Latest news with #Solihull
BBC News
a day ago
- General
- BBC News
Solihull Council house swap tenant 'embarrassed' at state of new home
A man who moved 100 miles for a housing swap says the state of his new property has left him "embarrassed and broken". Colin Hanwell downsized from his home in Newport, Wales, to a bungalow in Solihull, West Midlands, as part of a housing association mutual exchange. But on the day he moved in he claims he was met with mould, cat litter and a stench of cannabis. Solihull Council apologised but insisted the process and responsibilities of each party are set out in advance. A mutual exchange is a house swap where two tenants from different councils or housing associations agree to move into each other's homes. Mr Hanwell visited the property six weeks before he moved in and claimed he had agreed on work that needed to be done, which included plasterwork repairs and a deep clean. But the 58-year-old said it remained in a poor state of repair when he arrived in early June."The day I moved in I couldn't actually get anything in," he said. "There was cat litter and mess everywhere." Mr Hanwell, who is on Universal Credit for health reasons, moved because he could no longer afford the bedroom tax on his previous home. The part-time gardener explained a Midlands move had made sense because his fiance lives in Kidderminster. But he said the process had left him feeling "abandoned" by Solihull Council's housing arm. He claimed a strong stench of "ammonia" meant he was suffering nose bleeds and itchy eyes, and he was "embarrassed" to invite guests around. Mr Hanwell said he had spent £800 to get the property up to scratch and believed the local authority should pay. In a letter seen by the BBC, bosses told him they were only able to provide paint and brushes "as a gesture of good will". "It has broken me," he added. "I sit here crying." Councillor Mark Wilson, who scrutinises the local authority on housing issues, said he believed tenants should be treated better. "It's unacceptable," he said. "Improvements have to be made. Somebody shouldn't have their health compromised because they're moving home." Solihull Community Housing said it was sorry Mr Hanwell was upset about his exchange. A spokesperson insisted utilities checks were carried out but cleanliness was the responsibility of the outgoing tenant. "Officers met with Mr Hanwell after he had moved in, following the issues he raised, and have investigated these," a statement read. "We are satisfied all our processes have been followed and have confirmed a date with Mr Hanwell for when the final repairs will be carried out." Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
'Deep reservations' over leafy Midlands village housing plans as 'besieged' residents speak out
A West Midlands MP has expressed "deep reservations" over proposed developments around Hockley Heath in Solihull. There are a number of ongoing development proposals surrounding the leafy West Midlands village - with some submitted to the council and others under consultation ahead of being proposed. Meriden and Solihull East MP Saqib Bhatti spoke of his "deep reservations" around the proposed developments, which could bring a significant number of extra homes to the "tranquil" village. READ MORE: Residents of 'tranquil' West Midlands village feel 'besieged' at housing plans READ MORE: HMO extension appeal thrown out by inspectors Some plans are yet to be submitted to the council as they are undergoing public consultation through developers, but if later approved, would bring hundreds of new homes to Hockley Heath. In addition to plans to be submitted to Solihull Council, there are proposals from the south Warwickshire side of Hockley Heath that are also worrying villagers. Hockley Heath villager Peter Sylvester told BirminghamLive: "Hockley Heath forms part of the green belt between the Dorridge/Knowle conurbation and Solihull and if the developments that we are seeing proposed at the moment, that will convert us from a green belt location to a town in its own right, which means we will lose the complete split between the green belt and the buildings." The 73-year-old added: "We are not against new houses. "We don't want to be NIMBYS we have to be realistic but we have to say crikey, how are we going to do this? "We appreciate that we have to play our part but this is overwhelming. "You feel as if you are being besieged from north and south." Peter helped set up Hockley Heath Action Group at the start of July and it now has some 185 members. Saqib Bhatti, Member of Parliament for Meriden and Solihull East, also met with residents of Hockley Heath, attending a meeting with Hockley Heath Action Group on Thursday July 17. Responding to concerns, Mr Bhatti said: 'I was pleased to meet with residents at a meeting hosted by Hockley Heath Parish Council, to express my deep reservations about the proposed developments around Hockley Heath. "This follows a meeting I attended in February, earlier this year. 'My constituents in Hockley Heath and I are in lockstep in our belief that these planning proposals could have a significant impact on the local greenbelt. "We also agree that the Government's National Planning Policy Framework is gravely unfair – putting enormous pressures on rural communities whilst leaving urban areas like Birmingham criminally undeveloped. 'I will continue to work tirelessly with my constituents to protect our precious greenbelt, preserve our natural environment and ensure that the people of Hockley Heath are treated fairly and with consideration.' A Solihull Council spokesperson told BirminghamLive: "We are aware that these sites, along with many others, have been submitted via our Call for Sites exercise over the winter. "The Council will be reviewing all sites to determine which may be appropriate to be included in the draft Local Plan. 'The Call for Sites is a land availability exercise, and it does not necessarily mean that sites are suitable for development. 'The council is also aware of the proposals within the South Warwickshire plan and will continue to engage with the neighbouring authorities as these plans evolve.' You can read more of what Hockley Heath residents have to say in our report, here.
Telegraph
18-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Starmer's trade deal spin has just been brutally exposed
Sir Keir Starmer's decision to stand up in front of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) workers in its Solihull factory and promise to protect their jobs from Donald Trump's trade war looked like a strange one from the outset. For a start, if the Prime Minister had been paying the slightest bit of attention, it was plain for all to see that JLR was a company in deep trouble. Tariffs were just the latest problem it faced, along with parts shortages and the huge costs of going electric. And that was before a disastrous woke rebrand cratered sales. The idea that Starmer could swing the pendulum sufficiently to ensure continued employment for JLR factory workers against such a grim backdrop is only mildly less ridiculous than the suggestion that the Prime Minister is in any position at all to guarantee that anyone's job is safe, whether it's mine, yours, or somebody else's. And so it is, with an overwhelming sense of inevitability, that JLR has announced plans for hundreds of job cuts just two months after Starmer's preposterous speech in the West Midlands. Make no mistake about it: this is a spectacular embarrassment for the Government on multiple levels. Never mind that he was allowed to go up there in the first place and make such utterly hollow claims. Starmer deserves all the humiliation that must follow such a breathtaking display of arrogance. But this is about far more than Starmer's humbling, it's what it says about the future of manufacturing in this country under the dead hand of Labour that really counts. It is a reminder too that for all the Government's attempts to paint its trade deal with America as some sort of triumph, that what Starmer came away with was really nothing of the sort. Quite the opposite in my view. True, we're better off than our estranged European cousins, but it's still much harder and more costly to export to the US than it was previously. So Britain isn't better off than it was before tariffs came in, it's just less worse off than others. In the case of the car sector that means a 10pc levy, which is disastrous for JLR given that the US is its biggest export market by far. No doubt the Government of course would love for everyone to blame all of this on Trump. But the truth of the matter is that no amount of leniency from Washington can counteract the economy's underlying weaknesses under Labour or its repeated missteps. JLR can hardly escape criticism of course. Its bizarre relaunch risks being one of biggest acts of corporate self-harm ever committed, while the decision to stop selling new cars in the UK late last year as part of its shift towards new electric models is also a huge gamble. But in all likelihood, it probably wouldn't be making 500 staff redundant if it wasn't so hard to be a manufacturer in this country, or indeed run a business for that matter. The same goes for all the other major manufacturers that have pared back operations in recent months or in some cases simply shut up shop altogether. The hollowing out of heavy industry is taking place at frightening speed and so much of it, is clearly the direct result of this Government's woeful economic mismanagement. Ditto the state of emergency that has gripped the high street. Not content with an autumn tax raid which has left retailers grappling with big National Insurance increases, alongside steep increases in the minimum wage and a new plastic tax, the industry is facing another hit from planned changes to business rates. Businesses are under siege from a Chancellor either unable to make up her mind about how to plug the growing hole in the public finances, or worse, running out of ideas altogether. Thursday's shocking job figures lay bare the extent of Labour's ruin. The unemployment rate is at a four-year high of 4.7pc – higher than economists expected. Nearly 200,000 jobs have been lost since Labour came to power. To compound matters, companies are cutting back on hiring too. This is Labour's record in black and white – taxes and red tape are destroying jobs, and yet Reeves has the nerve to tell an audience of City bigwigs this week that 'Britain is better off under Labour'. It's Alice in Wonderland stuff. With wage growth slowing and inflation rising again – much of it homegrown – it means Britain is effectively on the brink of another cost of living crisis, if indeed it had managed to escape the current one. Salvation almost now lies in the arms of the equally bumbling bank of England in the form of rate cuts. God help us all. Manufacturing is no different. It is those same employment costs that have torched other sectors, together with the highest energy bills in Europe, that are crippling industry, so for Starmer to be boasting about protecting jobs when the Government is laying waste to industry is an insult. Still, at least his choice of audience was somewhat apt – Jaguar's virtue-signalling rebrand suggests management wouldn't know good taste if it painted itself in the same garish colour as the 'Barbie pink' electric car that it has fooled itself into believing younger customers will want to buy. The long-awaited industrial strategy will help but only at the margins. It focuses too heavily on future-facing industries such as digital technology, clean energy and advanced manufacturing, at the expense of established ones, and contains too few real measures to help those in peril. A promise to bring down electricity prices for energy-intensive companies sounds like precisely the tonic required until it becomes clear that firms must go through an agonising two-year consultation period merely to determine whether they are eligible for subsidies or not. JLR's retreat wasn't the first and it certainly won't be the last while Starmer and Reeves continue to grab recklessly at Britain's economic levers.
BBC News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
MP Neil Shastri-Hurst under investigation
A West Midlands MP has been placed under investigation by the Parliamentary Standards Shastri-Hurst, Conservative MP for Solihull West and Shirley, will be investigated in his capacity as chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Defence Technology. The matter relates to due diligence of funding provided to the group's secretariat. A spokesperson for Shastri-Hurst said strict confidentiality requirements applied while the process was ongoing. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Birmingham and Solihull measles cases stabilise
Measles cases in Birmingham and Solihull have "stabilised" but parents are still being encouraged to get their children was one of the cities that experienced an outbreak earlier this year, with government figures showing 26 confirmed cases between January and of the NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board (ICB) discussed the issue at a meeting on medical officer Clara Day said herd immunity and getting the population vaccinated was important to stopping the spread of the disease. She said: "There certainly has been an increase above the baseline – which is zero – and we were worried for a few weeks but it seems to have stabilised out."We still have the same concerns around immunisation rates."Chief executive David Melbourne said: "Ruth [Tennant] – public health director in Solihull – is working with our children's hospital to try and get some of the safe messaging across Birmingham and Solihull about the importance of vaccination for children."We know measles for young people can be tragic so there is some work to do there." 'Avoid misinformation' The ICB had been urging people to get up to date with their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jabs for the past few June, the ICB's chief nursing officer, Helen Kelly, said: "There are lots of myths and misconceptions about the MMR vaccination, but we know it is safe, effective and remains our best protection against a virus which can be life-threatening in the most serious cases."The MMR vaccination is safe for all faiths and cultures, and a pork-free version is available for those who avoid pork products."If you're unsure, I strongly encourage parents to speak to their GP, health visitor or nurse to get accurate information and avoid the risks of misinformation which spreads easily online."This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
