Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is represented by 51 councillors, with the following composition: 29 Conservative / 13 Green Party / 6 Liberal Democrat / 3 Independent.
The Council operates a Cabinet model of administration, plus three committees covering Governance, Planning and Licensing. The Leader of the Council is Councillor Ian Courts.
How we work
We work closely with our public sector partners, businesses, the voluntary sector and communities to improve the lives of the people we serve. Our residents are at the heart of everything we do and we always put them first. People welcome our receptive, helpful and caring approach: because we act quickly when it’s needed, we have developed solid relationships across business, health and our strong and flourishing community sector.
We are a borough that prides itself as a great place to live, work and spend leisure time and has an outstanding reputation for sustainable economic growth, investment and innovation. This is illustrated by our ambitious masterplan for the town centre creating exciting opportunities for new housing, leisure, business and culture. A particular focus for the future is delivering work to tackle climate change. Becoming a low carbon economy offers huge opportunities for new technologies, jobs and green growth. We need to make sure people have the skills and training to make the most of these opportunities.
Our strong financial track record has helped us deliver stability and certainty across Solihull, and our exceptional performance in regeneration, centred on our UK Central programme, allows us to continue to invest in new economic opportunities across the borough to improve the lives of all. But we also know the issues we’re facing. Like many other councils across the country, demand for public services is increasing and we have a range of communities to serve and a number of challenges. In particular, we are always working to ensure our most vulnerable residents are supported so that everyone has an equal chance to be healthier, happier, safer and more prosperous.
The Council received a statutory direction for its Children’s Services in November 2022, with an Ofsted grading of Inadequate in January 2023. We are committed to delivering sustained improvement of Children’s Services and good outcomes for the children and young people of Solihull. We are determined that we will deliver the rapid and lasting step-change that is required.