Top Birmingham City Council Stories
Birmingham City Council held back on spending to prepare for cuts, claims Hemming (Birmingham Post.net) A Birmingham MP has defended plans to slash city council spending by £300 million and said councils should have seen the economic crisis coming – and started to make savings in advance. John Hemming claimed Birmingham City Council had deliberately failed to spend money earmarked to cut unemployment, because it had been saving the cash to help it cope with government spending cuts.
Marketing Birmingham starts hunt for top investment specialists (Birmingham Post.net) Birmingham is looking to recruit a crack team of the country’s top investment specialists to form a new outfit promoting the city as the place to do business.
Plans blunder costs £100,000 (Birmingham Mail) A property developer has found herself about £100,000 out of pocket after ‘flagrantly disregarding’ planning regulations while over-extending a bungalow.
£2bn battle plan to slash council spend (Birmingham Mail) Finance directors from the city council, health trusts, police and fire service are drawing up a battle plan to cope with public sector spending cuts in Birmingham of almost £2 billion over the next four years.
Takeaway owner lands a £1,000 hygiene fine (Birmingham Mail) The owner of a Cantonese takeaway has been fined £1,000 after mouse droppings were found at the premises. Birmingham City Council environmental health officers temporarily shut down the Cantonese Express takeaway on Dudley Road, Winson Green last August.
Council offers grants from £10m loan fund (Chamberlink) A £10 million fund offering Birmingham businesses loans of between £50,000 and £1 million (Birmingham City Council Loan Fund) is now up and running.
Parents urged to talk money with children (PA Newswire and various regional publications) Parents across Birmingham are being urged to openly discuss money matters with their children in a Birmingham City Council initiative. http://birminghamnewsroom.com/?p=11291
City plug-in points for electric cars (PA Newswire and various regional publications) Futuristic electric car drivers have been given a boost – as charging points for their eco-friendly vehicles have been installed in Birmingham city centre. http://birminghamnewsroom.com/?p=11296
Regional Headlines
Khyra’s stepdad and mum set for sentence appeal (Birmingham Mail) The mother and stepfather of Khyra Ishaq, the seven-year-old Birmingham girl who starved to death, have been given the go-ahead to appeal against their sentences.
More arrested over football banning order breaches Another 12 people have been arrested for breaching football banning orders during the World Cup. Eleven adults and a youth from Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Sutton Coldfield were held for failing to hand in passports.
National Headlines
Referendum on Westminster voting reform next May
A referendum on a new electoral system is to be held next year, the BBC has been told.
Life expectancy gap ‘is widening’
Resources to help people quit smoking “should be better targeted” The gap between average life expectancy and that of the poorest in England is widening despite efforts to close it, a National Audit Office report says.
Three soldiers to receive Military Cross for gallantry
Three soldiers who served in Afghanistan will be awarded Military Crosses at Buckingham Palace later.
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