With a new government in place, my challenge to them is to ensure we give attention to the long term solutions we need, not just the necessary short-term fixes.
We are in a very different political landscape compared to six weeks ago, when I last wrote this message. I am of course personally disappointed in the outcome of the General Election, but I wish Sir Keir Starmer well as Prime Minister. If he is successful, the country can be too.
The result in Solihull, as in May at the Local Elections, bucked the national trend. I’m pleased that Saqib Bhatti has been re-elected in Meriden and Solihull East. He has shown himself to be a dedicated public servant, committed to his constituents. I’d also like to welcome Dr. Neil Shastri-Hurst as the newly elected MP for Solihull West and Shirley. His CV is impressive – doctor, soldier, barrister. I have no doubt that he has all the skills and will to succeed in his new role. I look forward to working closely with them both, as well as with Liam Byrne MP, whose redrawn Hodge Hill and Solihull North constituency now includes the important northern two wards of our borough.
Nationally, and locally, there is much to be done – problems to be faced and solutions to be found and delivered. As a council, we have unfunded spending pressures facing us in the next few years. We must take a serious look at how we spend the money available to us, and I won’t shy away from that. We have a big budget to balance, with big spending commitments.
Most of the money that is theoretically available to us to spend is of course tied up in funding adult and children’s social care. These are vital services but they cost a lot of money to run. It therefore leaves us with a much smaller pot, than you would think, to fund everything else in our remit – roads, waste and recycling, planning, parks, support for education and businesses, necessary infrastructure projects, town centre and village redevelopment and all the other services.
One of the major difficulties in managing Local Government finances has long been the short-term nature of funding arrangements; the need to ‘bid’ for further pots of money on an ad hoc basis. The new government made noises about ending this in their manifesto. I will be watching closely for announcements that contain detail of how they intend to do it. They are in charge now, and they must deliver on the promises that got them elected – just as I and my fellow councillors who won the local elections here in May must do the same.
We have financial levers we can use to manage some of the shortfall, but we’ll also have to look at the various ways we raise revenue: how we can deliver best value for all our services, whilst protecting those frontline ones in social care that I talked about earlier. Many of these are statutory duties. I have always believed the solution to tackling problems is a joined-up approach.
This joined-up approach is something I have referred to previously; the need to work with local MPs, other regional leaders and other agencies such as health. I will continue to push this as hard as I can at a regional and national level. I have spoken to our new West Midlands Mayor about the topic of local government finance – asking him to use his position to secure the best possible deal for Solihull and for our region: I believe he listened. He met with the Prime Minister earlier this week along with other elected mayors, and I look forward to hearing the concrete outcomes of this discussion.
The government has already announced its intention to push a huge wave of homebuilding. I don’t doubt there is need for housing, nor for the growth it could potentially drive, but we must be cautious not to lose the incredibly valuable green lungs of our local countryside, which sit between Birmingham and Coventry. There’s already been some loose talk of ‘NIMBYs’ in the press, objecting to anything built where they live. Frankly, I reject that description. I’m happy to see development done in the right way in the right places, protecting and enhancing our natural environment whilst we ensure that good quality homes and infrastructure are being built. We’re keen in Solihull to unlock our share of housebuilding at sites like Arden Cross and the NEC, where there will be the infrastructure to support it. We’re also keen to see improvements like the Balsall Common bypass, which will be of major help to local residents.
Decisions on big building projects are tough, but we can’t shy away from that in this, or any other sphere as we look to provide long-term solutions, not short-term fixes. This is true for example in children’s social care. Just pumping in money is unlikely of itself to fix issues - we need to look at family and societal level solutions that lead to children being taken into the Council’s care in the first place. Children in this situation end up more likely to be homeless, to be unemployed, and to miss out on many opportunities available to others. It’s something we all must take a role in fixing.
It is also true in waste and recycling issues, where we’re always looking to balance cost, convenience for residents, and the impact on our planet. The last Government issued local authorities with guidance on how waste and recycling should be collected with some recycling reforms called Simpler Recycling. These reforms mean that all local authorities in England will collect the same materials from every household for recycling and will also introduce weekly food waste collections in 2026. It may be that the frequency of some collections have to be brought into line with most other local authorities, if we’re going to keep a firm hand on the financial tiller. To help us get it right, please look out for our survey next week. By spending just 10 minutes completing it, you’ll be helping us to support you with these changes and ensure that our recycling rates increase.
Solving problems across all levels of government is difficult, and in local government particularly we have less flexibility financially. We are often the much-maligned face of public service, but at times have few options open to us. We’re committed to sustainable and deliverable solutions, not flashy sounding ideas that we can’t put into practice.
One thing we do well here in Solihull is our Civic Service. On June 30, we inaugurated the term of the new Mayor, Councillor Shahin Ashraf MBE, shortly after the commencement of her term of office at the Council meeting the previous month. The service was a wonderful event, a real display of community spirit and multi-faith co-operation. The Mayor has hit the ground running, attending many events across the borough and being a fantastic ambassador as First Citizen of the borough, as has the Deputy Mayor Councillor Annette Mackenzie, who will take up the role of Mayor next year. You can read all about the Mayor’s activities in her new monthly blog here.
Earlier this week, I was at the official Family Hubs opening at the Elmwood Hub. Three Hubs are now open across the borough, and already starting to make a real difference for children and families. The Hubs are there to offer support for people all the way from pregnancy to adulthood, helping to give our younger generations the best possible start in life. It was great to see some of the sessions that are run at the Hubs, and a pleasure to hear from people attending them how welcoming, friendly and useful they already find the Hubs. Look out for more news of this soon.
The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme is running again this summer, providing a wide range of free activities for children who are in full-time education and receive benefits-related free school meals. HAF offers crucial childcare support to hundreds of families during main holiday periods, with activities from more than 35 providers across the borough. Family activities are also available at no cost for eligible families, including sessions at Tudor Grange Leisure Centre, North Solihull Sports Centre, Planet Ice Solihull and Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens. Find out more and how to book here.
And finally, on election day I had the misfortune to be attacked by a dog as I was out and about delivering to someone’s house. I say misfortune, but there’s actually very little luck involved if people are courteous enough to secure their dogs to prevent them being able to attack anyone who legitimately comes to their door. I’m sharing a link here to a valuable campaign run by Royal Mail, but the advice applies to any visitor you may have coming to your house, not just postal workers. Why not make letter boxes more accessible and easier to use. My injury was a 2 inch wound and a number of other scratches and I dread to think what would have happened if it had been a child or less “substantial” person than myself.
Thanks for reading, I know there’s a lot to digest. Enjoy your weekend, and it almost goes without saying, best of luck to England on Sunday – we’re flying the cross of St. George over the Council House to show our support.
Councillor Ian Courts, Leader of Solihull Council.