Part of Birmingham

I see the council have decided to move to the next stage on this merging, now they've got the elections out the way. No consultation, though I believe that is a pre-requisite of any such joining. Apparently the set-up will be for Birmingham to have 5 seats on the council, and each of the 5 surrounding areas 1. The leader, appointed in Birmingham will have the casting vote. So, I should imagine that nice new library they have in Birmingham, which they can't afford to open, will be getting most of the library money. Social Services, I dread to think about given the state they are in throughout Birmingham, and how much more?

Hi all I have very mixed feelings regards the Coventry political merger with Birmingham. The thing is, we are not on our own with our feelings. Many people who live in the various parts of Birmingham, what we think of as districts, don't like being part of Birmingham either. Erdington for example. The longer in the tooth community living in Erdington like to refer to Erdington as Erdington Village. We all like our identity, which is a basic human (& animal) instinct, with a sense of belonging. That showed itself in the Scottish Nationalistic landslide a few weeks ago. Centro, who already manage our West Midlands transport system, have done that for over forty years. When I was tutoring in Birmingham, one of my colleagues lived & travelled from Nuneaton. He was so envious that I could travel between Coventry & Birmingham for a fraction of the cost that he had to stump up five days a week (this is prior to my free bus-pass era). I know of families who moved out of Warwick county just so as to have the benefit of the lower travel costs in the West Midlands. Some students moved into relatives' homes to live during term week time for the same reason. No joke, but years ago, I travelled to London with a Courtaulds colleague who lived in Rugby. This was before on-line ticket sales, but my return ticket from Coventry cost the company less than the ticket from Rugby, yet in the sixties, most of us train-spotters knew that travelling to London, it used to be cheaper to buy a single from Coventry to Rugby, then to buy a return from Rugby. PS. I have just looked at two same time journeys for tomorrow, without any advanced discounts, where the return peak ticket from Coventry to Birmingham is £9, whereas the Nuneaton to Birmingham same time is £20.80p. I rest my case your worships. That is more than double the cost!

You make a valid point about Birmingham, Philip. Erdington is about as far from being a village as anyone could imagine. However, I live in Sutton Coldfield which was lumped into the Birmingham district in 1974, having previously had its own council and mayor. The campaign to get Sutton recognised as a borough in its own right again has been going on since I moved here 20 years ago. There is some progress on partial devolution for some functions but the complete removal from Birmingham is as far away as ever. Our MP feigns support but in truth he's got more faces than the town hall clock. Some activists have worked tirelessly for years to get us even this far. I have the same mixed feelings as you, I think. As I've said before, the West Midlands County Council generally did an excellent job in its 12 years with less bureaucracy and far more efficiency than any of the district councils at the second tier. It was better for some strategic functions but unsuitable for very localised services, and that was what happened then. Everything reverting back to districts in 1986 was a complete waste of money and duplication of effort.

Hi Mister D-Di Maybe a lunch at the Yenton one day might be on our cards, hey? You & I can get there easily & free, using the train, with our free passes, but all of my best friends living in Nuneaton & Bedworth, have to travel all the way by bus, unless they pay to go on the train. They might get there for tea-time

I'd be happy to meet you for lunch when you are in the area, Philip. The Yenton is only about a mile away from me. You are fortunate to have your bus and train pass. I still have 3 years to wait. Because of the system they use to calculate it, the date seems to get disproportionately further away. Were I one year older I would have had my pass a fortnight ago!

Where did you see this about the set-up? I've been having this debate on another forum and the Brummies are adamant each member will be getting 1 seat on the CA council, and that Birmingham is proportionately under-represented.

The current position is that an emergency Coventry City Council Cabinet meeting has been called for this Thursday (28 May 2015) at 12:00 noon in the Council House specifically on "Devolution and Economic Growth - A Combined Authority for the West Midlands". The papers for this meeting include the following recommendations: Agree in principle to create a combined authority with a preferred option of councils from Coventry and Warwickshire (and Hinckley and Bosworth) with councils from the Greater Birmingham and Solihull and the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership areas Delegate authority to the Leader of the Council with the Chief Executive to enter negotiation and discussions on a potential devolution deal so that proposals can be considered by full Council in due course Allocate a budget of up to £250,000 to facilitate engagement with residents, local businesses, the city's Universities and other key partners and undertake and strengthen the economic analysis required to inform the work on a devolution deal

If it`s not an EU plot to "regionalise" in accordance with "ever closer union" considerations then it`s all part of the "divide and rule" methods of London based government. It is becoming increasingly more evident, London and its close travelling hinterland is one country, waxing rich economically and socially and frankly cosmopolitan. The process of economically "starving" the North plus Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was intensified by Maggie Thatcher, where quite correctly in my opinion she brought the funding of Local Authorities under central government - they couldn`t be trusted not to run up a National Debt in addition to that from central government. I think as Mr D-DI said earlier previous efforts of re-organisation have resulted in (my words) unforeseen circumstances. These present efforts will result in my opinion in the same mess, as Central (London) Government has no intention of supporting a rival satellite with its bounty. Same thinking Germany and its attitude to Greece, on reflection same attitude England, Scotland over Darien

Coventry partnership with Birmingham "one of the most important decisions for several generations" - link Coventry residents could get a vote on joining "Greater Birmingham" - link

The full Council meeting at 2pm this coming Tuesday 23rd June, will cover the Combined Authorities issue (and much more). It is open to the public to attend.

Scaremongering?

There is no smoke without fire, I was always taught, we should wonder why Warwickshire, Nuneaton etc etc do not want to join Birmingham, do they know something we don't?

Whilst it might not be a 'take-over' at the moment and we might just have an equal say, I'll wager that over time that equality will be eroded and Coventry (and the other constituent parts) will become subservient to Birmingham. The fact that our council don't seem to be able to see further than their noses really worries me. Also, I don't think this council has exactly done much to instill its honesty in the citizens of Coventry.

Bohica, you might be closer than you think, as when this first came about I was reading mainly the men replying in the paper, most said how can we trust the CCC. They more or less said with not selling us off to Birmingham like they did with the football selling us down the river.