Media Watch - July 26
Top Birmingham City Council Stories
Continued widespread coverage of the USA and Jamaica pre-Olympic training camps.
New burden cost exceeds funding cut (Local Government Chronicle) The administrative cost of localising council tax benefit will be even bigger than next year's grant funding cut, according to an early estimate submitted to government. Birmingham City Council has told the Department for Communities & Local Government the controversial policy could cost them up to £40m in additional costs - almost four times more than the council is set to lose in grant funding.
Vision of Paradise (Birmingham Post, Birmingham Mail, BBC WM) Plans lodged for £450m scheme on old library site. £60m funding package agreed to kickstart project.
Many left out of city’s revival as transport cost is a barrier to jobs (Birmingham Post) The rising cost of public transport has been highlighted as a major barrier to employment and economic activity in Birmingham, particularly for young people, a study (The Birmingham Social Inclusion Project) has found.
Time to rethink ‘top down’ solutions to decades of inequality (Birmingham Post) One of the Labour administration’s new titles belongs to Cllr John Cotton, who as cabinet member for social cohesion and equalities has been handed the Herculean task of closing the inequality gap in Birmingham.
City set for job boost after council invests in rail firm (Birmingham Post) A company that provides temporary labour for the rail utilities and civil engineering industries is set to build a new headquarters and training centre in Birmingham after the city council acquired a £400,000 stake.
Inquiry looks at how to meet Bore’s target for devolution (Birmingham Post) After decades of centralisation the citizens of Birmingham are being promised a ‘real shift’ in political power to local communities under the Labour council’s devolution policy.
‘Smart city’ body to invoke spirit of industrial pioneers (Birmingham Post) The growth of 4G mobile telecommunications and the increasing use of digital technology in Birmingham must take on the spirit of Birmingham’s industrial fathers Boulton, Watt and Murdoch, a new city council run commission said.
Party politics put aisde in call for better deal for city (Birmingham Post) Birmingham Conservatives have agreed to team up with Labour rivals on a visit to 10 Downing Street to demand a better deal for the city.
City binge drinking war could be model for UK (Birmingham Post) Health services across the country should follow Birmingham’s example in bringing businesses and services together to tackle binge drinking, MPs have said.
Work is nearing completion on Birmingham’s second retirement village (Pannel Croft in Newtown).
Top cops in ‘heated’ riots trial meeting (Birmingham Mail) The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police held a ‘behind closed doors’ briefing with politicians last night in the wake of last week’s riots murder trial.
Housing boost as Birmingham Council prepares to launch new lease and repair scheme (West Midlands Housing News, Property Talk) Housing in Birmingham is set for a £4.3 million boost with an innovative new scheme to bring 190 empty homes back into use as affordable housing.
Regional Headlines
Quarry search police find body
Emergency services searching for a missing 14-year-old boy at a quarry in the West Midlands recover a body from the water.
Stone in sock killer sentenced
A man is jailed for life for using a large stone in a sock as a weapon to murder a man in Willenhall.
National Headlines
Profits at British Gas owner rise
Centrica, the owner of British Gas, reports a 15% rise in first-half profits to £1.45bn, including a 23% rise in profits at British Gas.
Apology over wrong N Korea flag
Olympic organisers apologise to the North Korean women’s football team after their images were shown on a screen beside a South Korean flag.
