Inevitably an environmental theme this week.
Only yesterday, we won a prestigious Green Flag ‘Best of the Best’ award for habitat creation/biodiversity for the brilliant new woodland at Hope Coppice. Previously an underutilised area just off Woodloes Road in Shirley, earmarked for housing, it now stands as a beacon for what can be achieved for the benefit of native species and local people alike. It has been a remarkable project and I am very proud of the work that has been done and the recognition it is now rightly receiving.
Before I talk more about the environment, I just want to direct you to this piece of news which recognises the improvement in our Children’s Services. Ofsted inspectors undertook a monitoring visit recently and noted many strengths in our work with care leavers. They wrote of the trusting relationships young people build with their personal advisors and the improved quality of accommodation and support with training and education. It is gratifying to see our ongoing improvement plan beginning to bear fruit, and the hard work of our staff having a real impact. We know there is much work yet to be done, but we will continue to take the necessary steps. Indeed, Ofsted indicated a need to hire more personal advisors to keep making the service better, and in the month since their visit we have done just that. We are taking action.
Returning to environmental matters, this week and next we have the COP summit in Azerbaijan, a major international meeting to discuss climate change led by the UN. Not such good news we are getting about that, at a time when we are seeing more and more of the effects of climate change around the world. Just look at Spain. Reducing carbon emissions needs action around the world and at scale. The absence of some of the leaders of the most polluting nations is cause for concern.
When some people hear the words ‘Net Zero’, they are so often concerned that it is all about ideologically driven laws and regulations. The positives of action, however, are often very tangible and immediate. We have helped residents and businesses to reduce energy bills via the Home Upgrade Grant and the Net Zero Grant Programme. When done well, we protect and enhance our natural environment, we make sure that the air we all breathe is clean and healthy. Just look at projects like Hope Coppice. Scarce money needs to be spent wisely
We have already planted over 100,000 trees as part of the Planting Our Future scheme, and the new season of planting is underway. We are pushing ahead with our target of 250,000 across the borough by 2030. I have already stressed my concern about the proposed planning reforms on the Green Belt and important Meriden Gap.
I welcome the Prime Minister’s new commitment to cut emissions in the UK by 2035 by 81% compared to 1990 levels, announced at COP earlier this week, particularly as he said it can be achieved without ‘telling people how to live their lives’ and I look forward to seeing the detail of this. At Solihull Council, we are planning to make our own operations net zero by 2030, and have made significant progress towards achieving this – we have already reduced our emissions by 55% in the last six years, but the next steps are always harder, especially at a time when funding is in short supply. Business also needs a stable economic and policy background for example to develop the skills needed for what are often complex works, like retrofit.
The younger generation need little persuading of the importance of environmental action. On Monday we held our annual Greener Solihull School Awards, where more than a dozen schools were celebrated for their outstanding commitment to sustainable and greener practices. These awards challenge pupils and teachers to learn more about the environment and take action to make their school more eco-friendly.
Next week (Wednesday 20 November), we follow this up with our annual Solihull Schools Climate Conference (a junior COP conference!). The event empowers young people to explore and engage with climate change on a local, national and global scale, inspired by the COP29 discussions currently taking place in Baku. A Climate Question Time will give students a chance to quiz me in person on how Solihull is tackling climate change and encouraging residents to act.
Away from the environment now, a brand-new state-of-the art operating theatre hub has opened at Solihull Hospital this week, able to carry out thousands more procedures, for local patients, every year.
The hub is a £45m investment in the Solihull Hospital site, housing six brand new operating theatres. It will provide treatment for patients waiting for a range of operations including cancer, joint replacement, upper and lower gastrointestinal, urology, breast, and plastic surgeries. It’s fantastic to have this kind of facility here in Solihull, and I hope that our residents see the full benefit of it.
Finally, I must clear up a misunderstanding of financial matters in the press this week. This article and its rather sensational headline do not make clear that ‘weakness’ in the financial context means a lack of funds to deliver services, which is not something we have been quiet about. It does not reflect on our strong financial management, and auditors made no such comments regarding that.
Thanks, and have a good weekend.
Councillor Ian Courts