Council stuck in the bus lane when it comes to decisions

Jul 19 2008 By Paul Dale

An unnoticed but nevertheless important anniversary in the history of Birmingham City Council’s Tory-Lib Dem coalition.

It is four years since transportation cabinet member Len Gregory decided to suspend “temporarily” the A38 Tyburn Road bus lanes.

Ninety-six months of research appears to have left Gregory no nearer deciding whether to abolish the lanes, reinstate them, or operate at peak times only.

It’s all so difficult, according to my man with the clipboard and peaked hat.

Apparently, a decision was almost taken a few weeks ago only to be delayed again at Gregory’s request. Further work is required, apparently, on traffic flows in the wider vicinity including the A47 Heartlands Spine Road, where the council has been operating a car sharing scheme.

Officials told the transportation scrutiny committee this week that the Spine Road experiment, where vehicles with two or more people can use a priority lane, has been a huge success. The 12-month scheme comes to an end in November, which means that Gregory is due to make a decision about the future of the road in September.

Good grief. The Tyburn Road bus lanes and the Spine Road car share on collision course in the decision-making stakes.

Len will be spending his summer hols with an ice pack on his head, but don’t expect anything to happen this side of Christmas.

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It’s the ultimate sacrifice, but someone had to do it.

Three Tory councillors have decided, selflessly, to forgo the famously calorific high-tea at full meetings of Birmingham City Council so Our Boys serving Queen and country in Iraq and Afghanistan can benefit.

Matt Bennett, Gareth Compton and Peter Smallbone have written to the Lord Mayor asking the £14-per-head cost be donated to the 26th Regiment Royal Artillery. In a year the total would be £420.

Compton said: “The meals are prepared whether or not we eat them. It seems sensible to provide some kind of opt out to save food and money. I can’t think of a more deserving cause than British troops on the front line”.

Quite so. Although the gesture may stretch the imagination of council accountants. Is it possible, or even legal, to take public funds from the council hospitality budget and hand the money to the armed forces, however deserving?

A decision, I expect, for council chief legal officer Mirza Ahmad, who will no doubt be called upon to pronounce.

On the subject of Mirza, word reaches me he now employs no fewer than four PAs to run his fast-expanding empire. Seems a bit on the low side. You’d have thought five or six, at least, would be appropriate for such a powerful figure.

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A vote-rigging scandal has disturbed the rarefied atmosphere of Birmingham Forward, the lobby group representing professional services.

The achingly on-message organisation decided to do its bit by holding an e-poll among its members on whether the Central Library should be granted immunity from listing, thereby making it easy for the local authority to demolish.

Predictably, 62 per cent voted in favour of the sending the bulldozers in. Or did they? Rumours circulated among the Colmore Row wine bars and restaurants the result didn’t reflect the actual votes cast and 74 per cent of those taking part were in favour of listing with 25 per cent against.

Urgent inquiries by Forward officials discovered, horror of horrors, someone had hacked into the e-poll after the deadline for taking part. This mysterious individual cast more than 500 votes against issuing an immunity certificate.

Perhaps a computer keyboard in the vicinity of Birmingham Council House has an interesting story to tell...