OPINION
EDITOR’S VIEW
BY JOHN LAMB
All power to city’s elected mayor
A
s Birmingham edges ever closer towards accepting it will have an elected mayor, the important issues are to decide exactly what
powers he or she will have. And, of course, we will be asked to study the quality of the candidates. Sion Simons’ campaign gathered momentum by attracting support from Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor. Others we know about are Sir Albert Bore, the Leader of Birmingham City council’s Labour group, and Gisela Stuart, the Labour MP for Birmingham Edgbaston. And, of course, there is still the possibility of Bob
Warman, ITV Central’s presenter, throwing his hat into the ring. An apolitical figure like him may appeal to the electorate although the country’s longest-service TV news presenter has not pronounced on the media speculation about his possible candidacy.
‘The Chamber has called on an elected mayor to assume responsibility for strategic planning’
Whatever the outcome, once the democratic process kicks in, Birmingham Chamber has set out its views of what powers an elected mayor should have. Ed Balls has said that he didn’t think that elected mayors
were the answer for every part of the UK but added Birmingham was ripe for such a figurehead. He would not say which candidate Labour would support in Birmingham save for adding they needed to make a “strong” case. The Chamber’s Council, its elected policy-making body,
has thrown its support behind the principle of an elected mayor under terms spelled out by head of policy Katie Teasdale. The Chamber sees significant opportunities for its members – the city’s businesses and drivers of growth – to deliver job and wealth creation if the city is empowered to remove barriers to growth. These freedoms are vital if Birmingham is to achieve its objective to become the “easiest place to do business” and create the 100,000 new jobs across the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) area by 2020. The Chamber has called on an elected mayor to assume
responsibility for strategic planning including large-scale developments and infrastructure as in Greater London. This is a “no brainer” for not only those businesses frustrated by the current system but also critical to securing further investment, business start ups and relocation into the city. It has also argued that the mayor of Birmingham should
co-chair the LEP and chair the West Midlands Integrated Transport Authority in recognition of the city’s strategic importance to the success of Greater Birmingham and the mayor’s role as an advocate for the city and region. Objectors in the region may protest that an elected
mayor will only have powers and influence for Birmingham. But it should be remembered that 20 per cent of the region’s workforce is in Birmingham and the city creates almost 20 per cent of the region’s total economic output. So it is vital that the mayor works effectively with sister local authorities, elected police commissioners and partners presenting joined up thinking to the government, which has for too long undermined the region.
4 CHAMBERLINK FEBRUARY 2012 CEC Chamber Executive Club Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry CHAMBERLINK
FRONT COVER Lord Heseltine and Andy Street See page 8
EDITOR John Lamb 0121 450 4228
j.lamb@
birmingham-chamber.com
DEPUTY EDITOR Sue Cooke 0121 450 4201
s.cooke@
birmingham-chamber.com
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Connecting you to opportunity
BIRMINGHAM CHAMBER PATRONS 2012
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