Sector: Healthcare and medtech

Sandwell Council is carrying out further consultation with the public on how to make savings to its budget over the coming years. As a Sandwell-based business representative, don’t forget to have your say in the online survey.

Sandwell Council held an initial budget consultation earlier this year. Now it is inviting residents, businesses and voluntary organisations to take part in a further consultation on areas where the council can save money.

Sandwell Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources, Councillor Bob Piper said: “The council is facing similar pressure to residents from inflation and rising costs. The cost of living emergency is also creating more demand for some council services. This means that we need to make difficult decisions when the council sets its budget.

Making choices about delivering services

“We currently spend around £317 million each year on our day-to-day services, such as bin collections, street cleansing, running libraries and leisure centres. And around 60 per cent of our budget funds vital services for adult social care and looking after vulnerable children. We must meet our legal requirements, but we can make choices in how we deliver some of these services.

“Sandwell is no different to other councils – we all face significant financial pressures. Although we are in a fortunate position to have options to achieve a balanced budget, this still means we need to make difficult decisions. We need to use our limited resources as efficiently as we can, which means we have to work even harder to continue to deliver services and make the money go further for the years ahead.

“In the past two years, the council has worked hard to make savings of over £30 million.

“The council must make savings of £13 million to ensure we can balance our budget for the next financial year (2024/25). The majority of these savings must be sustainable – so we can continue make these savings over the coming years, not just next year.”

Understanding residents’ priorities

The council’s initial 2024/25 budget consultation, that took place over the summer, saw residents rank their priorities for how the council could achieve savings or increase income, as follows:

• Selling or developing council buildings
• Stopping or reducing non-essential services
• Charging more for some paid-for services
• Introducing more charging for non-essential services
• Increasing council tax.

This further consultation will ask more questions about the areas where Sandwell Council can make savings.

Councillor Piper added: “It’s important to us that we consult residents on how the council makes these vital savings. When the consultation closes, we will consider the responses we receive and bring a further report back to the council’s cabinet, before setting the council’s budget in early 2024. The council’s budget will, of course, be influenced by the chancellor’s autumn statement in late November and the Local Government Finance Settlement later in the year.”

The consultation closes on Tuesday 2 January 2024.

Sandwell Council’s planning regeneration team leader, Joshua Singh, has won the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)’s national Young Planner of the Year 2023 award.

Josh received the Young Planner of the Year award last week at the RTPI’s Awards for Planning Excellence.

This national award follows Josh winning the West Midlands Young Planner of the Year in June this year. He was recognised for his commitment to making a difference to Sandwell’s residents and businesses. He was also commended for promoting career opportunities in planning to the region’s young people.

Awards for Planning Excellence

At the recent awards the judges commended Josh’s “outstanding commitment and passion”. They added: “As a role model for future young planners, he will benefit the profession and the communities he works within.”

More recently, Josh was part of the team that secured £67.5m of government Towns Fund investment for Sandwell. He lead specifically on the West Bromwich Town Investment Plan. This resulted in West Bromwich securing £25m of funding for six town centre projects.

Josh joined Sandwell Council in 2010. He worked in several planning areas before securing a permanent position in the planning regeneration team in 2015. He has helped to deliver multiple regeneration projects that have benefited the borough. These include leading on a council programme to tackle ‘grot spots’.

The projects ranged from high street upgrades to sustainable transport, with Josh leading on the Urban Greening programme across the town centre.

Making a difference in Sandwell

In addition to these projects, Josh champions engagement with local schools. He works with the council’s employment team to bring career sessions with professional businesses into primary schools.

He has also helped to establish an educational outreach programme to engage with local college students. His aim is to explain what a career in planning might entail.

Josh said: “I’m extremely proud to have won this award and to have this opportunity to represent young planners from the West Midlands region and across the United Kingdom.

“Working in Sandwell for the past fourteen years and raising a young family as a resident of the borough has made me passionate about delivering regeneration and positive transformation for local communities, residents, businesses and young people across the area.

“Winning this award gives me a platform to share this passion and experience. To put Sandwell on the national and international planning stage, showcasing the influential work we’re doing to raise ambitions and create a new story for Sandwell through regeneration and growth.

“I am very fortunate that Sandwell Council has recognised and supported my career, from starting on the main reception through to leading the council’s planning regeneration team. I have a fantastic team around me, and I thank the team of managers who put me forward for this award. Especially Jenna Langford whose footsteps I am following, as a previous recipient of this award in 2019. Two National Young Planners of the Year from Sandwell – we’re obviously doing something right!”

Support from Sandwell Council

Chief Executive of Sandwell Council, Shokat Lal, added: “Josh’s incredible achievement is well-deserved and testimony to his dedication to the people of Sandwell. It is wonderful that the council has been able to support him throughout his career.

“Josh also personifies the vision and ambition for the council and Sandwell as a thriving borough on a journey towards excellence. Josh is a credit to Sandwell, and we couldn’t be more proud of him.”

To find out more about regeneration projects across Sandwell visit www.regeneratingsandwell.co.uk.

The Sandwell Local Plan is a document that plans for the future development of our borough. Sandwell Council would like to know your thoughts on the draft.

In the Sandwell Local Plan, Sandwell Council outlines where it expects to build the new homes we need up to 2041. It shows what land is required to accommodate new jobs.

Sandwell Council is holding a consultation so you can have your say on the sites it has proposed for development. Give your feedback on where development should or shouldn’t take place in Sandwell.

Sandwell Council has identified enough land to build more than 11,000 new homes by 2041. However, this isn’t enough to meet the expected housing needs of our growing population. Around 97 per cent of these homes will be built on previously developed or brownfield land. The Sandwell Local Plan protects the Green Belt and does not propose any new development within it.

The Sandwell Local Plan also sets out how we will address challenges like dealing with climate change, protecting our natural environment, supporting our high streets, and encouraging sustainable travel. It includes policies that will help the council to meet its target to be a carbon-neutral borough by 2041.

Have your say

Don’t miss your chance to have a say!

The consultation is now live and will end on Monday 18 December at 5pm.

All of Sandwell libraries have paper copies of the consultation documents and summary document, if you prefer to access it that way.

Sandwell Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Councillor Peter Hughes, said:

“I would encourage all Sandwell residents and businesses to look at the draft plan and let us have their views on it. This is about our borough’s future so the more people get involved, the better the outcome for all.”

If you have issues accessing the consultation documents, or would like to arrange to speak to a Planning Policy Officer, email Sandwell_LocalPlan@sandwell.gov.uk or call 0121 569 4054.

This week, Sandwell Council welcomed six delegates from Hangzhou in China.

Our guests came as part of a wider four-day, self-funded research trip to the UK. They visited Sandwell to see how a UK local authority functions and how it provides social services for residents. As deputy directors for municipal departments looking after veterans’ services, they especially wanted to learn about veteran welfare services in our area.

In turn, we were keen to build on our established relationship with our Hangzhou visitors’ region of China. We are always looking to raise Sandwell’s international profile and explore further ways to establish cultural, economic and academic links between here and the rest of the world.

About Hangzhou, China  

Near to Shanghai, Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province. It borders the Yangtze River and has hills to the west.

The Hangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone became a national development zone in 1993. It has five pillar industries: machinery and electronics, biology and pharmaceutical, high-tech chemistry, textile and chemical fibre, and food processing.

The visit to Sandwell

The Sandwell Business Growth Team was responsible for hosting our guests’ visit to Sandwell Council. In preparation, we engaged with partner organisations Black Country Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Defence, as well as our council colleagues involved with homes, communities and public health. We also carried out fact funding into local support for ex-force personnel and veterans, to help our visitors get useful information from their visit.

Xu Huashui, Wang Jiang, Xu Jianxiang, Lu Qiliang, Liu Hongyin and Lan Hongxing came to see us at Sandwell Council House on Tuesday 24 October. We hosted them in the Mayor’s Parlour where Shokat Lal, chief executive of Sandwell Council, held a welcome speech. Jenna Langford, our Regeneration Manager, was among the people to make a presentation. She focused on Sandwell Council’s business support, our borough’s regeneration pipeline, and inward investment. We also heard from representatives from the Armed Forces Covenant and Stepway, organisations supporting military veterans in civilian life.

Previous visits from China: a timeline

2015: Sandwell Council welcomed its first Chinese delegation from Pengzhou City.

2016: We had our first visit from delegates from the city of Jinhua. Jinhua Municipal People’s Government Mayor, Ji Junmin, and the Leader of Sandwell Council signed a Friendship Agreement. This is to promote friendly exchanges between the two regions and an exchange of cooperation in economy, trade, science and technology, culture, education, sports, health and personnel for the good of common prosperity and development.

2017: In May 2017, delegates from the Shanghai municipal government made a visit to the borough.

2018: In 2018 we had a return visit from the city of Jinhua to strengthen our business and friendship links.

2019: In July 2019, Sandwell hosted a visit from two Jinhua schools. St Michael’s CE School in Rowley Regis and one of our Q3 Academies welcomed school children and their teachers. They enjoyed activities together that included a visit to Ingestre Hall Residential Arts Centre and Sandwell Valley Park Farm.

[Feature picture: Xu Huashui from Hangzhou exchanges cultural gifts with Councillor Kerrie Carmichael, Leader of Sandwell Council.]