West Midlands Combined Authority plans to be launched today

PLANS for a combined authority for the West Midlands region will be launched today in Coventry.

And it will use the West Midlands Combined Authority name instead of Greater Birmingham, despite opposition to the idea from business leaders and media commentators in Birmingham and the Black Country.

The authority combines councils covering Birmingham, the Black Country, Solihull and Coventry and it would appear that they only way to ensure the buy-in of the more reluctant joiners was to abandon any plans of using the Birmingham name.

The new West Midlands ‘super-council’ is seen as a pre-requisite for receiving greater devolved powers – and funding – from the Government following the establishment of a Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which is seen as something of a precedent.

The Government also wants to see ‘metro mayors’ established but it remains to be seen whether mention of this will be included in today’s launch.

Those who argued that the Birmingham name had to be used in the title of a combined authority for the region included Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership chairman Andy Street and Black Country Chamber of Commerce chairman Mike Dell.

Dell said recently: “The name ‘Birmingham’ is recognised on the world stage, West Midlands is not and we do not want to be trying to explain where we are.

“It is important that we put aside parochial perspectives and work together.”

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