THIS WEST MIDLANDS authority puts a lot back into its local community (a 53% positive score). Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council does everything from checking whether scrap metal dealers are registered to investigating food poisoning, and tries to act in an open, honest and approachable way. Chief executive Mark Rogers and other directors run the organisation on a sound moral basis (73%), and Rogers is an inspiring leader (66%). He visits different departments so that people at the 159 locations can question him directly and holds leadership forums for senior managers three or four times a year. A typical job among the 2,749 employees is a catering assistant, paid almost £12,500 a year. People feel pay is fair for their duties (58%) and are happy with benefits (60%). Everyone has flexitime and deadlines are realistic (62%), so nobody feels too exhausted at the end of the day (46%). Unusually, there is no budget for socialising. Solihull explains: "Being a publicly-funded organisation accountable to the people of Solihull, the council is not able to justify the allocation of public money for fun and social events. All staff recognise this reality." Instead, the mid-sized organisation encourages people to socialise and enjoy sports and foot the bill themselves, which is actually no barrier to having fun (75%). The council is driven by a vision of Solihull in 2018 "where everyone has an equal chance to be healthier, happier, safer and prosperous" and people believe they have a positive future ahead of them (58%). solihull.gov.uk
