"Nervousness" surrounds Brum elected mayor, says Barrow
Birmingham's politicians are nervous about the prospect of an elected mayor, according to the strategic director of development at Birmingham City Council. Speaking to Insider, Mark Barrow said: "We need to know whether any elected mayor will be given the tools to make difference – with them we could potentially do so much more."
The final day of the public consultation over whether to introduce a directly-elected mayor in Birmingham was held last week.
Referendums are set to take place in May, when the electorate will decide the outcome.
Barrow said: "The issue is still unclear, as is the actual question that will be on the ballot paper. We need to ask what the role of councillors will be under an elected mayor, and there is a sense of nervousness amongst them.
"The government needs to be leading more on the question of Birmingham’s elected mayor; there is still so much at large."
Barrow pointed to the lessons learnt by Stoke-on-Trent, which voted to abolish the role of its own elected mayor in 2008 to return to a more traditional council leader and cabinet set-up.
He also confirmed that Birmingham will have a "strong presence" at this year’s forthcoming MIPIM event in Cannes.
"If you look at cities that have emerged from recession, they've always been at MIPIM and I think it's essential that we're there," he said.
"We've got some big things to announce at this year's show – some of them immediately deliverable.
"If we look at what's actually happening then we can see that the redevelopment of New Street station is underway. We'll also been announcing some projects around the enterprise zone, and hopefully some positive news about the High Speed 2 line. We'll also have some news around superfast broadband infrastructure for the city. The theme this year is very much centred around connectivity," he said.
Barrow said that the drive to introduce superfast broadband to Birmingham is at the forefront of the European Union’s agenda to connect businesses quicker and faster.
"We need connectivity in a global marketplace," said Barrow. "We've not been that good at shouting at Birmingham’s digital capability, and we need to do more," he added.
Barrow took over the role of economic and regeneration chief at Birmingham City Council last summer after the role was left vacant for nine months following the departure of Clive Dutton. He was previously chief executive of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council.
