The West Midlands NO! Campaign is urging people not to be taken in by Advantage West Midlands’ self-congratulations over its response to the recent floods.
The £2m which AWM is claiming to be giving out in flood relief is money that, until recently, would have been in the hands of elected local authorities, not an unelected regional quango that is scrutinised by another unelected regional quango.
£250,000 of the £2m allocated is actually for a new attraction at the Severn Valley Railway and not flood relief, how much of the £2m will actually be spent on flood relief?
AWM claims to be offering practical assistance for businesses through its Business Link service and promoting tourism.
However, AWM recently withdrew its funding for the Heart of England Tourist Board which will cease trading at the end of the financial year as a result and they recently regionalised the local Business Link service resulting in such a poor service that the regional Business Link only receives as many phone calls as a single office used to.
Words are small comfort when there is very little to back them up.
