The Fight to Save Our Police Station Goes on…

Total crime year-on-year across the West Midlands has increased by 113% over the past decade. That's the finding from a Freedom Of Information request by local resident (and our former PCC candidate) Capt. Jay Singh-Sohal, who says that it's a sign that Labour Police Commissioners have failed to get crime down during their decade in charge of our region's policing.

Crimes such as violence, weapons possession, public order offences and vehicle crime are all significantly up. Suttonians will be concerned about these issues and will want assurances that more police officers from the government's uplift programme are sent to the Royal Town and that our current police station remains open. You can read more about Jay's research and campaigning on his website here: https://www.jaysinghsohal.org.uk/news/west-midlands-crime-doubles-under-labour

I have also received the following letter from our Town Council Leader, Simon Ward:

‘In response to continuing uncertainty over the Royal Town’s police station the Town Council invited West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster to its February Meeting.

Councillors were joined by more than 50 concerned residents who were able to scrutinise Mr Foster before Councillors raised their own issues over a two hour session.

The outcome of the meeting was far from satisfactory with Mr Foster failing to address a number of key areas:

· Whether a proper public consultation around the closure of our existing police station had ever been carried out. Mr Foster (like his predecessor) claimed it had but with no evidence

· Whether the appointment of a new chief constable, who has publicly committed himself to enhanced neighbourhood policing would lead to a review of the closure plan

· Crucially if the station were to close what reassurance could residents take that its replacement would not reduce response times or 24 hour access to officers.

· Why officer numbers in the Royal Town have reduced in number when significant additional spending has been committed centrally. Mr Foster cited confusing and often conflicting statistics.

· That despite Sutton residents contributing in excess of £7m in precept to the west midlands police the leadership team were unwilling to consider retaining the existing station as a result of its running costs of some £270,000

The response of Mr Foster to these and many other questions was inconsistent and evasive and often involved shifting blame to either the chief constable or central government.

The Town Council working closely with our MP Andrew Mitchell, will continue to push for answers to these questions and for the retention of the current police station – I have today written to Mr Foster requesting urgent answers. I have also written to the new chief constable along similar lines.

As I summarised to Simon Foster – using his own words – “residents have the right to expect presence; visibility and response times from the police.” Those are best delivered via a manned; full service police station – we have the station that can provide those things. The residents of Royal Sutton Coldfield deserve that certainty and reassurance.

Cllr Simon Ward

Leader Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council.’

Following the meeting of the Town Council, I have today agreed to meet shortly with the new Chief Constable of the West Midlands to discuss this and other issues affecting local policing in the Royal Town. I am very much looking forward to meeting our new Chief Constable. He has arrived very highly recommended.

Sutton Coldfield Job Centre

This morning I made a visit to the Sutton Coldfield Job Centre. I met with Cathy Beck, the Senior District Operational Leader, Riaz Khan, Senior Safeguarding Leader, and Frank Harris, Employment and Partnership Manager.

I wanted to raise the fact that the job centre in Sutton Coldfield is moving to Erdington at the end of April. Obviously the caseload in Erdington is many times that of the Royal Town. Unemployment here in Sutton has fallen by nearly a fifth in the last year, while unemployment among young people, which reached over 500 at the height of Covid, is now at 230.

I was reassured to hear that there will be a smooth transition of Sutton Coldfield cases to the Erdington branch, which is easily accessible by either train or bus.

Eco Sutton

In the afternoon I had another meeting with members of Eco Sutton church group. We discussed important topics such as water quality, investment into the water industry, growth of green skilled jobs and the instillation of heat Pumps.

The Government’s Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat sets out long-term priorities for the sector, and how ministers expect the water companies to deliver for consumers and the environment.

National Reading Champions Quiz

Well done and good luck to Boldmere Junior School for signing up to take part in the regional heats of the National Reading Champions Quiz! A great initiative from @Literacy_Trust and @ALCS_UK to encourage and celebrate a love of reading in students across the UK. #NRCQ23

Royal Town Conservative’s Annual General Meeting

This takes place tonight and is the occasion where I report back to our local Conservatives on my year in Westminster and back here in our Royal Town.

More details next week, but I will be thanking all of our local councillors and activists for all of their support and hard work throughout the local community and throughout the year.

Global Fund

On Wednesday, I responded to a debate in the commons on the UK’s contribution to Global Fund, which is the principle international organisation in the fight against aids, tuberculosis, and malaria. Click here to read in Hansard.

International Women’s Day

This week we launched in Parliament and in Whitehall the Women and Girls strategy:

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the foreign secretary announced a new strategy to tackle gender inequality globally. Placing women and girls at the heart of the UK’s international work, the strategy puts a continued focus on educating girls, empowering women and girls, championing their health and rights and ending gender-based violence.

While we have many issues to address in the UK, we should not forget the importance of international women’s day to extend the rights which we take for granted here to women in other parts of the world where basic women’s rights do not receive the respect and support which they should.

It is not possible to understand international development unless you see it through the eyes of girls and women. It is women who suffer most from the extremes of poverty and conflict. And yet women and girls are the key to prosperous and free societies.

Doha

I kicked off the week with a day-trip to Doha to attend the UN conference on Least Development Countries #LDC5. Whilst I was there, I met with the Presidents of Somalia and Zambia among the many other state leaders to discuss climate change, debt relief and sustainable development, and I also signed a development cooperation MoU with our Qatari partners.

The UK is committed to leading internationally and getting the UN #GlobalGoals back on-track. https://twitter.com/AndrewmitchMP/status/1632346614915276800

Whilst there, I took the opportunity to bang the drum for Business Investment from Qatar into Birmingham and the West Midlands. Many thanks to Andy Street and Deborah Cadman for the important briefing on development opportunities locally in our part of the world.

MHRC locations

Please see below the visits scheduled for the week commencing 27th March 2023 of the BCC Mobile Household Recycling Centre in Sutton Coldfield:

Mon 27/03/2023 Stonehouse Road B73 6LJ 07:00 12:00 Sutton Vesey

Tue 28/03/2023 Longley Avenue B76 9AL 07:00 12:00 Sutton Walmley & Minworth

Wed 29/03/2023 Vesey Road B73 5NZ 07:00 12:00 Sutton Wylde Green

Thu 30/03/2023 Mulroy Road B74 2PY 07:00 12:00 Sutton Trinity

Earthquake Appeal

Next Saturday, the Sutton Coldfield Chamber choir are hosting a concert fundraiser for the Turkey and Syria earthquake disaster relief. Please see the poster for more details.