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CONTACT: Joan Smith T: 07581 629 815


SOLIHULL SAFER


BY ALEX MURRAY CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT, SOLIHULL POLICE


In my last Chamberlink article (October 2014) I spoke about the importance that employment has in turning around the lives of offenders. But in the same way that the solution to homelessness is much more than just building homes, the solution to serious entrenched unemployment is more than availability of jobs. There are currently 37,000 people on job


seekers allowance in Birmingham and North Solihull, but there are 60,000 job vacancies. There is clearly a mismatch here and what is needed is a bridge between the two, something that the Local Enterprise Partnership is looking seriously at.


‘A small proportion of those people who are long-term unemployed are also the most demanding of our service’


This is important for policing because a small proportion of those people who are long-term unemployed are also the most demanding of our service (and more often other public services too) and cannot easily walk into one of those job vacancies. So that bridge between job seeker and job would look at tackling motivation and preparedness, and provide focused skills workshops that make someone more employable. When police forces are shrinking this is


something we recognise as beneficial but clearly not something we can deliver. But we can have influence. Crime Prevention Design Advisers sit within our crime prevention department and advise local authority planning departments on suitability and provide recommendations. This may be around road safety or security.


We can recommend fencing, CCTV or styles of design. However, in light of the above, there is space to take this further. The Social Values Act came into force in 2013 and requires people who commission services to consider how social value can be maximised. This could be ensuring that a percentage of materials are sourced locally or it could mean that positive action is employed to maximise the opportunities around the rehabilitation of offenders in an area. Here the police (and probation or community


rehabilitation companies) could recommend design principles and advise on evidence-based approaches around offender rehabilitation schemes – schemes that turn long-term unemployment prospects into hopeful cases. The effects could be startling with not only families transformed but potentially generations of families.


32 CHAMBERLINK JULY/AUGUST 2015


MAKING


Sharing economy has benefits for all


A


Solihull entrepreneur wants people to embrace the ‘sharing economy’, a concept that the


Government is supporting. The ‘sharing economy’ is a socio-economic


system built around the sharing of human and physical resources. It includes the shared creation, production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services by different people and organisations. The Government is keen on it, with Matthew


Hancock, the Minister of State for Business, Enterprise and Energy, calling for “Britain to lead the way on the sharing economy”. As a sign of its commitment, the


Government announced two pilot areas, in Leeds and Greater Manchester, to begin trialling local sharing initiatives later this year. In Solihull, Matt Dredger is already blazing a


Matt Dredger: sharing is the way forward


trail for the sharing economy. He left his job in asset finance to launch an online sharing platform called Borroclub, based at Innovation Birmingham Campus. His website www.borroclub.co.uk is already bringing people together to pool their assets for mutual benefit. The idea is that people share their assets, by hiring them out for others to use – and this could be anything from golf clubs to gardening equipment. Matt said: “Collaborative consumption is working because a peer-to-peer network can offer


services considerably cheaper than more traditional channels. Sharing companies are growing in popularity from a social perspective too, they unite local communities through a common need and at the same time they are sympathetic to eco values such as sustainability and waste reduction. “In particular this circular economy appeals to the millennial generation who have grown up


sharing their daily lives online via social media, and who find digital interaction with others a given. They are the early adopters of access over ownership – after all, why buy it if you can borrow it? “The added benefit of sharing is it can allow you try before you buy and make a more informed


purchase decision. Just as we seek out reviews of products when we visit online stores, the future might well see us borrowing a product and trialling it before we make our purchase.”


Accountants are aiming high


Prime Accountants Group, which has an office in Solihull, has embarked on the first stage of a charity fundraising challenge in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital. The ‘3Ps Challenge’ is a combination of


‘pedals, paddles and peaks’ and aims to raise £15,000 for the hospital. Over the course of the three-stage challenge the team members will cycle to each destination from Solihull, racking up 950 miles in the saddle in the process. They will row the length of Lake Bala,


Windermere and Loch Ness, climb the three mountains of Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis, enduring an exhausting total of 12 days’ cycling, 16 hours’ rowing and three days’ climbing. They have already undertaken the Snowdon


challenge, with stage two starting on 9 July, when they will cycle more than 200 miles from Solihull to Lake Windermere, row the 14-mile length of the lake and ascend Scafell Pike.


At their peak: the Prime team makes it to the top of Snowdon


Marketing manager Jonathan Stobart said:


“Our team have embraced every challenge we put before them and to have so many of us walk together to the summit of Snowdon was a truly inspirational sight.”


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