June 2013

LEP in the dark

Phil Davis argues for a Midlands Assembly

By:
Published June 28, 2013, in Opinion


Your Region, Your Choice: Missed opportunity?

With the Government’ s failure to deliver the fabled Single Pot of joined up local spending for the greater Birmingham economy, LEP chair Andy Street is no doubt crying into his Waitrose Fair Trade skinny Latte. Mr Street has been taken for a ride by George Osborne et al, his good nature preyed upon by the big beasts of Westminster. But the paltry national £2billion announced by Treasury tune-master George ‘Jeffrey’ Osborne for Single Pot working is not at all surprising.

Those expecting a massive £50 billion shift of resources to localities were simply not paying attention. A trench war over business support and regeneration is raging in the Coalition Government.

Continues…

Never knowingly undone

LEP leaders stay upbeat as pot turns to thimble

By:
Published June 27, 2013, in LEPs, Opinion


george

Osborne’s £ 2 billion was less than expected.

It’s difficult not to acquire a sense that whatever situation Andy Street finds himself in, he will always see the bright side. No doubt he’s a demanding boss for his fellow employee-owners at John Lewis, but he must also be an incredibly motivating leader. Eternal optimists can distort reality, set unattainable objectives and create futile strategies, but in a city region historically seen as a bunch of whingers in the vicinity of Downing Street, Andy Street is an indubitable asset.

Even for Street, stepping up to the podium a few minutes after the Chancellor revealed a piddling £2Bn would be available across the country for the Single Local Growth Fund must have been tough. As I’d predicted, the chairman of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) remained characteristically upbeat. His message seemed to be ‘yes, we are disappointed but it’s a start and we’re already beginning to deliver the principles of No Stone Unturned and the Greater Birmingham Project on the ground.’ His positive outlook even rubbed off on Birmingham City Council leader Sir Albert Bore by the time he stepped up to round off the LEP’s annual conference. Albert is not normally given to sunny dispositions or refusing to make political capital.

Continues…

Do you want to write for the Chamberlain News?

By:
Published June 25, 2013, in Opinion


The Chamberlain News is looking to offer a platform in our Opinion pages to those of you wanting to express interesting, concise and powerful ideas. Whether the subject reflects a topical news item or is related to politics in Birmingham, we want to hear from you!

We welcome contributions from across the political spectrum, and have just a few requirements:

  • A successful comment article should be around 700 words. 
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Please leave us your name plus any other information about you that might be relevant to your article, i.e. Brian, Chair of Brum Euro Sceptics.

If you’d like to submit something for consideration, please send an outline to .

Goodbye boring M42 Corridor: hello to racy UK Central

Bitter past planning rows forgotten as 100,000 new jobs promised

By:
Published June 20, 2013, in Politics


The M42 Corridor, an area where acquiring permission for almost any type of development once involved long and costly planning battles, not only has a racy new name it also has the hopes of economic growth in the West Midlands pinned on to the back of it.

UK Central, as the zone encompassing Birmingham Airport, the NEC, Blythe Valley Business Park and Solihull is now known, is expected to deliver new jobs and wealth on a “nationally significant scale” if council leaders get their way.

And since a masterplan depicting 100,000 new jobs and a £20 billion increase in GDP by 2040 is backed by Solihull Council and the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP, it seems more than likely that planning permission will not be a problem on this occasion.

It’s all a long way from the seemingly never ending public inquiries that were mandatory whenever business-related development was proposed close to the motorway network. Both the Blythe Valley and Birmingham business parks were built on former green belt land, as was much of the M6 Toll after objections from environmental groups were overturned.

GBSLEP is predictably promoting the area’s central location with great transport links, which will be even better when HS2 high speed trains are up and running. About 70 per cent of the country’s population lives within a two hour journey of UK Central.

A brochure explaining the masterplan does not hold back on superlatives: “UK Central is the place to invest and

Continues…

Police face sat nav tracking to monitor stop and search requests

Spy in sky to collect data on possible racial discrimination by West Mids bobbies

By:
Published June 19, 2013, in Police Commissioners


Police officers in Birmingham and the West Midlands could soon be tracked by satellite navigation systems to monitor whether the use of ‘stop and search’ powers amounts to racial discrimination.

Plans to use GPS to record officers’ every move are being proposed by Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Yvonne Mosquito, who wants to develop a portal allowing anyone to check to “see where stops are taking place” and to make sure ethnic minorities are not being picked on.

Insisting that she wants to “take police officers with us on a journey”, Ms Mosquito has published a 2,200 word setting out her views on the use of stop and search and the less intrusive ‘stop and account’ powers.

Ms Mosquito, a Birmingham Labour councillor, says that she and police commissioner Bob Jones  accept there is a widespread perception that stop and search powers are not being used proportionately by officers.

But they can’t be sure whether this is the case since a lack of accurate data makes it impossible to prove allegations of discrimination, she adds.

While police officers must record every time they stop and search a suspect, there is no requirement to record stop and account requests which are sometimes used for ‘voluntary’ searches, she claims.

Ms Mosquito, who is of Afro-Caribbean heritage, is to host a public summit to discuss stop and search in Birmingham in September.

Stop and search has been a “source of tension between the police and, in particular,

Continues…

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