Birmingham and Solihull are two centres of growth with significant opportunities ahead including the arrival of HS2.
Birmingham has also just hosted a hugely successful Commonwealth Games and the city council is working with its partners on the country’s largest development programme to transform areas of the city.
However, Birmingham is also a place with some of the highest levels of deprivation with East Birmingham most acute. Bordering East Birmingham is North Solihull and both places form an economic area. Birmingham City Council, working with Solihull Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority, has developed a proposition that could make a significant difference to East Birmingham and North Solihull (EBNS), a place covering 375,000 people and with the highest concentration of deprivation in the country outside of London. Seventy-two per cent of the wards are in the most deprived 10% nationally. Areas of unemployment are among the highest levels in the country. Without a significant move now, people will be left behind and their potential lost.
Our proposition responds to the Government’s request for authorities to host investment zones with a proposal for one that can deliver increased investment, growth and employment at scale and benefit national economic growth and the prospects of communities within EBNS.
The first pillar of the proposal is an investment zone that combines grant investment to de-risk and unlock proposals and a locally self-financed tax increment financing model - borrowing to invest against future growth in business rates - to generate up to £1bn of public investment. To enable this, within the investment zone would be two new enterprise zones, one in Birmingham and one in Solihull. An overarching board, with a single integrated plan and priorities would span the whole zone area. Beneath would sit two delivery companies for each enterprise zone giving democratic accountability alongside agile delivery and confidence that funds raised in one local area are invested in that area.
The investment is essential to enable the acceleration of infrastructure to transform very poor transport connectivity. Many residents simply cannot efficiently reach education and employment opportunities, and businesses cannot easily take advantage of the excellent national and international connectivity that is nearby.
We would integrate the transport investment with further improvements to digital connectivity and accelerate major site infrastructure and regeneration opportunities including around HS2, Tyseley Environmental Energy District and the planned development of UK Central at Arden Cross. It will also bring much-needed environmental improvements where there is a deficit of quality green spaces. The investment is of scale to ‘move the dial’ in an area of this size.
A second pillar is to apply the freedoms and flexibilities across transport, skills, regeneration, business support, innovation, decarbonisation, digital infrastructure, funding simplification and fiscal devolution that we are seeking via the negotiations with government on the West Midlands Trailblazer Devolution Deal. These will support attracting private sector investment, innovation and employment and building local capacity and delivery.
A third pillar is an ambitious approach to integrating public services, bringing together multiple services and funding streams into more stable and efficient arrangements to break down silos, improve outcomes and increase the efficiency of spending. We know this is hard, so we propose a phased approach, such as commencing with skills and employment support to accelerate the local connecting of people to jobs. The public service pillar would also involve co-location of services and single-pot funding, and local data collation and sharing.
We have a strong track record on which to build. The Birmingham City Centre enterprise zone has seen transformation of the centre of the city and we’re delivering flagship investments. We’ve just delivered an extraordinarily successful and uplifting Commonwealth Games: delivered in half the time, on budget, and during the impacts of Covid.
Greenlighting the EBNS zone would harness the strong partnership and alignment, capitalise on the Commonwealth Games, maximise and leverage the investment in HS2 that is already underway, drive and unlock economic growth and raise productivity - and it can begin at pace now.
Cllr Brigid Jones is deputy leader at Birmingham City Council and portfolio holder at the West Midlands Combined Authority on levelling up and devolution
@BhamCityCouncil
