It is 50 years since Sandwell was created by merging the County Boroughs of Warley and West Bromwich. This created an artificial borough containing Oldbury, Smethwick, Tipton, Rowley Regis, Wednesbury, and West Bromwich. It has been run by various factions of the Labour Party for all but one of its 50 years. Its one year under Conservative control was so ineffective that it has never been repeated despite Sandwell consistently being ranked as one of the most deprived boroughs in the country. It has always had pockets of deprivation, but years of neglect and mismanagement have seen it sink even further into poverty, now ranking in the bottom 10% of deprived areas. 

• Sandwell has also suffered from some of the entrenched rivalry between the six towns, which saw some towns ignored at the expense of others, rather than trying to spread investment across all six towns.
• Cuts to local government funding under the Conservative government have made matters worse. Even when there was a Labour Government, Sandwell had a poor record of applying for central government funding, and local Councillors often had to suggest projects that might be eligible for funds. Lib Dem Councillors encouraged the Council to suucessfully apply for Government funding for projects in Hamstead and Yew Tree.
• The Council has also mismanaged assets like Sandwell Valley, Providence Place, Brandhall Golf Club, The Public, and numerous archaeological finds in the six towns, over the fifty years.
• Labour Councillors have often had problems understanding the need to declare a financial interest in matters, which have lead to several corruption scandals, including ones into SEND Transport contracts and the sale of Council-owned sites.
• Sandwell already has the lowest level of tree cover in the Black Country and needs to preserve what it has. Despite its claims of having a “brownfield first” policy Sandwell is allowing development on its limited number of green spaces, and even some of its Green Belt, as it is cheaper for developers. This will have an impact on the health and well being of residents.

The Lib Dem Approach

Liberal Democrats want to ensure that local people’s voices are heard – and we want to transfer power back to the people. Power and decision making should be dispersed as widely as possible across the UK, which is best delivered through a federal system of government.

In particular, too much power and control over people’s lives is held in Westminster and Whitehall, especially in England, with regions and communities excluded from decision making over their areas, leading to a dangerous sense of powerlessness and alienation from government.

Read more about our policy on devolving power to the regions, rather than imposing things from London, and replacing the House of Lords with an elected Senate, here.

A Framework for England in a Federal UK

Some recent “highlights” of our Council.

• Express & Star (January 2024): Two Sandwell Conservative councillors defect to Labour with parting shots at ‘weak’ Rishi Sunak
• Birmingham Mail (October 2021): Sandwell ‘corruption’ inquiry back in spotlight as explosive review leaked 
• Birmingham Mail (September 2021): ‘Humongous mismanagement’ – Loss of £22.5m in office block sale in West Bromwich
• Express & Star (June 2021): Scrutiny chiefs set to probe Sandwell Council’s school transport contract
• Skwawkbox (July 2019): Sandwell council CEO’s no-pay-off departure raises serious questions re conduct of Watson’s local allies
• BBC (May 2016): Sandwell Council: Ex-housing chief investigated over mum’s house