Thursday’s Constituency Committee was the predicted long meeting. It did the important job of passing the budget for the year and covered some important topics such as policing, schools and graffiti.

The budget this coming year will be tight, as it will for all parts of the public sector. Indeed the situation for local authorities is so tight that the Government has helpfully provided some guidance for us, in a report produced by the leaders of pretty well the last two flagship Labour Councils left (to be precise Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council and Sir Steve Bullock, the elected Mayor of Lewisham). One might imagine that as a Lib Dem I would be sceptical of such a report but actually its not at all bad, and once again demonstrates that Local Government, of whatever colour, is often ahead of central goverment in terms of efficiency and best practice.

The thrust of the report is that the task of the public sector should be to defend front line services and find every way it can to cut out costs, to make these services more efficient. And this is what we have done our best to do with the budget.

Take Acocks Green Library as a good case, and one that there has been some debate about recently. With Customer First (itself a big driver of efficiencies) reducing the numbers of staff needed in the Neighbourhood Office, the decision has been taken to close Botteville Road, and co-locate the Neighbourhood Office in the Library. This can be accommodated in the Library without harming the services the Library offers. Naturally, before I would agree to the move, I checked it out with Mike Byrne, our Librarian and he commented “I believe we can ‘change’ by accommodating the Neighbourhood Office without losing any valuable services at all.”

The real point of doing this is that every pound saved in this way, reduces the pressure from making cuts to frontline services. And the Library is a great example of the benefit of this. When Labour last had control of the Council, it was open 39 hours a week. Now, under the Lib Dems it is open 50 hours a week. As a result, over 25,000 more visits to the Library are made each year. If we hadnt made the efficiency savings we have made, in the past few months, including co-locating the Neighbourhood Office with the Library, we would probably had to go back to Labour’s 39 hours and deprived all those people of the chance to use the Library.

A disappointing part of the evening was the lack of any real opposition. As far as I could tell there were no Conservative activists in the audience at all - amazing when you think they have ambitions to form the next Government and had the sitting MP for the old Yardley seat up until 1992. There were a handful of Labour activists in the room, and they did make some criticisms of the budget, but they failed to propose an alternative, just as the Labour Councillors had failed to do in the Council Chamber, when the Council’s budget was set last month. When the Lib Dems were in opposition, we always came up with an alternative budget and identified cuts to fund extra spending we wanted. This gives the electorate a real choice and allows a better debate about each party’s policies.

Much more positive was an example of a big improvement in service in an important area - the fight against graffiti. We heard that by getting many services to coordinate their approach a big reduction has been achieved in the amount of the City suffering from graffiti - from 18% to 9%, beating the city-wide target of 10%. Acocks Green has been a big beneficiary of the new approach. In January and February there was a ‘deep clean’ of the ward, with 1,400 tags removed, and more graffiti resistant paint added in areas prone to tagging, such as the Warwick Road. As a result Acock Green’s score has improved from 20% to 2%. Of course it will be hard to keep it that low, but real progress is being made and its a great example of how the Council can deliver better services, even at a time of real financial pressures.

The next meeting of the Yardley Constituency Committee is at South Yardley Library at 6.30pm on Thursday 18th March.

The main items on the agenda (from an Acocks Green perspective), which looks to me like being busy one, are as follows: 

• A report on the state of the finances of the Consituency for the current financial year
• The budget for 2010/11
• An update on Building Schools for the Future
• An update on Operation Paragon - the reorganisation of the West Midlands Police
• An update on the anti-graffiti strategy
• A briefing note on 44 Sherbourne Road, Acocks Green

This is the last Constituency meeting before the local elections, and the anticipated date of the General Election. Because of this, I’m sure there will be a full and lively debate on many of the topics. I’ll report back on how it goes!

If you live in the Yardley Constituency (including Acocks Green) and are suffering from anti-social behaviour, which needs reporting to the Housing Department, there is now an email address you can use to get your message directly to the right people. This is HOUASBYARDLEY@birmingham.gov.uk

The new number 40 bus started running yesterday, with my colleague Councillor Iain Bowen, who worked so hard to ensure its introduction, the first on board. He reports that the bus is a modern single decker which ‘kneels’ to allow those with pushchairs or mobility problems easy access.

Councillor Barbara Jackson, also rode the route on Monday and says that as the bus approached Acocks Green Village there were 12 passengers on board on her trip. This is important as an average of 6 passengers per trip are needed to keep the subsidy.

Frustratingly, road works on the Stratford Road, by the Health Clinic, were causing some delays today. Its also clear that many people do not yet know about the new route so useage will be light at times. But the road works will end soon, and as awareness grows, useage should grow too.

A full network review of south east Birmingham, with extensive consultation, is what is needed to address all the problems with the bus routes caused by National Express’ recent changes. We have secured a promise that we will get that review in the autumn. In the meantime, the 40 is a good first step to improving services for Acocks Green residents.

There was some good news at the end of last week, in the fight to restore the bus services, recently lost by many residents in Acocks Green. As I have previously blogged, National Express changed several of their services in Acocks Green at the end of January. The highest profile issue was the loss of the 41 service.

Since your Lib Dem Councillors heard of the changes, we have worked hard to restore as much of the lost services as possible. Led by Cllr Iain Bowen for Acocks Green, Cllr Paula Smith for Hall Green and John Hemming MP applying some impressive pressure in Westminster, several meetings have been held with National Express and Centro.

While National Express would not move (and as a private sector operator are under no obligation to do so if they dont think it will help their profits), we managed to obtain a subsidy for a new route, the number 40. This subsidy is based on some residents in Acocks Green being put over 400m from a bus service by the withdrawl of the 41. It was not easy to come up with a route that met the various rules you have to comply with (you are not allowed to run a subsidised service that competes with a non-subsidised route). However after much work by Cllrs Bowen and Smith, Centro have approved the 40 as meeting these rules. 

The new 40 will run on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis - basically it will need an average of 6 people per trip to keep its subsidy when it is reviewed in 6 months time. It will run, on an hourly basis, from The Baldwin to Robin Hood Island, then the Gospel Oak, along Lakey Lane, Shirley Road and Dolphin Lane to the Warwick Road and Acocks Green Village. From there it runs to Spring Road Station, down Cateswell Road, up Stratford Road (stopping at Hall Green Health Centre) and then back to Cateswell Road via York Road and then back to Acocks Green and then The Baldwin on the same route it came. The first service leaves The Baldwin at 0731 and the final service back leaves Hall Green Health Centre at 1656. It will run Monday to Saturday.

The 40 does not replace all the services lost by the 41 but is the most that current rules will allow. To make more fundamental changes we need a change in those rules. This is what Yardley’s Lib Dem MP, John Hemming, was calling for when he raised the issue in Parliament. Labour MPs jeered him for doing this. Perhaps this just reflected their frustration at seeing an effective local campaigner in action and a fear that more of them will lose their seats to hard working Lib Dems in the coming election.

Monday’s meeting of the Fox Hollies Neighbourhood Forum had to be abandoned when over a hundred members of the public turned up to have their say about the bus route changes, which have featured highly in this blog recently. With the meeting to be held in the Fitness Suite of the Fox Hollies Leisure Centre, which simply cant take that many people, the management of the Centre had to call a halt. This was a great shame for those who came, but I’m sure the manager who came from National Express will have been left in no doubt about the strength of public opinion about the changes they have made!

The good news for those who went - or wanted to go but couldnt make it, is that another meeting - in a much larger hall (it can hold 250) has been organised by my Lib Dem colleagues in Hall Green. This meeting will be at 10.30am in Hall Green Baptist Church on Saturday 13th February.

Meanwhile our local Lib Dem MP, John Hemming has raised the issue (and in particular the lack of consultation over the changes) in Parliament. In a debate about the new Passenger Focus watchdog (which can be seen in full on his blog via this link) he said:

“I would like to carry out what I call the “No. 41 bus test” on whether the new watchdog and the order are of any use. At times, it is good to look at specific problems and at whether they are likely to be improved. The No. 41 bus served part of Birmingham and Solihull until the weekend, and its withdrawal has caused major problems, particularly in Stockfield road, Dolphin lane and Shirley road. We have to ask whether giving the powers to Passenger Focus will enable something to be done for those local residents—probably not, I would say.

Together with local councillors, I have lobbied to keep the No. 41 bus service, but we have just been ignored—well, “ignored” is not exactly the right word; we have had meetings with the transport authority and with National Express. Passenger Focus has the right to ask for information, but not to prevent the service from being withdrawn. As a watchdog it has a bark, but in practice it does not have a bite. The transport commissioners may have a bite, but the bite to retain a bus service does not exist, and that is where the matter fails the No. 41 bus test.

Councillors Iain Bowen and Paula Wagg proposed a circular bus route. That could have been proposed via Passenger Focus. The National Express Group has turned that down, and Passenger Focus would not make any difference to that.”

So the campaign is gathering momentum - we also submitted a petition on the issue that had been collected by Mecca Bingo’s customers at this afternoon’s (Tuesday’s) Full Council meeting. With growing public anger it is clearly time for National Express and Centro to make a move. 

As I mentioned in my last posting here, a meeting was held in the Council House on Friday evening between senior managers from National Express West Midlands, Centro, Councillors from Acocks Green, Hall Green, South Yardley and Springfield and John Hemming, MP for Yardley. The purpose of the meeting was discuss the changes to the bus routes (in force as of yesterday) I have previously blogged about, which affect the south east of the City.

There was an understanding and acceptance from both National Express and Centro that the way these changes have been brought in was poor with a failure to hold any consultation about them. There was a promise that meaningful consultation would be carried out, for any future such proposed changes. This will involve locally elected members and other key groups having the chance to have their say, before any final decisions are taken.

There was also an acceptance that these particular changes will cause problems for specific geographic areas and groups of residents, in particular those visiting the Hall Green Health Centre (many of whom will now have to change buses). Oaklands School has lost its service and some other local schools will also suffer a significantly poorer service. Councillor Iain Bowen put forward a very interesting suggestion that most of these issues could be dealt with by running a circular service from Acocks Green Village, down Dolphin Lane, Shirley Road, School Road, up Stratford Road, Shaftmoor Lane and back to Acocks Green. This would need to run during the times people visit the Health Clinic or go to the local Schools.

Centro and National Express made no promises, however they did agree to look again at the changes, particularly in light of how they work in practice in coming weeks. So the door does remain open on the issue, which is probably the best we were likely to get as an immediate outcome from the meeting.

We agreed that, as the changes have most impact on Acocks Green and Hall Green, further discussions with Centro and National Express would be led, from the group of Councillors, by Councillors Iain Bowen (for Acocks Green) and Paula Smith (for Hall Green). Cllr Bowen keeps in touch with this blog, so if you wish to post comments here he will see them. Please do let us know how the new services work in practice (both good and bad aspects) so that we can feedback to National Express and Centro and keep the pressure on for an improved package of services.

The next meeting of the Yardley Constituency Committee will be this coming Thursday, 28th January, at Acocks Green Library. The meeting starts at 6.30pm.

The main items on the agenda are:

• An update on the Constituency Budget for 2009/10
• The Constituency Parks and Open Space Action Plan, with Pat Terry, Parks Manager attending
• An update on Section 106 agreements in the Constituency
• The Town Centre Management Delivery Plan for Acocks Green, with Melinda Brown, Town Centre Manager, attending
• The report on School Admissions & Appeals that was to have gone to Acocks Green Ward Committee, at the meeting cancelled earlier this month due to the snow.
• A report on Conservation Policy, with Julie Taylor, Principal Conservation Officer, attending 

Though I love the snow, even I am beginning to tire of this weather. And with the Government asking the Council to cut down on the gritting of our roads, to preserve national grit stocks, we must hope the predicted thaw does indeed arrive this weekend.

Despite some stories in the press, Birmingham still has a reasonable amount of grit; plenty for another week of bad weather at least. However with the national situation getting difficult, the Government has set up the ‘Salt Cell’ to co-ordinate use of remaining supplies across the country. The ‘Salt Cell’ is made up of Councils, the Highways Agency, Central Government and Salt Suppliers. Its job is to look at the overall situation and ensure the grit doesnt run out.

All local authorities have now been asked to cut grit use in half to preserve stocks  and Birmingham has done this by reducing the flow rate from the gritters from 20g to 10g. Meanwhile 600mt of unrefined table salt has been bought by the Council. While this cannot be used by the gritters, it will be mixed with sand and used to refill grit boxes and treat pavements where there are resources to do this. This will help the road grit last longer.

So there is a strategy in place to last out the winter, but its at the expense of less grit going on the roads that we would usually have. So lets hope nature comes to our help and melts the ice and snow the normal way soon. And in the meantime a big thank you to the workforce who have manned the gritting lorries, going out night after night, for a record 28 consecutive nights (the previous record was 14 nights). Without doubt they have kept our City moving this past snowy month.

Free Street Dance classes are being offered to girls aged 8 to 16 by the Stockfield Dance Club. The classes will take place on Saturdays from 10am to 12noon at Cottesbrooke Junior School Hall, Cedars Avenue, Acocks Green. The classes start on Saturday 30th January.

The classes are funded by the Football Foundation as part of Sport 4 Life’s large Street Sport project. There is a new qualified dance instructor and there are opportunities to participate in tournaments, competitions, performances and routines. There is also the chance for regular attendees to get their own personalised kit. A consent form is required for participants - this can be obtained from the instructor on the day.

If you want more details you can contact Sport 4 Life on 0121 429 4700 or tom@sport4life.org.uk 

My eldest daughter loved Street Dance when she was that age; its a great way for girls to get fit, make friends and above all have fun!

Together with Councillors Iain Bowen and Penny Wagg, I met with National Express West Midlands and City Council Transportation staff this morning. As the snow started to fall, we discussed the bus route changes previously described in my post of 21 December 2009. Councillors Paula Smith and Jackie Hawthorn from Hall Green Ward and Councillor Jerry Evans from Springfield Ward also attended as the route changes will have a big impact on the residents they represent too.

To be honest it was a pretty disappointing meeting. It rapidly became clear that this was not a consultation meeting but to inform and explain what was being done. So, if we had any ideas of how things might be done differently (and we did), they would not be considered. This is frankly unacceptable. For such significant changes there should be a proper public consultation, before any changes become set in stone.

There are some good aspects of the changes - the extension of the 31 route to Solihull is something we can probably all sign up to. However the loss of the 41, unreliable though it may be, will have a major impact on anyone using the bus to get to Oaklands School, or to visit the Health Centre on Hall Green Parade. Bus users along many parts of the 41 route will be forced to change buses to get to the Health Centre, something the elderly find a major inconvenience. In addition the amended 12 route is being renamed the 3 for very little purpose (other than to confuse).

Apart from being unhappy at many of the changes and the lack of any proper consultation in their development, I am very concerned that bus users, especially irregular users, will be blissfully unaware of what is being done, until after it happens - and their bus no longer turns up. Information on what is being done has been very poor so far and it happens in just over three weeks. We stressed the importance of doing more, and I hope that National Express will respond with real efforts to let people know what is happening. Given the mess they have made of this whole exercise so far, I’m not that optimistic.

National Express West Midlands have given notice that they plan the following changes to bus routes in Acocks Green from the end of January 2010. The following wording comes from Mark Kipling, their Area Manager for Acocks Green: 

“41: Service 41 will operate as current from Solihull station to the Swan at Yardley.  Following that it will take the existing 32 route to Acocks Green village, where this new service, numbered 42, will terminate.  The section of the old 41 along Stockfield Road will be served by a diversion of the 36/C, which will continue along Wharfedale Road until the junction with Stockfield Road, where it will turn right and serve the stops vacated by the 41.  Redstone Farm Road will not be served.  30 minute service.

12: Service 12 will be renumbered 3 and 3A.  The line of route will stay as is currently is until Stratford Road, following which the 3A will extend to Acocks Green village, covering a combination of the 41 and 32 routes along Stratford Road, Shirley Road, Lakey Lane, Gospel Lane and the existing 32 route to Acocks Green.  This will operate every 30 minutes.  Service 3 will continue from Stratford Road to Solihull Station along Streetsbrook road, again every 30 minutes, giving a combined 15 minute service on the core section of the route from Haslucks Green Road to the City.  This solution means new links are provided for communities in Shirley, Gospel Oak and Acocks Green.  A small section of Shirley Road and Dolphin lane will be unserved by the removal of the 41 in this area.  Customers who use the 41 from the Baldwin will still have the option of service 5.

32: Service 32 will be withdrawn - all roads are covered by other services.

31: Service 31 will be extended all day from Gospel Oak to Shirley Church, providing a new link from Acocks Green village to the heart of Shirley.  This will run every fifteen minutes during the day from Gospel Lane, Lakey Lane, Pitmaston Road, Solihull Lane and Stratford Road.  This option retains the link between Springfield and the Gospel Oak estate, albeit a longer route than the 41.”

National Express West Midlands believe these changes “give new journey opportunities to many residents in Solihull and Birmingham, as well as removing the complicated, unpopular and unreliable 41 service.” What do you think about what they are planning? 

Councillor Penny Wagg and myself plan to meet Mark Kipling on Tuesday January 5th 2010 to discuss the impact of these changes, as we have concerns about their impact. If you have any views, positive or negative, please let me know before then, so we can feed them into the discussions.

The full details of the 2008 Annual Opinion Survey of Birmingham residents was published last month. It was undertaken by BMG Research on behalf of Be Birmingham. I’m not sure why its taken so long to get the full report published (the fieldwork took place between September and November 2008) but it is a huge document, with lots of interesting details. Around 250 residents in each of Birmingham’s 10 constituencies took part in the Survey through a face to face interview.

Overall satisfaction of respondents with their local area as a place to live rose to 86% from 79% in 2007 (and 78% in 2004). Meanwhile the overall perception of the City Council’s performance has been stable for the past three years with around two thirds (67% in 2008) saying they are very or fairly satisfied with the Council. This is up from 56% in 2004, the year the Lib Dem / Conservative Progressive Partnership took control of the City from Labour.

The three issues that people feel are most important in making somewhere a good area to live are:

• Clean Streets - 49%,
• The level of crime - 40%
•  Activities for teenagers - 31%.

Perhaps not surprisingly it is the same three issues that people prioritise for improvement in their local area.  

The main challenges facing Birmingham were felt to be:

• Dealing with crime 23%
• Helping people to find jobs 17%
• Making poeple feel safer 13%
• Providing more affordable housing 13%

My guess would be that helping people to find jobs would have risen to the top of the pile by now, given the rise in unemployment over the last year.

On Climate Change it is encouraging to see that only 1% felt it does not exist. 34% felt they knew a lot or quite a lot about it, whereas 21% felt they knew either not much or nothing. 81% of people say they have done something to affect climate change. 52% say they have installed low energy lightbulbs, 51% say they recycle more and 45% say they switch off household appliances rather than leave them on standby.  

As part of the development of Birmingham City Council’s new website, a new geographical information service has been rolled out. My Local Information allows you to find your nearest Council facilities such as libraries, schools, your rubbish collection day and local administrative information.

The plan is to add further details over time and that residents will be able to use the service to report problems such as potholes or faulty streetlights. In the meantime you can of course report such issues direct to me via the ‘Report a Problem’ link on this website. 

There is good news to report on the efforts of local groups to preserve the best of Acocks Green’s heritage. Spurred on by the planning application for 42 & 44 Flint Green Road (recently withdrawn but sure to return before long),  local Residents Groups, members of the Acocks Green Focus Group and I went to see Councillor Neville Summerfield on Thursday. Cllr Summerfield is the Cabinet Member for Regeneration. His portfolio includes the Conservation Team.

The presentations we made, ably led by Julia Lardon from the Focus Group, persuaded him to make setting up a Conservation Area in the Arden Road, Flint Green Road and Sherborne Road area a priority. Work will start soon and if we have a fair wind it should be in place in around six months. A bigger area would be ideal but this is real progress and will allow us to proserve a significant amount of the best of Acocks Green’s buildings for future generations.

Our thanks go to Cllr Summerfield for listening to our request and responding so positively. We will all now be working together to get the Conservation Area set up as soon as possible.

School Road (between No 238 to Edenbridge Road and the roundabout) will be resurfaced next week. The work is scheduled to take three days, starting on Wednesday 11th November.

Graffiti clean up jobs were completed in the following Acocks Green Ward locations in September:

Hyron Hall Road (lampost), Pool Farm Road (wall), Fanshawe Road (cable box), Circular Road (cable box), Greenwood Avenue (2 cable boxes outside Fox Hollies Forum), Yardley Road (side walls in two locations), Tavistock Road (fence), Severne Road (fence), Gospel Lane (fence by Gospel Oak Pub site), Spring Road/Shaftmoor Lane Junction (road sign), Station Road (litter bin), Dagnall Road (walls in two locations and one fence location), Roberts Road (railway bridge), Warwick Road (shopfronts in two locations), Cedar’s Avenue (play area).

There are already a similar number of locations identified for clearance in October - but if you spot some let me know and I’ll make sure its on the list.

It looks like the long running campaign for a lift at Acocks Green Station has taken an important step forward.

Decisions on funding station improvements are based on the level of passenger use of the station. However the Department for Transport (DfT) has been using wildly inaccurate statistics for all West Midands stations as they do not include passengers using travel passes or season tickets (you sometimes really have to wonder!). Centro’s figures are much more accurate and they have finally made the DfT agree new figures that includes all passengers.

“Centro is very hopeful that the new accurate DfT figures will mean that stations such as Acocks Green and Stechford will qualify for funding as they will clearly demonstrate that existing usage is high enough for funding under the Disability Discrimination Act.” reports Cllr Tim Huxtable, Birmingham’s lead member on the West Midlands Integrated Travel Authority.  This is something that Iain, Penny and myself have long been campaigning for, so its great to hear that the lift is a real prospect at last.

Meanwhile a consultation is underway about the details of the plans for the new New Street station. I attended the launch event yesterday and was impressed by what the architects are proposing. If you want to see for yourself you can click here to see the project’s website.

The October Acocks Green South Police Tasking Meeting was held on 7th October at Lakey Lane Primary School. The following priority locations were agreed for the coming month:

• Pendleton Grove (residents report youths causing nuisance jumping over gardens and youths suspected of smoking cannabis).
• Northanger Road to remain a priority due to ongoing concern by City Council Housing Officers
• Tibland Road to remain a priority area, though it appears that anti-social behaviour is reducing following increased police patrols in recent months.

It was a well attended meeting with residents from across the neighbourhood together with City Council housing officers, a representative of Ninestiles School and Councillor Penny Wagg all in attendance as well as the local police. The next meeting is at 7pm on Wednesday 4th November, again at Lakey Lane Primary School

A damning Report into Birmingham City Council’s Children’s Social Care Department was published today. Produced by several of my fellow Councillors, from each of the main political parties, under the chairmanship of Tory Councillor Len Clark, the report makes painful reading.

The report uncovered “systematic and deeply ingrained” problems which need urgent action, as well as long-term solutions, to fix. In particular, the Scrutiny Committee said the time social workers spent with the children and families, who needed them, was severely limited.

The report blamed this on time spent writing records, a high number of case loads, a high number of vacancies and sickness absences. Members of the inquiry committee also said they were “shocked and dismayed” at the standard of accommodation at some of the council’s care homes and called for urgent investment. Other key recommendations included more money for staff training and development and the assessment and development of managers.

The problems in children’s services have been with us for a long time. They are now out in the open in full, painful detail. I will be watching closely to see that prompt action is taken - and positive results are achieved.

It was my turn to take our weekly Councillor Advice Bureau (every Monday 7-8.30pm at Acocks Green Library) last night. As usual the majority of the cases stemmed from the problems caused by the chronic shortage of council housing in Birmingham. It a problem that exists right across the country and originates from the early 1980’s when Mrs Thatcher’s Government started to sell council houses to their tenants.

It was a very popular policy - especially, surprise, surprise, amongst long-standing tenants, who were offered huge discounts to the market value, when they bought their homes. If councils had been allowed to build new homes with the capital receipts, all might have been ok, but they weren’t. Year by year, the stock of council homes fell, while the demand for them did not. Some extra housing association homes were built, but nowhere near enough to make up the difference.

So now we reap the results of this policy, started by the Tories, but continued under the Labour Government elected in 1997. If you want a council house you now have to be in really very acute need indeed. The Council is bringing in a fairer system of allocating homes but it wont deal with the basic problem that there simply arent enough of them.

So its good news that Birmingham City Council has won central government funding to build 129 new high quality council homes in the City - the first such new council homes for many years. Its a start but its still unlikely to be enough just to match this years loss of property under the right to buy rules - let alone to start to rebuild the level of housing stock to former levels. This is what needs to happen; it may not be sexy, but we somehow need to get housing higher up the political agenda.

One of the major problems you face, if you are unemployed and have the opportunity for some temporary work, is the way the benefits and credits are paid fails to keep up with your changing circumstances.  As a result you can be badly out of pocket at critical times (or be overpaid and then have the money taken back later). Not surprisingly some people decide that taking temporary work is simply not worth all the resulting hassle.

However a major change in the way benefits and tax credits are paid is coming in October, which should (and we all hold our breath when we are given such promises by officials) tackle this problem. A national initiative by the Department of Work and Pensions (who pay unemployment benefit), HM Revenue and Customs (who pay tax credits) is coming to Birmingham and our Council’s Benefits Service (who pay housing and council tax benefits) will also get involved.

As a results customers will have a single point of contact, at Job Centre Plus, where all benefits and tax credits will be sorted together. As well as simplifying the process, this should speed things up, reducing the liklihood of over or underpayments. 

The good news is that this initiative has already been piloted by 6 other local authorities, so hopefully most of the glitches will have been sorted by the time it comes to Birmingham. We will see. This initiative has to make sense, but I’d be very keen to hear any feedback, positive or negative on the way it actually works here, after its local launch on 7 October. 

This weekend over 40 of Birmingham’s attractions are taking part in the Heritage Open Day scheme. This gives us the chance to see inside a famous old building or community garden, many with special tours, events and activities for the family - and they are all free!

Many of the locations participating are in the City Centre, with free performances at the Town Hall and guided tours of JW Evans Silver Factory in the Jewellery Quarter as two examples. More locally there is a walk and talk tour along the river by Sarehole Mill organised and guided by the Hall Green Preservation Group.

For full listings and details of all events go to www.heritageopendays.org There are also some leaflets available at Acocks Green Library. As I sit on the Leisure and Culture Scrutiny Committee I’d be interested in hearing about your experiences if you go to one of the participating sites.