Friday 26 July 2024 - Message from Councillor Ian Courts, Leader of Solihull Council
This week we announced record figures for the visitor economy in Solihull. Visitors to our borough were worth £1.27 billion to our local economy, after a huge increase of nearly 15% from the previous year. I’m proud of the attractions we have for visitors who travel for business or pleasure, from world class conferencing and convention facilities to fantastic cultural, historical and active days out.
One of my main priorities is inclusive economic growth - making sure that everyone in Solihull is part of our economic success story. It’s something I’m extremely passionate about, and it’ll be the focus of my message this week.
Earlier this week the government announced the formation of a new body – Skills England - with the aim of ensuring that people have the necessary skills to fill the gaps in our workforce, meaning good jobs for them and a ready pool of talented candidates for employers.
I welcome the announcement, with the caveat that the important aspect will be that it is delivered effectively. Announcing things is easy, making them a reality can be more difficult. I’d also like to point out that, in Solihull at least, a lot of good work is already being done to bring together business and local people. Events like our apprenticeship shows and schemes like supported internships and employment and others run by our Employment and Skills team are central to how we do that.
Our regular Apprenticeship Shows are a brilliant chance to connect businesses who can offer fantastic opportunities with people looking to take the next step in their careers and their lives. Over 3000 people attended across the last couple of shows, taking the opportunity to meet representatives from great employers who are looking to reap the many benefits of training staff to meet their requirements. The next show will take pace at Cranmore Park on 16 October, and registration for businesses is open now. It’s free for employers to exhibit and you don’t need to have roles on offer right now in order to attend.
The Council’s Employment and Skills team have helped over 3000 residents in the past seven years and they’ve had another success to celebrate recently as they were able to support a young woman with additional needs into paid employment in a school kitchen. They do invaluable work, providing the right support at the right time to those who most need it to get into education, employment, and training opportunities.
Skills for Success launched their summer workshops this week. These sessions provide support for 15 – 18 year olds after their exams. They can get help to plan their next steps, and include CV writing sessions, interview skills, information about apprenticeships and applying for opportunities for higher and further education and support to transition out of education and into employment. If you or someone you know could benefit, you can find out more here.
We want your views on social housing allocation in Solihull. I’m not talking about allocation in the sense of where it is built, but rather who it gets allocated to. We have certain statutory requirements to adhere to in terms of how we do this, but we want to hear from residents whether they live in social housing or not. There’s more information and a link to the draft strategy and survey in this article.
I was interested to read this article about the issues around SEND funding for local authorities (a Conservative Council Leader sharing an article from The Guardian, there’s political balance for you). In 2014 the government created responsibilities around SEND but didn’t match it by giving councils the capacity to deliver. This is something that the new government must be wary of as they go about executing their programme. I’ve already mentioned that announcements are easy, delivery is difficult. In this case we need to see significant improvements in the way SEND is funded, not just the levels. We need consistency and to be given the tools to do the best we can, in the field of SEND as well as in everything else we do. The financial pressures mentioned in the piece sit alongside a raft of others, putting all councils under pressure to find savings. This applies to us in Solihull, and we’ll be pushing for sensible, long-term financial settlements so we can plan properly and protect essential services.
At a recent meeting of the Combined Authority, I abstained on a vote on bus franchising. This isn’t because I am completely opposed to the idea, indeed if implemented efficiently and effectively it could connect all parts of our borough, something I’ve been talking about for a long time. I want to see the best possible route coverage, connecting people who need jobs to jobs that need people. The issue, at this stage, was committing ourselves to supporting franchising without being certain of the financial position this would leave us and WMCA in. Once I’ve seen some clear costings and have a better idea of the benefits and liabilities it could bring, I will be happy to reevaluate.
And finally, last week I mentioned our Health and Wellbeing Board. As part of this work, a new Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy has been produced, which talks about our plans to reduce the inequalities that we know exist across the borough. If you have a spare couple of minutes, I’d really encourage you to take the time to complete a short survey to let us know your thoughts on the strategy. You can read through the strategy and have your say here.
Thanks, and have a good weekend. Enjoy the cricket if you’re making your way up the road to Edgbaston.
Councillor Ian Courts.