The Leveson Centre for the Study of Ageing,
Spirituality and Social Policy
The West Midlands Regional What?
Dagmar Waller, Strategic Review Officer of the West Midlands
Regional Assembly writes:
When I saw my current job advertised I was hardly aware that I lived
in the West Midlands Region and that there was a West Midlands Assembly!
Sparked by curiosity I sent for the application form and before I
knew where I was I had been appointed as a Policy Officer with the
Assembly. I then found myself trying to explain to friends what the
Assembly is and what I do all day - and I thought the interview was
difficult!
So starting with geography - the West Midlands Region includes the
urban conurbation surrounding Birmingham and the Black Country and
the more rural areas of Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire
and Herefordshire. It extends from Oswestry to Rugby and from Leek
to Worcester also including Stoke on Trent and Telford.
Why is there a West Midlands Region? It is one of the eight governmental
regions within England (excluding London) established to administer
the delivery of government policy at a level somewhere between national
and local. In order to do so there are a number of regional bodies
each with different responsibilities. These include Government Office
West Midlands (central government in the region), Advantage West Midlands
(the Regional Development Agency responsible for economic development)
and the West Midlands Regional Assembly.
The West Midlands Regional Assembly is an appointed body that aims
to promote the interests of the region and its people. It is made
up of representatives from local authorities, the business sector
and other communities of interest such as faith communities. The Assembly
has specific responsibilities in relation to regional planning and
scrutiny of Advantage West Midlands. It also works in partnership
with a variety of other bodies around a wide variety of areas in order
to improve the quality of life within the region. Regional Partnerships
have been created to allow partners to work together in specific areas.
Examples are the Regional Transport Partnership, the Environment Partnership
and the newly established Health Partnership.
So what does this actually mean? A good example of how the Assembly
works is its approach to older people. Age Concern England has been
working with Regional Assemblies to raise awareness of issues surrounding
ageing through a national programme - Regions for All Ages. As part
of this programme a national conference was held in Birmingham in
March 2003. Delegates were challenged to identify what could be done
within their region to move the issues of ageing forward - and then
to go away and do it!
West Midlands' delegates wanted to set up a group of key players
to work to influence regional strategies and decision makers and wanted
to position this within Regional Assembly structures. Consequently
the Regional Advisory Group on Ageing was established as a sub group
of the Social Inclusion Partnership.
The group agreed that it wanted to advise and influence the Assembly
and other partners to increase the focus on the ageing dimension,
work to reduce prejudice and to exchange information. We see ageing
as a continuum and not restricted to a specified age group although
predominately we are interested in the issues related to an older
population. The group is not intended to be representative but includes
members from Government Office West Midlands, Better Government for
Older People, Age Concern, Help the Aged and the health sector. It
is chaired by Councillor Mrs Jo Jones who is the Older Persons Champion
in Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council and an Assembly Member.
We are working to raise the profile of ageing issues in a variety
of ways. Currently we are finalising a document that is intended to
be a wake up call for decision makers at all levels within the region.
It highlights the issues that they should consider from the changing
population structure to the role older people play in the economy
and society as a whole. It will also identify the challenges we face
in the areas of poverty, health, social care and exclusion.
We hope to follow this with more detailed work looking at specific
areas where older people have an important role, particularly in the
economy and the contribution older people make to society. We aim
to emphasise the positive aspects of an older population while not
ignoring the challenges that this brings.
We also are beginning to act as a consultation body. For example
in 2003 we responded to the government consultation 'Age Matters'
that looked at possible legislation to tackle age discrimination.
We are also helping to test an 'age proofing toolkit' prepared as
part of the Regions for All Ages programme referred to earlier. This
will then allow us to start influencing regional strategies in a systemic
way.
It is early days for the group but I feel we are already having an
impact. For example the recently launched Regional Economic Strategy
'Delivering Advantage' identifies a number of challenges for the region.
Following submissions this now includes 'The Demographic Challenge'
- a small win but hopefully the start of something bigger.
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