The leader of Lichfield District Council has insisted it’s still early days on the issue of combined authorities – but admitted that some key questions have already been answered.
Cllr Mike Wilcox has been involved with meetings with members of a proposed Greater Birmingham body as well as those involved in a potential Staffordshire link-up.
A visit from Solihull Metropolitan Council saw a new perspective on the Greater Birmingham option discussed.
“Some of the fears have been allayed by Solihull’s leader, Bob Sleigh,” said Cllr Wilcox. “We wouldn’t lose our identity and would keep our sovereignty as well as our planning authority.
“He also told us about some of the thinking in their council, but it is still early days.”
Cllr Wilcox will be heading to a meeting with Staffordshire County Council leader Philip Atkins and other local leaders tomorrow, while his deputy Ian Pritchard will head for talks in Wolverhampton to learn more about the Greater Birmingham solutions.
But the Conservative leader insisted there was unlikely to be any rush for Lichfield to choose a camp.
“I think the seven metropolitan areas will go ahead and we’ll be invited to join in the future if we want to,” he said.
“At the moment, it’s about gathering information, attending all of the meetings and noting all the facts. At some stage, we’ll summarise all of this and have an understanding of what it really means.
“But it isn’t going to be a fast process as far as we are concerned.”
