Webcasting the change

We've got an excellent new site to stream meetings. It aligns video with the agenda and you can jump from point to point and even from speaker to speaker.

Cabinet on Monday agreed that South Yardley ward committee - comprising three locally elected councillors (two Labour and one LibDem) review the Oaklands Recreation Ground steering group to ensure that it is still fit for purpose to develop the ground for the future. Seems reasonable that we maintain democratic control over a £3 million spend. (This isn't within Acocks Green, but may become an issue within Yardley)

Cabinet has also agreed to preserve the Housing Liaison Board structure to engage with tenants and leaseholders - although they do need to be genuinely representative of the tenants and leaseholders within their area. Acocks Green has a strong HLB and I'm pleased that we'll be continuing it.

Also great to see Cabinet supporting a Birmingham Jobs Fund to support Birmingham's young people into work, following policies suggested by a policy commission comprising the council, local employers, voluntary groups and government. This fund will take money from the ward-committee community chest budget, but this contribution has the potential to make a real difference to the economic clout of Birmingham - with funding starting as soon as April this year. In some wards across Birmingham, a quarter of young people are out of work - totalling 15,000, with 3000 of them out of work for more than a year. Birmingham is lucky to have a young population and we need to ensure that they are placed to drive the city forward economically. What we can't tolerate is a future where we have some wards that are the worst affected in the country and we have to prioritise our spending.