I started blogging seriously just over a year ago and as you may be able to tell I am really into it. I try and post at least once a week on a range of subjects, often, but not exclusively linked to Birmingham where I live and work. I find it a liberating technology for […]
No sooner than I had posted my post on the City Region than I noticed a twitter quote from Mike Emmerich from Manchester New Economy (MNE) saying that Local Authorities will need to work much closer together in the future and Local Authority boundaries are irrelevant. That comes from one of the key people at […]
I have just printed off Albert Bore’s Annual Policy statement (APS) for Birmingham City Council. This summarises achievements of the Council and lays out ambitions for the future year. I must say it is really very interesting and for anyone interested in the overall direction of the Council it is a must read. It could […]
I have for long wished that there was much more debate about policy in the city and about policies that effect the city. I worked for the City Council for 15 years, latterly at a fairly senior level but what was shocking was the minutiae of the bureaucracy 95% of the time took over from […]
I had the pleasure of attending the AGM of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP this week at the Villa ground. Despite the poor news unleashed by the Chancellor concerning the relative small size of the Local Growth budget it was generally an upbeat event with a lot of positivity and good news about the […]
I have been thinking about this corridor as I regularly walk, catch a bus and drive up and down it. I think the time has come for a radical approach to the whole corridor. Moseley is currently working on its local plan but what is needed and has been discussed is a wider vision linking […]
In a statement today the Government has announced the notional allocations of ERDF and ESF for England’s LEP’s. The figures can be seen here So for Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP the allocation is €255m which equates to roughly £220m. This with the announcement yesterday for the LEP’s of £2bn annually in the Single Local Growth […]
The recent release of Birmingham’s new European and International Strategy reminded me that for so long international work of cities has been under attack for wasting resources. So much so that Cities are often reluctant to sing about their international work. In the world of openness we live almost all of the international activity is […]
It is a great shame that in one creative area where Birmingham truly leads; namely the street display of photography this has suffered theft and vandalism. What seems clear is that the person or persons who did this valued in someway the images as they were stolen and not defaced. So why has this happened? […]
In a letter sent recently a cross party group of MP’s from constituencies in the Greater Birmingham and Solihull LEP call on the Chancellor George Osborne to deliver on the Heseltine Plan. They point to the confident start of the LEP, and its already proven ability to deliver and call for in particular the plans […]
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