Earlier this week the Care Quality Commission (CQC) rated our Adult Social Care services as ‘Good’. That one word doesn’t tell the whole story, as we were ‘Outstanding’ in several areas and our score of 84% places amongst the highest scoring local authorities who have been inspected recently. It’s a fantastic achievement and testament to the hard work of our excellent staff. I want to thank them, and all the partners we rely on for the smooth delivery of these vital services, for making us one of the best in the country.
It’s a proud moment for me, what we call our ‘people services’ – Adult and Children’s Social Care, are the heart of what we do at Solihull Council. They are the bulk of our budget and have the biggest impact on residents’ lives, especially the most vulnerable. That we have now secured ‘Good’ ratings from the relevant regulatory bodies in both spheres is important, not because of the word itself, but because of what it means to the people in Solihull who rely on these services for themselves or their loved ones.
We are looking after those who need us most, but make no mistake, we are determined to keep improving. This is part of the journey, a good milestone, but not the final destination.
Some more good news, of a rather different kind. We’ll be welcoming Heartwood Inns’ newest pub – The Muddy Fox – to Solihull High Street following their acquisition of the old Missoula and Luna site. It’s great that an historic building is going to be given a sympathetic renovation and brought back into use. I know lots of you will have visited The Black Swan in Henley or The Red Lion in Stratford, so you’ll know we’re getting a good quality new pub and small hotel in our town centre.
This will be my last column before the local elections on Thursday 7th May.
The elections this year are a bit different, it’s an ‘all-out’ election, which means that instead of electing one candidate per ward, voters will be choosing three councillors in their ward. It is important that you do get out and vote, there are so many people around the world who are denied the right to choose their representatives so we should be proud of our democracy here and make sure we take that chance. I also want to take this opportunity to ask everyone to be considerate to those who come round delivering leaflets or knocking on doors. Everyone who puts themself forward as a candidate does so because they want to help their community, so please remember that no matter what you may feel about their politics.
There’s still time to register to vote – the deadline is the 20th of April. Remember that you will need photo ID in order to vote. Some of the ward boundaries have changed, you can check which ward you are in with our online map. A full list of candidates will be published in April, and the Council will be delivering polling cards from next week which will tell you where your polling station is.
Finally, last week I mentioned a couple of improvements to our parks, you can read about all the details of the centenary shields in Malvern Park and the new artwork on the approach to Tudor Grange Park here.
All that’s left for me to say is thanks for reading, enjoy the sunshine this weekend, and (hopefully) see you again in May.
Karen