Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Clearing up cases of fly-tipping on council-owned land in Solihull cost an "immense" £145,000 last year, a report has revealed.

Sandwell Council

Figures for 2017-18 show the local authority was left with a six-figure bill for dealing with 411 incidents around the borough.

Councillors this week received an update on efforts to deal with the problem and were told that the arrival of four portable cameras had improved the situation at several notorious hot spots.

It was also revealed that a former police inspector had been seconded to a role purely to investigate fly-tipping offences.

Sandwell Children’s Trust is paying its social workers up to £3,000 on top of their normal salaries in order to hold on to experienced staff.

BBC

The trust revealed its pay hike as cabinet members met on Wednesday to discuss Ofsted’s latest findings since the trust took over the looked after children service in April.

The government watchdog said the instability of staff was one of the "long-standing barriers to improvement" in a letter following a monitoring visit in May.

The trust said it had seen an increase in applications to become permanent staff with three out of four social workers now permanently employed.

People are being offered the chance to be part of a mosaic to mark the end of World War One.

Getty Images

Sandwell Council says its project will commemorate those who lost their lives and show gratitude.

It says it wants people in the area to send in their selfies to create a mosaic of a poppy.

The council is also organising several dates when people can have their photo taken for the scheme.

Dozens of birds have been killed by a mystery illness which experts are linking to the summer heatwave.

BBC

It’s believed that 45, mostly geese, have died in recent weeks after a bacteria developed at a pool in Smethwick.

Sandwell Council has completely fenced off the pool in Victoria Park as a result.

One of the longest serving councillors in Sandwell, Alderman Bill Archer, has died.

Sandwell Council

The former mayor served as a councillor for Wednesbury North from 1975 to 2011.

Known affectionately as the "singing mayor", the Alderman raised thousands for his chosen charities.

His daughter, Elaine Costigan, also a councillor, described her father as an "amazing character" and she'd had messages from as far as America and Australia.

Nearly 50 rough sleepers in Sandwell could be helped to find homes after the government chose the West Midlands as one of three pilot areas for a new homelessness initiative.

George Makin

The move will provide an extra £9.6m to the region, helping fund stable and affordable accommodation for the homeless presently living on the streets.

The cash will be shared out between the West Midlands’ seven metropolitan councils and Sandwell is now waiting to see how much it will get to help bring the homeless in from the cold.

This winter, council officials helped 45 rough sleepers living on the streets of the borough.