Our Story
We pride ourselves on being a Council that is small enough to care, but big enough to make a difference.
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.
We are proud of the way the Council collaborates on big issues and challenges. We make big things happen – like hosting world class events such as the Commonwealth Games at the NEC.
People welcome our receptive, helpful and caring approach. We act quickly when it’s needed. This helps us to develop solid relationships across business, health and our strong and flourishing community sector.
These relationships are vital for everyone who works for Solihull Council. Our employees - our work family - are passionate, committed and focused on making our borough the best it can possibly be for residents. 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.
Our connections are further strengthened by our location in the heart of the country and our great road, rail and international transport links. Our UK Central Hub is home to the HS2 interchange station, the first station outside of London. This offers investors significant opportunities for retail, leisure and community development alongside new jobs, new homes and new businesses.
We are a borough that prides itself as the best 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.
But we also know the issues we’re facing. Like many other councils across the country, we have a range of communities to serve and a number of challenges.
We are always looking out for and keen to explore new opportunities to attract investment, create new jobs and build homes for people. Our strong performance in regeneration activity and our UK Central programme allows us to continue to invest in new economic opportunities across the borough to improve the lives of all.
We’ve always been a quietly confident place, getting on with the work we need to do while being ambitious for our residents’ future. That means we won’t be afraid to take risks, innovate and challenge as we make the most of what Solihull has to offer our residents, our partners and the country.
Themes
Location, connectivity and place
We’re at the heart of the country. We have great road, rail and international transport links. It’s not just that, it’s the way we work with others that matters.
We are a borough that prides itself as the best place to live, work and spend leisure time. Our town centre boasts a regional destination shopping centre and we have great schools, a college and universities nearby.
We have 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. In addition, we make big things happen like hosting world class events such as the Commonwealth Games at the NEC.
Our UK Central Hub is home to the HS2 interchange station, the first station outside of London. This offers investors significant opportunities for retail, leisure and community development alongside new jobs, new homes and new businesses.
Accessibility, approachability and relationships
We work with our public sector partners including police and health as well as 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.
Proud of the way we collaborate on the big issues and challenges. People welcome our receptive, helpful and caring approach. We act quickly when it’s needed. This helps us to develop solid relationships across business, health and our strong and flourishing community sector. These relationships are vital for everyone who works for Solihull Council. Our employees - our work family - are passionate, committed and focused on making our borough the best it can possibly be for residents.
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.
Opportunities
Our strong performance in regeneration activity and our UK Central programme allows us to continue to invest in new economic opportunities across the borough. We are always looking out for and keen to explore new opportunities to attract investment, create new jobs and build homes for people. The recent investment zone is a good example of us reacting quickly and promoting sites within Solihull that are part of the West Midlands bid.
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 they need to make the most of these opportunities.
We know the issues we’re facing. Like many other councils across the country, we have a range of communities to serve and a number of challenges.
People and communities
We are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of all our residents. We work to reduce health inequalities across our borough so that everyone has an equal chance to lead a healthy life. We also take action to prevent ill-health, to improve physical and mental health and to enable people to live healthy, happy lives and build strong social connections. Our joint work with local communities, the voluntary sector and statutory partners including the NHS, police and education helps us to do this.
The support we provide for children and families continues to be the Council’s top priority for improvement. We place children and young people at the heart of all we do to enable them to achieve their potential and lead fulfilling lives.
Our adult social care services provide support for people with care needs, and carers, to enable people to be safe, well and as independent as possible. When people do need long term support, this is timely, proportionate, responsive, and good quality, and enables people to continue to live their lives the way they want to.
Economy
Solihull is one of the strongest performing economies in the UK and offers a world class, well-connected location to live, work and invest. UK Central Solihull is one of the country’s most strategically important development areas. The arrival of HS2 will bring exceptional connectivity, investment and jobs to the West Midlands.
Sustainability is at the heart of our growth and development as we strive towards a low-carbon economy. Our approach to inclusive growth directly aligns with the government’s levelling up agenda. We seek to drive inclusive growth through our role as employer, procurer, service provider and system influencer.
Our plans to revitalise our town and local centres are key to economic growth and we are working to increase the supply of environmentally sustainable, affordable and social housing to meet the needs of local people.
Environment
Solihull’s exciting future is to shift towards a low-carbon economy and our robust plans to reach net zero emissions by 2041 as a borough were recently recognised as amongst the best in the country.
As a Council we will lead by example and are committed to making sure our own operations are net zero by 2030, building on existing achievements that have seen Council emissions reduce by over 70% since 2009.
‘Your Future Solihull', the Council's climate change and sustainability campaign, recognises that we all need to adapt our lifestyles and behaviours to live more sustainably. Protecting and enhancing our natural environment remains a priority to support both the health and wellbeing of our residents and in our fight against climate change.
Solihull
We’ve always been a quietly confident place, getting on with the work we need to do while being ambitious for our residents’ future. That means we won’t be afraid to take risks, innovate and challenge as we make the most of what Solihull has to offer our residents, our partners and the country. We’re small enough to care, but big enough to make a difference.