Your local councillors
| Published: 5th September 2007 09:43 |
Many of the decisions about how this area is run are made by Birmingham City Council.
It's a massive organisation with a budget the size of many small states - and often claims to be the largest city authority in Europe.
Just to give you an idea of its influence: the city council runs schools (sort of), empties the bins, builds, cleans and maintains roads, looks after parks (and organises events), takes care of social services and housing, promotes the city worldwide and encourages economic development, supports youth work and community projects - the list goes on.
Have your say
So how do you have your say and make sure the services provided by the city council match want you would like to see? It's all wrapped up in local politics.
The city council is run by a Leader and a Cabinet. Each cabinet member has a different area of responsibility. At the moment a group made up of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are in power, with the Tories taking the largest number of influential posts, including the post of city council leader (Mike Whitby).
Over a hundred city councillors exert influence over the Cabinet and Leader in a variety of ways. These people are the ward councillors you vote for in the local elections most years. Each ward has three councillors who keep their seat for four years.
The areas they represent don't fit postcode boundaries. B14 includes:
- About a third of Moseley and Kings Heath Ward
- Almost all of Brandwood Ward
- The southern half of Billesley Ward
Local committees
Birmingham City Council has been making attempts in recent years to delegate more decision making to a local level. It has set up ward and constituency committees, which take place at local venues in the evening and are easier for local people to attend and have their say.
In some ways, however, this has just created another two layers of confusing bureaucracy. Some meetings are poorly advertised and only a few people turn up. Council officials will often outnumber the members of the public.
The ward meetings can, on the other hand, be valuable opportunities to get things done about local issues. AboutMyArea/B14 will be publicising these and reporting what goes on there. This community website will work to make sure our local politicians are held accountable. Our pages are open for local people and the politicians themselves to have their say.
