‘Planning for the Future’ – a cure for a politicised, complex and failing planning system?
In August 2020, the Government released its ‘Planning for the Future’ White Paper designed to fundamentally reform England’s planning system, The White Paper states that the Government’s ambition is to create a “significantly simpler, faster and more predictable system” to enable it to “build the homes our country needs, bridge the present generational divide and […]
How can policy makers help to inspire and enable a new wave of community led housing?
Following on from the Centre for the New Midlands’ recent webinar, which explored the case for community led housing (CLH) and the role it could play in enhancing the housing mix across the West Midlands, Abigail Ryan (Development Manager, West Midlands Urban Community Homes) provides her thoughts on the role that local and regional policy […]
“We need a dedicated housing court so everyone has a safe home to go to”
In this article, Glenn Harris MBE (Chief Executive of leading Midlands housing association, Midland Heart) makes the case for the Ministry of Justice to pilot a dedicated housing court in the Midlands, to bring greater fairness to the housing system and provide greater housing security for tenants.Coronavirus poses a major threat to the region’s […]
Can Social Enterprises ‘step up’ and support the region to ‘build back better’?
In this article, Carole Donnelly (an award-winning Social Entrepreneur and Co-Chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Social Economy Taskforce), looks at what the Social Enterprise sector needs to do to reassert itself and ensure it plays a key role in the nation’s future post pandemic.Nationally, the Social Enterprise (SE) sector contributes over […]
Sent to Coventry…Sent to Bailiffs
Chris Smith (Co-Founder and Director of the Centre for the New Midlands) explores the significant discrepancies in the manner in which the three West Midlands’ local authorities approach the collection of Council Tax arrears, which is becoming an increasingly challenging topic for taxpayers and local authorities alike. (Please note that this report was produced […]