Sandwell council in 'chaos' after fifth leader resigns in three years
It has been an unfortunate 24 hours for Sandwell council after its council leader resigned just six months into the job.
Citing personal reasons Cllr Rajbir Singh said it had been an 'enormous privilege' to lead Sandwell council but that he was leaving with immediate effect.
He is the fifth leader to leave in just three years.
The deputy council leader Cllr Maria Crompton has taken over temporarily - which is the second time she has had to do so.
On Wednesday afternoon, the council confirmed Mr Singh has also left his ward councillor job in Bristnall.
The council is also looking for a new Chief Executive of which it's had three in the last three years.
In a statement, Mr Singh said: "I regret to announce that I am resigning as leader of Sandwell Council with immediate effect.
"It has been an enormous privilege to lead Sandwell and I am proud of the progress made in transforming the council into one that puts residents first.
"Being leader is also an incredibly time intensive job that requires total dedication.
"After much thought during a family holiday in India, I have come to the conclusion that I cannot continue to balance the heavy demands of council leadership with the responsibilities I also have to my young family and my businesses.
"It has been huge privilege to serve my community at such a young age and one day in the future when my personal circumstances are different, could seek opportunities to serve the community."
'The council is in utter chaos at the moment', Cllr David Fisher says
Cllr David Fisher, leader of the Conservative group on the council said he was shocked at the news adding: "The council is in utter chaos at the moment. Yet again we have a leader appointed and then resigns after a short period of time.
"I think questions need to be asked. I think there's more into it than that. I know there's infighting within the Labour group within Sandwell Council.
"His appointment wasn't accepted by some members of the Labour group and I think he was almost doomed to fail."
Maria Crompton, the interim leader declined to speak on camera but in a statement said to ITV Central: “As Deputy Leader it is my duty to take over the responsibilities of the leader of Sandwell Council.
"As his deputy, I have worked closely with Rajbir over the past six months and I am committed to ensuring the stability of the council and continuing the improvement work that has already begun.”
Mr Singh had a busy six months in office before his resignation.
A dispute between bin collectors and Serco which operates waste services for the council is ongoing although threatened xmas strikes are currently suspended.
And there's been a huge campaign to stop the council's proposed closure of Walker Grange care home in Tipton with the families eventually winning their fight to keep it open last week.
Mr Singh whose last major public engagement was on Remembrance Sunday also faced criticism after it was revealed Sandwell didn't apply for any of the government's first round of levelling up cash
But he along with the authority's public health director were praised when the council won an award for its vaccine outreach programme which has seen jabs given in mosques, temples, community centres and West Bromwich Football ground.
Sandwell fact file
The borough has 1,200 hectares of parks, playing fields and local green space and more than 30 miles of canals.
It is the largest employer in the borough and is based at Freeth Street, Oldbury, close to Sainsburys.
It is a Labour controlled council divided into 24 wards represented by 72 ward councillors. Before Mr Singh's resignation the political make-up of the council was:
59 Labour councillors and 1 Labour and Co-operative councillor
10 Conservative councillors
2 Sandwell Together councillors