Updated 2:10pm 22 May 2013

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Neil Elkes

Neil Elkes

The Conservative Party Conference was held at the ICC in 2012

No more party conferences in Birmingham before General Election

Birmingham is set to end subsidies to attract party conferences to the city – meaning Labour, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will look elsewhere.Read

Charlotte Church 'trusts government to take Leveson action'

Singer Charlotte Church said she trusts Prime Minister David Cameron to tackle press regulation properly in the light of the phone hacking scandal.Read

Neil Elkes: Planning permission is not the problem, lack of cash is

A few weeks back Prime Minister David Cameron announced he would ‘get Britain building’ by lifting planning restrictions on home extensions.Read

Two Birmingham schools investigated for SATs 'cheating'

Two Birmingham primary schools are under investigation by education chiefs following ‘cheating’ allegations over SATs exam results.Read

Birmingham City Council House

Birmingham City Council staff take nearly 60,000 sick days in three months

Birmingham City Council staff took 58,635 days off sick between April and July this year new figures have revealed.Read

Neil Elkes: Who are the Brummies?

Councillor Waseem Zaffar could not have predicted the level of enthusiasm with which his ‘What Makes Us Brummie?’ inquiry was greeted.Read

Manufacturing

Manufacturing at heart of Brummie identity inquiry hears

Birmingham’s manufacturing base is the key to its ongoing identity crisis and can help the city define itself a council inquiry has heard.Read

Birmingham City Council House

Plan to scrap tenants' associations in Birmingham put off

Birmingham City Council has put off plans to scrap a network of council tenants’ associations following an outcry from residents.Read

Birmingham City Council House

Small traders in Birmingham fear council contracts could be lost

Small building firms face going to the wall after being told by city council bosses they could be squeezed out of local authority contracts in favour of larger national firms.Read

Birmingham City Council House

Birmingham City Council spends £7million on social worker agency fees

Birmingham City Council has spent £7.7 million on agency fees for social workers this year as it struggles to recruit and retain staff. Read

Birmingham Post

Birmingham faces social meltdown under welfare reforms claims city charity

BIRMIGNHAM faces ‘social meltdown’ and civil disorder if Government welfare reforms are forced through a city charity chief executive has claimed. Read

Ofsted

Ofsted launches unannounced spot check of Birmingham social services

Oftsted inspectors have begun an unannounced spot-check of Birmingham City Council’s under-performing children’s social services department.Read

The Barrel pub in Handsworth

Call for Birmingham pub to be closed over drug dealing claims

Police want a Birmingham pub closed down after officers claimed it was used as a base for drug dealing.Read

Elbow Room

Bid to re-open Birmingham nightclub The Elbow Room fails

A Birmingham nightclub, linked with gun and gang crime, is to remain closed for good after the owner lost his latest bid to secure a new licence.Read

Aston Manor Transport Museum

New market for historic Aston museum site

An historic tram depot, formally home to a bus museum, will become the venue of a new market despite protests from local residents.Read

University of Birmingham

University of Birmingham's plan for sports centre, swimming pool and library approved

The £175m redevelopment of the University of Birmingham complete with new Olympic-sized 50 metre swimming pool looks set to be approved by city councillors.Read

Artist's impression for the tower block at Birmingham Central Fire Station

Low rise solution to Birmingham Central Fire Station plans

Unpopular plans for a ‘tombstone’ like tower rising above Birmingham’s historic Central Fire Station have been scrapped and replaced with a much smaller design.Read

Neil Elkes: Three bins - and no pickle

As the deadline for Birmingham’s bid for wheelie bin funding fast approaches we can now expect the council to reveal the full details of its proposals and begin formal and widespread consultation.Read

Great Barr Primary School

Eight Birmingham academy schools on hold as £1.3 million debts loom

The creation of eight new academy schools in Birmingham has been put on hold after council leaders refused to write off £1.3 million in school debts and raised serious concerns over the lease of buildings to the new institutions. Read

Sir Albert Bore

Sir Albert Bore blocks plans for district committee meetings

Birmingham City Council leader Sir Albert Bore has blocked the new district committees meeting in their own areas in a move described by a opponents as a blow for local democracy.Read

Author Profile

A local news reporter in the Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield and south Staffordshire area since 1995, Neil Elkes is the local government correspondent covering the activities of Birmingham CIty Council - Europe's largest local authority. An avid reader and collector of comics Neil is writing a column on this for the Birmingham Mail website.