Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Shokat Lal since November 2022 [2] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 72 councillors |
Political groups |
|
Joint committees | West Midlands Combined Authority |
Elections | |
First past the post | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 2 May 2024 |
Meeting place | |
Sandwell Council House, Freeth Street, Oldbury, B69 3DB | |
Website | |
www |
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council was created in 1974 to administer the newly formed Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands county of England.
The council offices are located at the Council House, Freeth Street, Oldbury town centre, which opened in 1989. [3]
Sandwell is divided into 24 Wards and is represented by 72 ward councillors. Elections to the council take place in three out of every four years, with one-third of the seats being contested at each election.
Since the Local Government Act 1985, Sandwell Council has effectively been a unitary authority, serving as the sole executive, deliberative, and legislative body responsible for local policy, setting council tax, and allocating budget in the district; although public transport, fire and police services, and the local government pension fund (West Midlands Pension Fund) are jointly run by the seven metropolitan boroughs of the West Midlands county.
Most of Sandwell's councillors are members of the Labour Party, with the Labour party having run the council since the first election in 1973, apart from one year between 1978 and 1979 when the Conservatives had a majority. By 2014, all but two of Sandwell's 72 councillors were Labour members. [4]
In May 2021 the Conservative Party regained its presence on the Council, gaining 9 seats from the Labour Party.[ citation needed ]
In May 2013, it was announced that following a re-shuffle, there was a freeze on allowances for Sandwell Council Cabinet Members and that the membership of the cabinet was reduced from 10 to 8. [5]
Despite being the 14th most deprived borough in the UK, the council has invested and worked with many partners to ensure the regeneration of the borough attracting many new SME businesses. The Leader of the Council said that "successful small businesses are essential for the economy and for thriving local communities" [6]
Since its formation in 1974, the borough council has demolished a considerable percentage of the area's privately owned 19th and early 20th century housing stock. In the early years of this process, many of these properties lacked a bathroom or indoor toilet, as well as being generally unfit for human habitation, with refurbishment not deemed to be a viable option. The process of demolishing similar properties had in fact started before 1974 during the existence of the former West Bromwich and Warley boroughs, as well as before 1966 under the original local authorities. The borough council has also made money available for refurbishment of older private sector housing which is still deemed viable for retention.
Since the late 1980s, however, it has also demolished a considerable amount of post-1919 council housing.
The first large redevelopment of this time came in 1992/93, when the West Smethwick Estate (known locally as the "Concrete Jungle" due to its network of interlinked concrete-constructed maisonette blocks) was demolished, despite only being around 25 years old, and replaced by a new low-rise housing estate known as Galton Village.
Between 1992 and 2000, six of the nine tower blocks on the Lion Farm Estate in Oldbury (built in the early 1960s) were demolished and most of the land redeveloped with new housing.
Since 1989, parts of the Hateley Heath Estate in West Bromwich (mostly built in the late 1940s and early 1950s) have been demolished, including a section of maisonettes which were demolished in 1992 due to their unpopularity with potential tenants, as well as extensive vandalism of some of the properties while they were empty. In 1997 tenants on five estates representing 5,000 council homes voted against transferring their tenancies out of council control. Sandwell was one of the first areas to reject stock transfer.
Between 2000 and 2005, Carisbrooke House multi-storey flats and several blocks of low-rise flats (all built in the 1960s) were demolished on the Friar Park Estate in Wednesbury, while the council has retained and updated the much older houses which make up the bulk of the estate.
Two of the four tower blocks on the 1960s Riddins Mound Estate in Cradley Heath were demolished in 1996. The remaining properties in the area, including the two surviving tower blocks, have been refurbished.
Part of the 1930s Tibbington Estate in Tipton was demolished in the 1980s due to mining subsidence, and the land redeveloped with a sheltered housing scheme which opened in 1991. Another section of the estate was demolished in 2007 and redeveloped with a new public park as well as a small development of bungalows. Elsewhere in Tipton, several maisonette blocks on the 1960s Glebefields Estate were demolished between 1989 and 1992, and the estate's two tower blocks were demolished in 2004.
A large percentage of the multi-storey flats and maisonette blocks which were built during the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s in the areas which now make up Sandwell have been demolished.
Children's Services – In April 2013, an OFSTED report criticised Sandwell's children's services highlighting failings around domestic violence and rating the service inadequate. [7] The following month, the council gave its backing to ambitious plans to make its children's service amongst the best in the country by teaming up with private sector firm iMPOWER. [8] However, services continued to underperform and the service was moved out of local authority control and into a Children's Trust.
Projects [9] include:
Smethwick Regeneration: Midland Metropolitan University Hospital, Windmill Eye NeighbourHood and a £23.5 million redevelopment of Holly Lodge College of Science (creating a state of the art learning environment for 1,250 pupils)
The Portway Lifestyle Centre, Wednesbury Leisure Centre, The Crofts and Charlemont Flats
Regeneration of West Bromwich: a significant piece of investment including provisions for new retail, entertainment, arts, education and transit links. Despite the delays, it is anticipated that the majority of the regeneration will be completed by early 2014. One of the most controversial projects has been that of The Public, a community arts venue. In November 2013 venue was closed after the council decided that it would no longer subsidise it as an Arts Centre. [10] The Council announced in October 2013 that it had entered into an agreement with Sandwell College to take over the building, converting it into a Sixth Form college. [11] It is proposed that the council would need to borrow the money to refit the £70 million arts centre to make it suitable for the college whilst investors in the original project may sue the council if this proposal were to go ahead. [12]
The leader of Sandwell Council, Darren Cooper, died suddenly on 26 March 2016, while in office. He was succeeded by deputy leader Steve Elling. [13]
West Bromwich, commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is 7 miles northwest of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, culture and dialect. West Bromwich had a population of 103,112 in the 2021 Census.
Tipton is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands County in England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeast of Wolverhampton. It is also contiguous with nearby towns of Darlaston, Dudley, Wednesbury and Bilston.
Smethwick is an industrial town in Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It lies 4 miles (6 km) west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before being placed into then West Midlands county.
Wednesbury is a market town in Sandwell in the West Midlands County, England - historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, and is part of the Black Country. Wednesbury is situated 5 miles (8km) south-east of Wolverhampton, 2.7 miles (4.4km) south-west of Walsall, and 7.3 miles (11.8km) north-west of Birmingham. At the 2011 Census the town had a population of 37,817.
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council defines the borough as the six amalgamated towns of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich. Rowley Regis includes the towns of Blackheath and Cradley Heath.
The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972, through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stourbridge and Halesowen.
Warley was a short-lived county borough and civil parish in the geographical county of Worcestershire, England, forming part of the West Midlands conurbation. It was formed in 1966 by the combination of the existing county borough of Smethwick with the municipal boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis, by recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England. It was abolished just 8 years later in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with its area passing to the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell.
The West Midlands region straddles the historic borders between the counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire in the north, and Worcestershire in the south.
Tividale is a district of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands.
Coseley is a village in the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, in the West Midlands County, England. It is situated three miles north of Dudley itself, on the border with Wolverhampton. Though it is a part of the Dudley North constituency. It also falls within the Wolverhampton South-East parliamentary constituency.
Brandhall is a suburb of Oldbury in the south of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, bordering Birmingham and Halesowen. The development of the area commenced during the 1930s with the construction of several hundred private houses along the Hagley Road and Wolverhampton Road, as well as several side roads leading off the main dual carriageways. Oldbury Corporation founded a municipal farm in 1943. In 1949, the farm included a piggery, and fields growing wheat, potatoes, barley, hay, clover and oats. Oldbury Council placed a public notice for the demolition and removal of the farm buildings in February 1952. Most of Brandhall was developed in the 1950s and 1960s, when several thousand council houses, flats and bungalows were built by Oldbury Council on farmland to the south of Brand Hall. The Hall, which had become the clubhouse for Brandhall Golf Course, was demolished. Some of the first families moving on to the estate were relocating from Smethwick. Most of the high and medium-rise flats in Brandhall were demolished in the early 2000s and in their place housing associations built new low-rise homes.
West Bromwich was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 1974. It centred on West Bromwich, in the West Midlands. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.
Tipton Green is the central area of Tipton, a town in the West Midlands of England. It was heavily developed for heavy industry and housing during the 19th century, as Tipton was one of the most significant towns during the Industrial Revolution. Tipton Green is one of three electoral wards covering Tipton for Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. The population of this Sandwell ward taken at the 2011 census was 12,834. It is represented by three Labour councillors.
West Bromwich Town Hall is a municipal building in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. It is a Grade II listed building.
Galton Village is a residential area of Smethwick, West Midlands, England. It takes its name from the iconic nearby Galton Bridge that was named after local business man Samuel Galton whose land the new BCN Main Line canal was built through, the canal runs behind Galton Village as does the Stour Valley section of West Coast Mainline. The Oldbury Road runs through the area which begins next to Smethwick’s Galton Bridge railway station and ends at Spon Lane, next to a small shopping centre.
Friar Park is a residential area of Wednesbury, West Midlands, England. It is also a ward of Sandwell Council.
Smethwick is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England.
Sandwell Community History and Archives Service (CHAS) is the archive service for the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands of England. The service is based within Smethwick Library. It collects and preserves original archives and published material relating to the history of Sandwell. It is a local authority archive service, run and funded by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council.
The Municipal Buildings are in Oldbury town centre, West Midlands, England. The structure served as the headquarters of Oldbury Borough Council.