Media Watch – Feb 18
Top Birmingham City Council stories
Council objects to free school plans (Birmingham Mail / BBC News online): Report on council’s formal objection to Perry Beeches Academy Trust’s plans to open a new £20m school - Perry Beeches V - in Small Heath. Instead the site will be used to relocate the Al Hijrah school, which is the most over-subscribed in the city. Cllr Brigid Jones quoted, stating the council is really supportive of the Perry Beeches chain and wants to continue working with them.
Councils sell care of the elderly in ‘eBay-style’ auctions (Computeractive): Story on councils which use software provided by Matrix SCM which enables care providers to bid for care packages. Birmingham City Council spokesperson quoted, stating no contracts were awarded solely on price without considering the quality of care or provider, [they are] weighted 60 per cent on quality and 40 per cent on price.
Paradise works ‘could force Summer Row bars to shut’ (Birmingham Mail): Town and Country Inns which own the bars in Summer Row claim takings are down 25 per cent after pavements outside the venues were dug up as part of the Paradise Circus works. A Paradise Circus spokesman stated a number of publicised public consultations were held, including meetings with Town and Country Inns, further meetings are also planned.
Super strength cannabis warning (ITV Central): Birmingham Public Health’s Ricky Bhandal interviewed about a study by King’s College London that found smoking potent cannabis was linked to 24% of new psychosis cases.
Family feel unsafe in their home after a homeless hostel opened (BBC WM): Couple who live in Kempton Park Road, Bromford complaining about anti-social behaviour from a neighbouring hostel, operated by Prospect Housing. Cllr Anita Ward interviewed.
Regional headlines
The company which owns Birmingham City Football Club - Birmingham International Holdings Limited (BIHL) - has gone into receivership. BIHL blamed “fractious and inharmonious relations within the management” for the decision.
HMP Oakwood, near Wolverhampton, which was criticised after a surprise inspection in 2013 continues to have problems with bulling, use of force by staff and self-harm, according to a new report.
National headlines
Dual-fuel customers of the big energy firms have missed big savings by not switching suppliers, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has been investigating the energy market since last summer.
Church of England bishops have been criticised by Conservative MPs after publishing a 52-page letter claiming people feel detached from politics and calling for a “fresh moral vision of the kind of country we want to be”.
