Political leaders: Please appoint a cabinet member for Healthy Streets

Filed under: Campaign

This is an open letter sent to council group leaders on 19 May 2026.

Demerging the environment and transport portfolios to create a Cabinet Member for Healthy Streets

Dear group leaders,

We are writing as several of you are working towards an agreement to govern the city following the local election results,

Under the previous administration, John Cotton took a decision to merge the environment and transport responsibilities into a single cabinet portfolio. At the time, we publicly expressed concerns that this became too broad a role.

This has further been compounded by the councillor formerly holding this expanded cabinet position now calling for a review of his own policy to undo a life saving measure by reverting some 30mph roads to 40mph. A policy that would benefit nobody given that, according to Department for Transport statistics, the average journey speed of a local A-road in Birmingham is 16.1mph.

Simply put, we found that delivering transport measures in line with council policy often took second place or were shelved following the merger of the roles, not helped by the attention required for the waste service.

As part of the Birmingham Transport Plan and subsequent strategies, as well as ward-based funding, we suggest it would be appropriate for this cabinet position to have the title Cabinet Member for Healthy Streets.

We would also ask that you ensure the person you appoint is a clear communicator who understands the need to radically transform every street in the city and the everyday experience for moving 1.2 million people  around our great city.

Best wishes

Martin Price, Outgoing Chair

Paul Manzotti, Incoming Co-Chair

Florence Cadge, Incoming Co-Chair