Please try not to laugh because this is very serious. Coventry has left the City Region of Birmingham, Coventry & the Black Country.
Since Telford & Wrekin parted company with the city region, it’s become more and more irrelevant as its focus narrows to providing the same Birmingham-centric services as the plethora of regional quangos infesting [...]
The City Region has published a report on the future of next generation broadband in the area covered by the quango as well as Telford & Wrekin.
Chris Pitchford, the unelected business representative on the City Region board, describes it as an action plan for the roll-out of new, faster broadband across the City Region. But [...]
The City Region has signed its Multi Area Agreement (MAA) - the extra powers it wanted from the British government that led to Telford & Wrekin being booted out of the quango so that it could qualify.
Bizarrely, Telford & Wrekin has signed up to the MAA despite no longer being part of the City Region [...]
Why does the Birmingham Post insist on misleading its readership over the City Region?
Almost every reference to the City Region claims that some spokesman is an elected member of the City Region, giving the impression that it isn’t an unelected, undemocratic quango.
Take this latest article, for example:
Glyn Pitchford, elected West Midlands Business Council business representative [...]
A couple of weeks ago, Advantage West Midlands (AWM) announced that they had run out of our money and were pulling funding for a number of projects.
At the time they refused to disclose which projects were having funding withdrawn so West Midlands NO! put in a Freedom of Information request to find out which projects [...]
Budget holds the key to improved transport
Alistair Darling will announce this week whether or not the West Midlands will become a City Region, allowing it to get cash for urgently-needed transport improvements costing up to £1 billion.
City council leader Mike Whitby delivered a final plea to the Chancellor to back the project today, saying up [...]
In February Telford & Wrekin left the City Region of Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country.
At the time Andrew Eade, the leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, said that he had made the decision because it was in the best interests of the borough. The Birmingham Post revealed the real reason why Telford & Wrekin [...]
Yes, we’ve heard similar pledges before from the Tories but this one is quite unequivical - the Tory Shadow Cabinet member for Communities and Local Government has pledged that all regional quangos will be abolished should they win the next election.
On his blog, John Redwood says that Spelman has made the following pledges:
Unelected Regional assemblies [...]
The Birmingham Post reveals the real reason why Telford & Wrekin Council left the city region. and it was nothing to do with changing statutory requirements for membership causing them to reconsider.
Telford was forced out because the city region wants its independence and statutory powers and it can’t have them if Telford is a member [...]
I would love to have been a fly on the wall in Simon Murphy’s office today when he got the call from Telford & Wrekin Council announcing that they were leaving his city region quango with immediate effect.
A week ago to this day I wrote an email to the leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, [...]
