Sector: Manufacturing and engineering

Just to let you know: Sandwell Council will be carrying out essential road maintenance work on Dudley Street bridge in West Bromwich between Wednesday 3 January and Sunday 5 May.

The road maintenance works involve partial demolition of the outer edges of the bridge deck and their reconstruction. To keep disruption to a minimum, Sandwell Council has planned the work to the bridge to coordinate with planned stoppages on the Metro.

Once completed, the bridge will be able to carry full highway traffic. The existing eighteen-tonne weight limit on the bridge will be removed.  

Various closures and diversions will be necessary while the road works take place including: 

• Temporary traffic signals and lane closures on Dudley Street from Wednesday 3 January 
• A full road closure of Dudley Street from Monday 19 February to Sunday 5 May 
• The closure of Jervoise Street at the junction with Dudley Street between Monday 4 March and Friday March

Pedestrians will be able to access to frontages throughout the work. Clearly signed diversion routes will be in place. 

The diversion routes for the closures are short. The Dudley Street closure will put additional traffic onto the A41 between the Swan and Albion roundabouts. The closure of Jervoise Street will put additional vehicular traffic onto Coppice Street and Claypit Lane.

Go to Sandwell Council’s page for the latest on road maintenance works in Sandwell.

A regeneration project for Grove Lane in Smethwick has provisionally been awarded £18m in government Levelling Up Funding.

The government has identified the Grove Lane project in Smethwick as one of 55 successfully proposed projects nationally. It has provisionally awarded the project £18,063,128 from Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund.

In line with the Levelling Up Fund Round 2 submission, the funding will be used for land acquisitions to enable new housing around the Midlands Metropolitan University Hospital. It will also support the delivery of the Grove Lane Masterplan which Sandwell Council’s Cabinet approved in February 2022.

Funding methodology

In deciding the funding methodology for Round 3, government ministers had three primary objectives:

1. To prioritise places assessed as ‘in need’ according to metrics set out in the Levelling Up White Paper

2. To ensure a fair geographic spread so the Fund can benefit all areas of the country across its lifetime

3. To support the ‘pride in place and transport’ Levelling Up missions by focusing predominantly on regeneration and transport projects. (Please note that a smaller share of funding is going to transport projects this time compared to previous rounds, given recent wider government investment in local transport.)

The funding award is provisional and subject to project validation, subsidy control checks, and departmental sign-off. Sandwell Officers will be working through this assurance process with government civil servants.

Here in the West Midlands, Dudley Council and City of Wolverhampton Council also made successful bids in Round 3 of the Levelling Up Fund.

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.