Who is behind those mysterious social media ads about our roads?

The government is ‘Risking Birmingham’s Road Network’ and we all need to sign a petition, apparently

Good morning readers and welcome to Wednesday’s Dispatch.

Today’s story ponders on some odd social media ads that have been popping up across our feeds asking us to sign a petition to save Birmingham’s roads. Perhaps you’ve seen them? It isn’t 100% clear who is behind them.

Before that, today’s Brum in Brief provides the usual round-up of local stories and a couple of recommendations for things to do tonight and tomorrow. We will be watching out for news from Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement today too, eager to find out how the budget will affect the West Midlands. You can look out for anything related to that in tomorrow’s briefing.

For now, thanks again for sharing us with friends, family, and followers. We gained an impressive 64 subscribers today, taking us up to 3,975 in total so far. The 4,000 mark is very much in sight. And a big shout out to a new pledger who left the comment below for us. If you want to pledge to pay for our journalism, once you’ve logged into the site the green button below will let you do so.

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Brum in Brief

🔷 The bodies of four missing teenagers from Shrewsbury have been found in an upturned car which was partially submerged in water. The four boys had driven to North Wales and had not been seen since Sunday. Liz Saville Roberts, MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, said: "No words can sufficiently reflect the sorrow that this news brings to our whole community."

👶 Research by the University of Birmingham shows babies as young as four months old show signs of self-awareness. This means that even in the early stages of development, babies have an understanding of the space around them and how their bodies interact with it. Dr Giulia Orioli said this “opens up questions about how much of these abilities are learnt, or innate.”

🩰 Birmingham Royal Ballet has appointed a new director of development. Rachael Magson will be responsible for strategic fundraising, widening partnerships, outreach, and supporting programming and touring. She said “I am very excited to be joining one of the most prestigious touring companies in the world at a time when its Director, Carlos Acosta, is creating exciting and ambitious new works for the company, including the recently acclaimed Black Sabbath - The Ballet.”

📸 A new exhibition of photography and moving image opens at the Ikon Gallery tomorrow. Ashokkumar D Mistry is a multi-disciplinary, neurodivergent artist based in Leicester and presents his 2022 show Don’t Stare originally commissioned by Onyx Collective at Disability Arts Online. “In the context of disability discourse — where the uninvited look, or stare, becomes a form of violence — the work affronts the gaze.” There is also a free talk with Mistry at 6pm.

🎷 Jazz artists the Will Sach Trio are performing at Cherry Reds on John Bright Street tonight. “Expect an evening of intimate, textured, and energetic trio playing with broad ranging tunes from Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonius Monk, Paul Bley, Duke Ellington, Paul Motian, and a some selections of original compositions from Jonny Mansfield’s latest release, ‘The Air in Front of You’.” Doors open from 7.30. Tickets £7 on the door.

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Who is behind those mysterious social media ads about our roads?

The government is ‘Risking Birmingham’s Road Network’ and we all need to sign a petition, apparently 

By Kate Knowles

One morning recently, while making my habitual doom scroll through various social media feeds — the same habit I promise myself every night I am not going to repeat the next day — an intriguing advert swiped into view. A big blue circle was stamped over an image of a couple of Travel West Midlands buses like a dart board. 

“DO YOU COMMUNTE IN BIRMINGHAM?” 

“That’s me!” I thought with the same urgency I imagine young men responded to Lord Kitchener’s posters in 1914. “Yes, I commute in Birmingham.”

With sleepy eyes, I peered closer to the text above. An account called Protect Birmingham Highways had placed an advert on Twitter (the site we are now supposed to refer to as X) imploring users to sign a petition to save the city’s roads. At risk was a big chunk of “much needed investment”. 

The advert that appeared in my feed.

Reader, I clicked.

Now, like many people, I am aware that Birmingham hasn’t had the best recent history with road maintenance. A contract between Birmingham City Council and Amey was brought to an end in 2019, after just nine years, following several court cases. The relationship between the two parties had deteriorated amid claims by the council about Amey’s poor performance. The company in turn criticised the council for unfairly financially penalising them. You may remember my former Birmingham Mail colleague Jane Haynes reporting that it took Amey a year to repair two bollards, for which the council fined the company an eye-watering £48.5 million.

An interim contract was agreed with Kier Highways, a division of the enormous construction and property company Kier Group. But a crucial element of the original contract was a government grant which committed £50.3 million a year to maintaining our roads. An overall £2.7 billion was meant to be spread over 25 years, £600 million of which is left. 

Which brings us back to those curious adverts on social media, because that £600 million is the money the ads are so desperate for us to save. 

Next question: who is behind them? It struck me as odd to see what appeared to be lobbying on behalf of a private company but for a public service. Most of the ads I get on my social media feeds are for £85 Nordic socks and here was some messaging - clearly targeted at residents in the West Midlands – asking us to sign a petition to retain some road maintenance funding.  

A post by the campaign on Twitter/X.

I had a closer look at the website and was initially none the wiser. There wasn’t any branding from an organisation or a company, just a campaign logo designed to look like a yellow and black road sign. Plastered across a fancy moving aerial image of Spaghetti Junction were worrying phrases like: 

• “The Government are Risking Birmingham’s Road Network.”

• “A delay in a decision may cost Birmingham taxpayers millions and severely impact the provision of vital public services.”

Birmingham Highways Ltd (BHL) is the company which was set up to run the big contract and it is the firm which awarded the sub-contract to Kier. It has another company ready to take on the job of maintaining our roads until 2035. But, according to this website, the deadline to appoint this new company is this month and the clock is ticking. BHL needs the government to decide if it will continue the project — but apparently, Whitehall has been stalling since August.

While I’ve tried contacting the Protect Birmingham’s Roads campaign and haven’t received a response yet, I would make a relatively confident guess that BHL is behind these adverts. A look at the website’s privacy policy shows: “This policy is written by Birmingham Highways Limited, Company number: 07064140.” 

It’s all a bit odd. I’m used to seeing ads like this for grassroots community efforts like saving libraries or pools and they are run by clearly identifiable organisations. These ones seem as if they have been created by a PR or lobbying firm, although the only contact provided is a campaign email address and links to its Twitter/X and Facebook.

It’s worth noting: this campaign certainly isn’t limited to online ads directed at doomscrollers like me. In October, our Labour council leader John Cotton also pressed the government to act, saying that if it reneged on the grant it would be a “betrayal” of Birmingham. The contract must go ahead “for the sake of everyone who lives, works, or visits Birmingham”. High stakes indeed.

From across the chamber, of course, the story looks different. The Conservatives assert that the council has managed the contract poorly and has missed deadlines set by the government to speed up the process of awarding the contract to a long-term successor to Amey. Conservative Deputy Leader Ewan Mackey told me: “When it comes down to it, the Labour administration at Birmingham City Council just isn’t very good with money.”

What do you think? Have you seen the ads? Have you signed the petition? Have I missed something here? And who is to blame — the council or the government? I’m undecided but keen to know more. 

Today’s cover photo is by Mac McCreery.