.

Marie Meronym 48:55
Yeah, thank you.

Evette Hipkiss 48:55
I was having a little nosy, I

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 47:24
I incorporate some of this into the review. Is that okay?

Marie Meronym 48:55
Yeah. Thank you.

Ali Asghar SMBC Social Worker 48:55
Thank you. Seeing me,

Marie Meronym 50:21
no worries. Thank you. Did

Evette Hipkiss 50:46
you just tell.

This transcript was generated by https://otter.ai

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:29:44 +0000Formal notice: ongoing risk, maladministration, and request for

From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>

Recovered Gmail email record
Archive: marie_gmail
MBOX position: 531
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:29:44 +0000
From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>
To: Shokat Ali Lal <shokat_lal@sandwell.gov.uk>
Cc: Alan Lunt <alan_lunt@sandwell.gov.uk>, Alice Davey
	<Alice1_Davey@sandwell.gov.uk>, Anna Blennerhassett
	<anna_blennerhassett@sandwell.gov.uk>, Cathy Leyser
	<cathy_leyser@sandwell.gov.uk>, Christine Guest
	<christineanne_guest@sandwell.gov.uk>, Claire Mackowski
	<Claire_mackowski@sandwell.gov.uk>, Claudette Simon
	<claudette_simon@sandwell.gov.uk>, Colin Marsh <colin_marsh@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	David Wilcox <david_wilcock@sandwell.gov.uk>, Deshrine Burgher
	<deshrine_burgher@sandwell.gov.uk>, "Elizabeth  Deegan"
	<elizabeth.deegan@aspire.org.uk>, Fiona Main <fiona_main@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Info Management <info_management@sandwell.gov.uk>, Jackie Taylor
	<Jackie_Taylor@Sandwell.gov.uk>, James McLaughlin
	<James_mclaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk>, "Janet  Fergus"
	<Janet_fergus@sandwell.gov.uk>, "Janet  Robinson"
	<Janet_robinson@sandwell.gov.uk>, Janet Millett
	<janet_millett@sandwell.gov.uk>, Kerrie Carmichael
	<kerrie_carmichael@sandwell.gov.uk>, Koser Shaheen
	<koser_shaheen@sandwell.gov.uk>, LCO Leadership Team <LCO@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Lina Martino <lina_martino@sandwell.gov.uk>, Lisa Ellis
	<Lisa_ellis@sandwell.gov.uk>, Lisa Gardner <lisa_gardner@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Lisa McNally <lisa_mcnally@sandwell.gov.uk>, "Louise  Oshea"
	<louise_oshea@sandwell.gov.uk>, Mandy Amos <Mandy_amos@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	"Marnie  Cavell" <marnie_cavell@sandwell.gov.uk>, "Martha  Chikobvu"
	<martha_chikobvu@sandwell.gov.uk>, Nigel Collumbell
	<nigel_collumbell@sandwell.gov.uk>, "Parvez  Muzaffar"
	<parvez_muzaffar@sandwell.gov.uk>, Paul Fisher <paul_fisher@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Rachel Cotterill <Rachel_Cotterill@sandwell.gov.uk>, Rajiv Kapoor
	<rajiv_kapoor@sandwell.gov.uk>, Rashpal Bishop
	<rashpal_bishop@sandwell.gov.uk>, Sandwell Enquiry
	<sandwell_enquiry@sandwell.gov.uk>, Sarah Ager <sarah_agar@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Sarah Coombes Coombes <Sarah.coombes.mp@parliament.uk>, Scott Arms Medical
 Centre <m88021.receptionists@nhs.net>, Steve Melia SMBC Mayor
	<Mayors_parlour@sandwell.gov.uk>, Surjit Tour <surjit_tour@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Suzanne Hartwell <Suzanne_Hartwell@Sandwell.gov.uk>, Toni Watton
	<Toni_watton@sandwell.gov.uk>, Trisha Blackstock
	<trisha_blackstock@sandwell.gov.uk>, Vicki Smith
	<Vicki_Smith@Sandwell.gov.uk>, Vinod Verma <vinod_verma@sandwell.gov.uk>,
	Yvonne Willets <Yvonne_willets@sandwell.gov.uk>, Helen Charles
	<helen.charles@sandwelladvocacy.org>, Scott Arms Medical Centre
	<m88021.receptionists@nhs.net>, "elaine_Oxley@sandwell.gov.uk"
	<elaine_Oxley@sandwell.gov.uk>
Subject: Formal notice: ongoing risk, maladministration, and request for
 immediate leadership intervention
Message-ID: 
 <OSEP279MB1389EC0A6CDC3BE24F805D77C18CA@OSEP279MB1389.NORP279.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>
Attachments recorded: 1

--- Recovered email body ---
This is an email where the Head of DEI escalates serious concerns raised in the attached document to the Assistant CEO Nov 2024 - issues all remain unaddressed and I continue to experience preventable injuries using the toilet because of an instable temporary toilet frame while remaining unable to maintain my own garden due to steps.
[cid:98cfb8b2-978d-4b24-8d20-77ccb19ed654]

This is an email where the Assistant CEO apologises for the trauma I experienced and promises to remove blocks Feb 2025
[cid:694faf6b-72d0-4744-b87b-71e189178ec9]

This is an email from an advocate reminding Assistant CEO  about their responsibilities.
[cid:9f4c3a7f-94a8-4430-b1a9-c784a6689dd2]

This is an email raising concerns because the Assistant CEO sent me BACK to Manifoldia Grange, knowing how traumatic my first stay was, and how inaccessible the whole building is.
[cid:7844e92e-d498-4a9a-acaa-3233123b8d63]

Insert your own emails here Shokat because I need to keep filesize down for this to send,  and the abbreviated timeline is clear even to someone as befuddled as I was.

Anyhoo, here's me submitting a formal complaint about the Assistant CEO to the CEO in May 2025 (haven't received responses yet but I didn't expect to)
[cid:b6f4c8a7-3ecd-4710-b632-edba29d8dc69]

And here's an email from the Assistant CEO claiming this doesn't fall under his remit, October 2025, over 6 months after accepting responsibility for resolving things.
[cid:10f66816-eed0-45ef-ac6a-b8d84bbc10cd]

A TINY sample of my OneDrive contents https://www.facebook.com/share/1BCYy1rADk/  I'll be uploading the whole timeline here with hospital discharge letters documenting injuries from falls etc Shokat🖕🏽)

Good morning Shokat,
I am writing following yet another fall in my bathroom at around 4am this morning, caused by the instability of the temporary toilet frame I have been forced to rely on for over five years. This is not an isolated incident. It is part of a well-documented pattern of avoidable risk created by Sandwell MBC’s continued failure to provide basic, legally required accessibility adaptations.
This morning a technician attended to address a “wobbly sink” and was visibly shocked to discover that there is no sink at all, and that five years after moving in, my home has still not been made wheelchair-accessible. The kitchen layout was unsafe, the cooker placement increased risk, and the only adaptations present are piecemeal NHS-installed grab rails and door strips. This is not compliance with housing or equality law. It is a danger zone.
I was also contacted by the community alarm provider, who advised that my “free” period is ending and that I should now begin paying, despite the fact that they are attending multiple times per week because my home environment is unsafe. Charging me for emergency responses created by Sandwell’s failure to adapt my home is not ethical, and their call-out records will form part of the evidence trail.
For the avoidance of doubt, I hold a large body of contemporaneous evidence showing that senior officers were aware of the risks, the trauma I experienced at Manifoldia Grange, and the urgent need to resolve my housing situation. This includes:

  *
Emails from the Head of DEI escalating concerns to the Assistant CEO
  *
Apologies and commitments from the Assistant CEO acknowledging the harm caused
  *
Advocacy correspondence reminding senior leadership of their responsibilities
  *
Evidence that I was sent back to Manifoldia Grange despite it being known to be unsafe and traumatising

I have also submitted a formal complaint about the Assistant CEO to the Chief Executive. I have yet to receive a response.
I am now properly supported around my neurodivergence (Autism and ADHD) and trauma, and I am calmly, methodically documenting every interaction with Sandwell staff. This includes care needs assessments, visits, phone calls, and the repeated failure to issue paperwork or implement agreed support. The pattern is already clear.
I am not asking for special treatment. I am asking for what the law already requires:
A safe, accessible home and a small amount of practical support (around 3–4 hours twice a week) so that I can live independently and safely.
To everyone copied into this email:
Please look at the evidence I am publishing and storing, including my public record of events. Ask yourselves whether silence and internal loyalty matter more than basic safety, legality, and human dignity. Whistleblowing, safeguarding escalation, or simply telling the truth internally could prevent further harm.
This situation will not quietly go away. It will either be resolved properly now, or it will be examined later by Ombudsmen, regulators, and the courts with the benefit of a full documentary trail.
I remain willing to work with anyone inside Sandwell MBC who has the integrity and authority to actually fix this and now that I am AWARE of the flavour of my neurospiciness I'm once again a happy little nerd, able to self regulate like a champ and sending sensible emails like this after a fall instead of angry outbursts and threats ;)
Regards,
Marie Meronym
CC - GP, Advocates and SMBC staff
BCC - Please help?

🧠Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/share/16Kxzf4Bd6/>
🧑🏽‍🦽Google Maps<https://maps.app.goo.gl/9ZvzULpnYPoumZd7A?g_st=ac>
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⚖️X<https://x.com/SandwellWoman?t=-L5j4M0dS90Mqzzc5tDgVA&s=09>
📹Youtube<https://youtu.be/XDT5VFfK1bU?si=SsIa3wh7-FmBt-6h>

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 10:13:38 +0000Fw: Follow-Up – Care Needs Assessment 6 January 2026 / Ongoing Safeguarding Risk

From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>

Recovered Gmail email record
Archive: marie_gmail
MBOX position: 456
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2026 10:13:38 +0000
From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>
To: Marie Meronym <mariemeronym@gmail.com>
Cc: 
Subject: Fw: Follow-Up – Care Needs Assessment 6 January 2026 / Ongoing Safeguarding Risk
Message-ID: 
 <OSEP279MB13898BFA89F16390DA2E65FDC163A@OSEP279MB1389.NORP279.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>
Attachments recorded: 0

--- Recovered email body ---
Marie Meronym

🧑🏽‍🦽🧠Euan's Guide<https://www.euansguide.com/venues/mcdonalds-oldbury-81>
💭🧑🏽‍🏫Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/share/16Kxzf4Bd6/>
🧑🏽‍🦽🧠Google Maps<https://maps.app.goo.gl/9ZvzULpnYPoumZd7A?g_st=ac>
📸Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/wobblywanderer.sandwelltenant?igsh=MWk1Y2c2bW8zcDl3cg==>
🧑🏽‍🏫LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariemeronymsmbctenant?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app>
⚖️X<https://x.com/SandwellWoman?t=-L5j4M0dS90Mqzzc5tDgVA&s=09>
📹Youtube<https://youtu.be/XDT5VFfK1bU?si=SsIa3wh7-FmBt-6h>

________________________________
From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2026 10:11:21 AM
To: Ali Asghar <ali_asghar@sandwell.gov.uk>
Cc: Sandwell Safeguarding Adults Board <safeguarding_SSAB@sandwell.gov.uk>; safina_begum@sandwell.gov.uk <safina_begum@sandwell.gov.uk>; Shokat Ali Lal <shokat_lal@sandwell.gov.uk>; adrian_scarrott@sandwell.gov.uk <adrian_scarrott@sandwell.gov.uk>; Rashpal Bishop <rashpal_bishop@sandwell.gov.uk>; James McLaughlin <James_mclaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk>; Jackie Taylor <Jackie_Taylor@Sandwell.gov.uk>; Lisa Ellis <Lisa_ellis@sandwell.gov.uk>; Sarah Ager <sarah_agar@sandwell.gov.uk>; WestBromwich Support <westbromwich_support@sandwell.gov.uk>; Enquiries team <enquiries@socialworkengland.org.uk>; Janet Millett <janet_millett@sandwell.gov.uk>; Lisa Gardner <lisa_gardner@sandwell.gov.uk>; Mandy Amos <Mandy_amos@sandwell.gov.uk>; Info Management <info_management@sandwell.gov.uk>; Kerrie Carmichael <kerrie_carmichael@sandwell.gov.uk>; Alan Lunt <alan_lunt@sandwell.gov.uk>; Steve Melia SMBC Mayor <Mayors_parlour@sandwell.gov.uk>; Council Tax SMBC <billing@sandwell.gov.uk>
Subject: Follow-Up – Care Needs Assessment 6 January 2026 / Ongoing Safeguarding Risk

Dear Ali,

I am following up on my previous request for a copy of the Care Needs Assessment completed on 6 January 2026. I have not yet received it despite multiple written and text requests.

Since that assessment:
• No one has attended to bolt down the toilet frame.
• I am having to hold urine and bowel movements for up to ten hours between calls or request emergency response assistance to avoid falling.
• My health is being impacted by dehydration and bowel retention as a direct consequence.
• The STAR Team have been attending four times daily since 23 January 2026 to act as human grab rails following my injured elbow on 22 January 2026.

This is not an appropriate long-term solution for a bathroom that is not wheelchair accessible, in a bungalow and garden that are also not wheelchair accessible.

I have been informed that attempts by the Community Alarm Team to raise safeguarding concerns have again been blocked by Adrian Scarrott and colleagues.

I am also aware that a response from James McLaughlin regarding earlier escalation is now over a year overdue.

I have a medico-legal assessment on 24 February 2026 relating to my fall on 5 December 2022 and all subsequent documented falls and injuries.

I require the 6 January 2026 assessment for inclusion in my evidence bundle.

Please confirm when I will receive a full copy. I require it no later than 17 February 2026.

Kind regards,

Marie Meronym
#LetReePeeSafely
#SandwellStory

________________________________
From: Ali Asghar <ali_asghar@sandwell.gov.uk>
Sent: Friday, January 23, 2026 3:17:41 PM
To: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>
Subject: RE: Notification of fall and ongoing risk following hospital discharge

Dear Ms Brown Meronym

I have made an urgent request to the Occupational Therapy team to fix the metal frame to the floor in the toilet and also to look at any other measures to make it easier for you to use your accommodation.

Kind regards

Ali Asghar

From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>
Sent: 23 January 2026 14:58
To: James McLaughlin <James_mclaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk>; Shokat Lal <shokat_lal@sandwell.gov.uk>; Lisa Ellis <Lisa_ellis@sandwell.gov.uk>; Jackie Taylor <Jackie_Taylor@Sandwell.gov.uk>; Sandwell Enquiry <sandwell_enquiry@sandwell.gov.uk>; Janet Millett <janet_millett@sandwell.gov.uk>; Kerrie Carmichael <kerrie_carmichael@sandwell.gov.uk>; Mayors Parlour <Mayors_parlour@sandwell.gov.uk>; Vinod Verma <vinod_verma@sandwell.gov.uk>; LCO <LCO@sandwell.gov.uk>; Parvez Muzaffar <parvez_muzaffar@sandwell.gov.uk>; Vicki Smith <Vicki_Smith@Sandwell.gov.uk>; Suzanne Hartwell <Suzanne_Hartwell@Sandwell.gov.uk>; Alan Lunt <alan_lunt@sandwell.gov.uk>
Cc: Ali Asghar <ali_asghar@sandwell.gov.uk>; Sarah Coombes Coombes <Sarah.coombes.mp@parliament.uk>; WestBromwich Support <westbromwich_support@sandwell.gov.uk>
Subject: Notification of fall and ongoing risk following hospital discharge

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Council / Children's Trust. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe.

I am writing to formally notify you of a fall and ongoing safety risk following my recent discharge from hospital.

I was discharged home on 22/01/2026 with significantly reduced upper-limb function. Since returning home, I have been unable to safely propel my wheelchair or use the toilet independently.

On 23/01/2026, I experienced a near-fall while attempting to access the bathroom. This risk was foreseeable given my injury, fatigue, and the inaccessibility of my bungalow. I have since required multiple emergency and urgent care interventions to meet basic activities of daily living safely.

Community alarm staff have attended and recorded safeguarding concerns.

I am currently receiving short-term support from the STAR team, who are attending multiple times per day to assist me to toilet safely. While their care has been compassionate and professional, this level of intervention highlights that my current environment and support arrangements are not safe or sustainable.

I am notifying you to ensure this incident and the associated risks are formally recorded and treated as an ongoing safeguarding concern, and to request urgent review of:

• the safety of my discharge
• my current living environment
• interim care provision
• and any necessary equipment or adaptations

Please confirm receipt of this notification and advise what immediate steps will be taken to reduce the risk of further harm.

Kind regards,

Marie Meronym<https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0oLRUjiLwgchTR6BwnAhoh?si=IUWluULTRSOaT8of-9RqLQ&pi=8XIApYQnSZGSv>

🧑🏽‍🦽🧠Euan's Guide<https://www.euansguide.com/venues/mcdonalds-oldbury-81>

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Wed, 11 Feb 2026 10:24:28 +0000Fw: Formal Escalation – Withheld Assessment / Active Safeguarding Risk

From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>

Recovered Gmail email record
Archive: marie_gmail
MBOX position: 500
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2026 10:24:28 +0000
From: Marie Meronym <MarieMeronym@outlook.com>
To: Marie Meronym <mariemeronym@gmail.com>
Cc: 
Subject: Fw: Formal Escalation – Withheld Assessment / Active Safeguarding Risk
Message-ID: 
 <OSEP279MB1389FB81152844C134BEF513C163A@OSEP279MB1389.NORP279.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM>
Attachments recorded: 1

--- Recovered email body ---
Marie Meronym

🧑🏽‍🦽🧠Euan's Guide<https://www.euansguide.com/venues/mcdonalds-oldbury-81>
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📹Youtube<https://youtu.be/XDT5VFfK1bU?si=SsIa3wh7-FmBt-6h>

________________________________
From: Marie Meronym <MarieBrownUK@outlook.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2026 10:23:57 AM
To: Sandwell Enquiry <Sandwell_Enquiry@sandwell.gov.uk>
Cc: James McLaughlin <James_mclaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk>; Shokat Ali Lal <shokat_lal@sandwell.gov.uk>; adrian_scarrott@sandwell.gov.uk <adrian_scarrott@sandwell.gov.uk>; Alan Lunt <alan_lunt@sandwell.gov.uk>; Mandy Amos <Mandy_amos@sandwell.gov.uk>; Info Management <info_management@sandwell.gov.uk>; Sandwell Safeguarding Adults Board <safeguarding_SSAB@sandwell.gov.uk>; Jackie Taylor <Jackie_Taylor@Sandwell.gov.uk>; Lisa Ellis <Lisa_ellis@sandwell.gov.uk>; Sarah Ager <sarah_agar@sandwell.gov.uk>; Lisa Gardner <lisa_gardner@sandwell.gov.uk>; Janet Millett <janet_millett@sandwell.gov.uk>; Janet Fergus <Janet_fergus@sandwell.gov.uk>; Claudette Simon <claudette_simon@sandwell.gov.uk>; Claire Maczkowski <claire_maczkowski@sandwell.gov.uk>; Surjit Tour <surjit_tour@sandwell.gov.uk>; Kerrie Carmichael <kerrie_carmichael@sandwell.gov.uk>; Steve Melia SMBC Mayor <Mayors_parlour@sandwell.gov.uk>; Council Tax SMBC <billing@sandwell.gov.uk>; Louise Oshea <louise_oshea@sandwell.gov.uk>
Subject: Formal Escalation – Withheld Assessment / Active Safeguarding Risk

Dear Team Manager,

I am formally escalating the failure to provide me with a copy of my Care Needs Assessment conducted by Ali Asghar on 6 January 2026.

Despite repeated written requests, I have not received the document.

Since that assessment:
• No action has been taken to secure the toilet frame.
• I am holding urine and bowel movements for up to ten hours between care calls or calling emergency response teams to prevent falls.
• My health is being impacted by dehydration and bowel retention.
• Following an injured elbow sustained on 22 January 2026, the STAR Team have attended four times daily since 23 January 2026 to act as human grab rails.

This arrangement is not a sustainable or lawful substitute for making a bathroom wheelchair accessible within a bungalow and garden that remain inaccessible.

I understand attempts by the Community Alarm Team to escalate safeguarding concerns have been blocked by Adrian Scarrott. A response from James McLaughlin to earlier escalation is now over one year overdue.

In addition, I have received rent debt correspondence relating to Manifoldia Grange and continue to experience unresolved council tax and benefits issues (no housing element payments, no disability uplifts).

Floating Support assessment on 6 January 2026 concluded they would not assist with rent, council tax, benefits, or utility debt matters.

I have a medico-legal appointment on 24 February 2026 regarding the 5 December 2022 fall and subsequent documented injuries.

The Care Needs Assessment is directly relevant evidence.

Continued failure to provide it will be documented as part of that process.

Please provide the full assessment immediately and confirm why it has not been released upon request.

If not received by 17 February 2026, I will escalate further.

Regards,

Marie Meronym

🧑🏽‍🦽🧠Euan's Guide<https://www.euansguide.com/venues/mcdonalds-oldbury-81>
💭🧑🏽‍🏫Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/share/16Kxzf4Bd6/>
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📹Youtube<https://youtu.be/XDT5VFfK1bU?si=SsIa3wh7-FmBt-6h>

________________________________
From: Sandwell Enquiry <Sandwell_Enquiry@sandwell.gov.uk>
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2025 9:55:22 am
To: Marie Brown <MarieBrownUK@outlook.com>
Subject: RE: Social worker contact request

Good Morning

Thank you for your email.

To process your request please can you provide me with your date of birth and full address, so I am able to access your record thank you.

Kind Regards

Alisha Sanyar

Customer Service Advisor

Sandwell Enquiry

Independent Living Team

T: 0121 569 2266

E: Sandwell_Enquiry@Sandwell.gov.uk<mailto:Sandwell_Enquiry@Sandwell.gov.uk>

W: www.sandwell.gov.uk<http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/>

[cid:image001.png@01DB9A47.574BE9F0]

To understand more about why we collect your information, what we do with your information, how you can access your information, your personal information rights, how and to whom to raise a complaint about your information, please visit our privacy notice page at http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/privacynotices

From: Marie Brown <MarieBrownUK@outlook.com>
Sent: 21 March 2025 01:03
To: Sandwell Enquiry <Sandwell_Enquiry@sandwell.gov.uk>
Subject: Social worker contact request

You don't often get email from mariebrownuk@outlook.com<mailto:mariebrownuk@outlook.com>. Learn why this is important<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification>

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the Council / Children's Trust. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe.

Hi

I would like to request a call from Tracey, my social worker please, I do not have a direct number for her and can't remember her surname.

I have concerns about my safety navigating Manifoldia Grange because this building and grounds are NOT wheelchair accessible and I have had a few falls.  Could we please meet face to face at Manifoldia Grange to look at the challenges and find solutions that will keep me safe during my stay here?

I also need help with the practical challenges of living in a space that is not wheelchair accessible and would like to ask for help to assess this please.

Additionally universal credit ended a call today because I was not able to recall a movie or gig from 40 years ago to pass the security screening.  I was sanctioned because I failed to provide requested information and I would again like to request support with life admin as per my GP notes to both avoid further sanctions, and to address the back log of correspondence that has built up since my last admin support worker was removed two years ago?

My Motability car is not suitable for my wheelchair equipment so I am applying for a grant towards a WAV but i need to provide a letter from universal credit with my home address on it, I have not been able to provide this or complete the process and my existing vehicle is nearing 5 years old, the maximum time the Motability scheme will allow me to keep it.  Could I please request appropriate support to apply to Motability for a new vehicle.

Finally, I would like to ask how to  access the communal space/room/desk at Manifoldia Grange please.

I am available on 07452940500.

Many thanks

Marie Brown