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There have been a number of developments on the Birmingham elected mayoral front over recent days, so rather than a number of extended posts, I thought a summary would be more useful.
Election timetable and delegation
Encouraging news for the from Birmingham that last week urged Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to reduce the time gap between the referendum and the mayoral election itself. Following a positive response
Greg Clark, Minister for Cities
Over the summer, the Government announced the appointment of Greg Clark as Minister for Cities.
Already Minister for Decentralisation in the department under the inimitable Eric Pickles, Clark is working as part of a ministerial group led by DPM Nick Clegg and now ranks as a Minister in BIS as well.
Clark – a former director of policy for the Tories – is well thought of in Government circles, whilst the Coalition is increasingly recognising the importance of England’s cities in driving economic growth. Cities already represent over half of the UK’s GDP.
Local Enterprise Partnerships continue their – albeit slow – roll out. Many are beginning to benefit from LEP start up funding as well as more co-ordinated action. The first meeting of the LEP Network took place yesterday led by former British Chambers of Commerce director-general David Frost. It brings together the 37 partnerships so far established, with its first meeting addressed by three senior ministers.
The creation of Enterprise Zones by the Greater Birmingham & Solihull and the Black Country LEPs are the most notable features of the Partnerships, although much work is still to be completed on the detail of how they will work.
PRO-elected mayor campaigners in Birmingham believe their fight to shorten the period between the referendum and any mayoral election proper has been strengthened by the Government’s announcement of the date of elections for the new local police commissioners.
The Prime Minister confirmed that the new – including one for the West Midlands – will be chosen by the electorate on November 15, 2012.
The news came on the very day that a Birmingham delegation
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
AFTER a over the summer, the idea of an elected mayor for Birmingham is firmly back on the agenda, and I believe – with one very large caveat – the debate will now start to gain some real momentum.
Over the past few days, we’ve learned:
Oh, and the .
