Making the voice of the West Midlands heard in WestminsterPublished in Featured, Local News, News, WVA News on 12th February, 2010

Westminster is coming to the Midlands on Monday 22 February, as the House of Commons’ West Midlands Regional Committee holds a special session in Birmingham.

The Committee will be discussing how the people of the West Midlands can make their voices better heard in Westminster and will look at ways of making sure that regional bodies such as Advantage West Midlands and other government agencies are as effective as possible in serving local people.

The Commons Committee was appointed in March last year to examine the work of regional bodies and the regional strategies that are designed to guide investment and development. It has so far produced two reports, the first looking at how regional businesses fared in the downturn, and the second looking at the problems the people of the region have faced, and the help that they have been offered, in dealing with economic difficulties.

The Committee now wants to prompt a discussion about how official bodies based in the region might change to provide the best possible service to the people who live here, and how best to make the voice of the region heard in Westminster and throughout central government.

This meeting is not a formal evidence gathering session, but is intended to be a participative event where all who attend can play an active part.  Richard Burden MP, Chairman of the Committee, will open the meeting by talking about the work of the Committee, what it has uncovered in its inquiries so far and how it might work with other bodies to act as a channel to present the views of the region to the Government.

Professor Graham Pearce, of Aston University, will talk about regional bodies, how they work together and the extent to which there is such a thing as regional government in the West Midlands.

The session will then be open for contributions from the invited audience, with other members of the Committee also participating. Amongst those invited will be representatives of regional bodies, local authorities, business groups and unions. The Committee is particularly keen to encourage representatives of local voluntary and community groups to attend, in order to gain as broad a picture as possible of how people would like to see the structures in the region evolve.

The Committee intends to produce a report following this meeting, highlighting the issues discussed and setting out the agreed conclusions of those present on the key issues raised during the discussions

The meeting will take place on Monday 22 February at 10.30 am at the Lakeside Centre, Conference Aston, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET.  To book your place, e-mail regionalcommittees@parliament.uk or telephone 020 7219 0280.