OBE honour for Combined Authority chair
Published: Saturday 31 Dec 2016
West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) chair Cllr Bob Sleigh has been awarded an OBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours list. Cllr Sleigh, who is also leader of Solihull Council, received the award in recognition of his services to local government.
He said: I am delighted to receive the OBE, which reflects my passion and commitment to serving the people of the West Midlands.
I must also thank my fellow councillors, both in the WMCA and in Solihull, for their continued support.
“We have some very exciting times ahead as the West Midlands combined authority develops, and I am very honoured to have been instrumental in the progress we have made so far and look forward to continuing to playing a leading part in that journey.”
We have some very exciting times ahead as the West Midlands combined authority develops, and I am very honoured to have been instrumental in the progress we have made so far and look forward to continuing to playing a leading part in that journey
WMCA chief executive Martin Reeves said: We are very proud to see Cllr Sleigh receiving this honour which is a reflection of his extremely distinguished local government career.
Although the combined authority was only officially formed in June 2016, Cllr Sleigh and other political leaders had worked tirelessly for years to reach that point.
He remains key to the future development of the combined authority and devolution to the region
Cllr Sleigh is also a director of Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership and West Midlands Rail.
He has previously held non-executive positions with the NHS and was formerly chairman of the West Midlands Probation Service. He also has a long business career, principally with small and medium enterprises.