Today, Friday 8 March, is International Women’s Day. The theme this year is ‘Inspire Inclusion’, seeking to promote the value of women in leadership positions. It’s not something I need to be convinced of, but too many organisations and businesses in this country and around the world are still missing out on the incredible contributions of half the population, to their detriment as well as that of women. It’s far past time we moved on from this. I’ve been pushing for better representation for women in leadership since I first took up a management post in the construction industry in the 1970s. Progress has certainly been made since then, but we won’t have made enough progress until we live in a time where we question how anything other than total equality between genders was ever deemed acceptable. Sadly we’re still a long way off that moment, women continue to be paid less than men, and the gap is wider for higher earners in leadership positions. You can find out more about this year’s campaign here.
On the topic of International Women… a few weeks ago I took the opportunity in this message to congratulate Finland’s new First Lady, Suzanne Innes-Stubb, a native Silhillian, on her new role. Unexpectedly this led to me being interviewed by Helsingin Sanomat, the biggest newspaper in Finland. They sent a journalist from their London office to speak to me and my wife in Knowle, and whilst the article is sadly behind a paywall (and in Finnish) I’m happy to report that they noted that Solihull is a “prosperous, clean” place with a strong business community. It’s good to know that these messages have an international readership, and I’m pleased they recognised some of the many good things about life in our borough.
There’ll be more media coverage for Solihull on Monday 11 March, as our Armed Forces Community Garden in Hillfield Park will feature on Alan Titchmarsh’s Gardening Club. The programme will be on ITV at 2pm. Our friends at the Royal British Legion gave their time on a freezing cold February day to make this happen, so thanks to them, and I hope you all enjoy seeing an important community project get its moment in the spotlight.
Solihull has 3 significant anniversaries this year – 70 years since we became a Municipal Borough, 60 since we became a County Borough, and 50 since the Council took on our current form as Solihull Metropolitan Borough. There will be a programme of events to celebrate, including an exhibition and bell ringing across the borough. It’s a momentous time that will no doubt lead many to reflect on how Solihull has changed and grown over the decades, just as our Mayor Councillor Diana Holl-Allen MBE has done here. The piece also contains full details of the cultural and campanological commemoration.
I’ve spoken before about the importance we place on Corporate Parenting as a council and the personal interest I have taken in ensuring that we gather the village that is required to raise the child. I’m pleased to report that Paragon Bank have very much stepped up to the mark on that front by donating 10 laptops and 10 webcams for children in care and care experienced young people to help improve their social mobility. The world lives online in many ways now, and these devices will help young people access study materials, search for jobs, and apply for housing. It’s a valuable contribution and one I welcome, I’d encourage other businesses across Solihull to think about how they can contribute, not just in terms of material goods but perhaps even more importantly in terms of opportunities – work experience, apprenticeships/internships or even interview practice. If you think you can help, please email communityparenting@solihull.gov.uk
I was pleased to see the news this week that Solihull based projects have received just shy of £1.8m of Fairer Futures Funds. The fund, provided by the local Integrated Care System (ICS) aims to improve health and care for residents across the region. One of the biggest beneficiaries is our Family Hubs scheme, providing one-stop shops for family health and wellbeing, targeted in the areas where they are most needed. It’s valuable funding for this and all the projects that benefitted. You can read more about it here.
More good news as new data showed Solihull has the highest recycling rate of any of the Local Authorities under the WMCA umbrella. In the year running to the start of this month, we recycled at our highest rate for six years. I’d like to see the improvement continue and even accelerate as we look to make sure we look after the limited resources our planet has to offer. Recycling is one of the easiest ways to do this, even easier now that we’ve made it so you don’t need to separate glass. Councillor Ken Hawkins, our Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure has offered his thoughts on the success here.
The first ever Solihull Business Festival (March 12-15) will shine the light on the fantastic Professional Services & Office Sector businesses and employees that make up half of the footprint of Solihull town centre. The festival is a celebration of this sector, offering numerous ways to get to know your business neighbour and to learn more about wellbeing within the workplace in a fun and friendly environment. Organised by Solihull BID, there will be a full programme with activities ranging from talks and seminars to training sessions, culminating in a Business Festival party on Friday.
Linked to the Solihull Business Festival, the project team at Muse will be coming in to carry out some early engagement around their emerging regeneration plans for the town centre.
We appointed Muse Places Ltd back in October as our preferred developer to start planning, and eventually deliver, a transformative regeneration of Mell Square.
In making their bid to work with us Muse set down some early ideas about what Mell Square might look like in the future, now they want to start shaping what would work best. They want to hear from anyone who lives, works in, or visits Mell Square and Solihull town centre about what would make the new centre a success. The team from Muse will be on hand for anyone to drop by and have a chat about the project, capture some initial feedback and discuss possible next steps. They will be set up temporarily at the corner unit next to TK Maxx on the afternoon of Wednesday 13, the morning of Thursday 14 and the morning of Saturday 16 March, so please do go and speak to them. For more information, and to share your thoughts via their online survey form, please visit: www.mellsquaresolihull.co.uk
If you can’t make it don’t worry, there will be plenty of other opportunities to feed into the emerging plans and have your say. We want to preserve what matters most to you, whilst creating new places to live, work and visit.
Some late breaking news as I write this message, our already much-decorated ‘Planting our Future’ team have won a Natural Environment Award. Fittingly, this award came in the week they reached 100,000 trees planted in four years as part of their campaign to encourage residents to get involved with tree planting and green infrastructure projects. It’s very valuable work and I’m delighted that they’ve been recognised for their important contribution to protecting and enhancing our natural environment. I’ve spoken at greater length about the team and the award here.
And finally, Solihull is apparently a borough of dog lovers (image related), at least if the surveys published this week by a pet insurance company aren’t barking up the wrong tree. There is Ruffly one dog for every 4 people in Solihull, the fifth highest such ratio in the country. Whilst we welcome the many four-legged friends in our borough, I would like to take the opportunity to ask the small minority of dog owners who don’t already do so to throw everyone a bone and make sure they have control of their dogs when they’re out and about. I don’t wish to end on a negative, but I’m aware of an incident this week in Solihull where a lady carrying a baby was nearly knocked over by an overexcited loose dog with no lead or collar. Even when they’re friendly you should be able to guarantee they will come back when called or keep them on a lead so everyone can enjoy our parks and public spaces safely.
Thanks, and have a good weekend,
Councillor Ian Courts, Leader of Solihull Council.