Questions for Cadman
Plus: Giant disco ball descends on Snow Hill
Dear Patchers — Welcome to your midweek briefing.
In the latest round of council chaos, serious questions are being asked about outgoing CEO, Deborah Cadman. While official communications suggest she always intended to leave after the last (now infamous) budget, in an interview with BirminghamLive from earlier this year she said she was committed to the role. Currently off sick, it’s since come to light that Cadman was facing an official complaint. More linked in today’s briefing where we also have notes on Walsall’s school gate car crackdown, Birmingham City’s managerial ups and downs, and green plans in Wolverhampton.
In other news, we’re continuing to blow our March target out of the water with 532 of us now paying Dispatch subscribers. Wonderfully, 65 have joined our paid members group just this month. As you’ll have seen me write before, this allows our hard-nosed journalists to follow up on stories, ask the right questions, and poke in the right places to bring to life the reporting our area truly deserves.
Please do consider joining this group by subscribing below. Until next time. Dan.
Brum in Brief
❓Questions over Council CEO: Is Birmingham City Council being honest about why outgoing CEO Deborah Cadman is leaving the organisation? BirminghamLive’s Politics Editor Jane Haynes is asking. A press release last week said the move was always planned for after the budget cuts. However, in a January interview, Cadman said she intended to stay. It has since been revealed the three-year CEO was facing an official complaint. “Something must have happened to trigger such a move, and residents ought to know what,” Haynes wrote. Latest here.
🚗Car crackdown: Walsall is taking on school gate drop-offs with a recent report to the authority’s council showing that 2,500 parents were handed warnings they could face fines if they didn’t keep their cars away. With over 400 fines already handed out, the council is looking at further work to keep vehicles away, stating that car drop offs result in traffic surges, collisions, congestion and a hit to air quality. Details on the scheme.
⚽New boss for beleaguered Blues: Free-falling Birmingham City is set to appoint ex-boss Gary Rowett as interim manager. The touted move comes after current hire Tony Mowbray temporarily stepped away for health reasons earlier this season, with his assistant Mark Venus stepping up until now. Already that’s a lot to take in but it’s only part of this season’s managerial tumult for the Blues. Rowett’s arrival follows the firing of first John Eustace and then Wayne Rooney, who lasted only 15 games at the Bordesley-based club. More on the chaos.
🏡Green Wolves win: The City of Wolverhampton has secured £5.1m in government funding to retrofit its housing stock. The plan is to make these houses greener, warmer and more energy-efficient via extra insulation, new double glazing, new doors and improved ventilation. It’s touted this will reduce energy costs and lower carbon emissions. Steve Evans, deputy council leader, said: “With the current high cost of energy, it is especially important we improve the energy efficiency of any poorly performing council-owned housing.” Full plans here.
🎷Hep cats: For those who have always wanted to know a little bit more about this expressive genre but don’t know the right in-road, then Symphony Hall has the event for you. At 5pm in the Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space, those lucky enough to grab a free ticket will get a helping of the beatnik beat. All the details at a click.
🕺Snow Hill disco ball: While it might be circa half a century since disco music’s peak, dancefloor aficionados can get their glittery fix by heading to Snow Hill Square to check out the Our Beating Heart installation from Thursday evening onwards. The experiential art piece centres on a heart-shaped mirror ball made from 11,000 tiles. Set to a disco backing track there’s even a silent dance event — for free! — on Saturday. More here.
Rare to have the chance to say this but absolutely love Walsall Council’s approach to school car drop offs - more of this everywhere please