The latest news, updates and events in Birmingham
Public transport users have been left raging after bus fare hikes were announced only a month after the new West Midlands mayor was elected on pledges to reduce ticket prices. Rates for day and season bus tickets are set to rise by an average of 6% at the end of June after mayor Richard Parker promised…
Up to 400 saplings will be given away across the region this half-term week to encourage more people to get growing and boost the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Virtual Forest. The authority’s (WMCA) Right Tree, Right Place campaign has visited Birmingham, and will call at Wolverhampton and Coventry later this week to hand out the potted…
West Midlands migrant organisations have called on the UK government to grant Afghan refugees sanctuary in the region, following the current humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. As people desperately attempt to leave Afghanistan in a bid to escape instability and violence in the country, pro-migration groups are demanding PM Boris Johnson to announce a strategy granting…
Councils from across the West Midlands are joining forces to protect rough sleepers from the bitter cold winter months ahead, following a spate of related deaths on city streets in recent years. As rough sleepers, many of whom are homeless, face the double threat of harsh winter weather and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the region’s local authorities have come…
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street is once again joining forces with councils from across the region to protect rough sleepers from the bitter cold winter months ahead. As rough sleepers face the double threat of harsh winter weather and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the region’s local authorities have come together to announce their joint winter…
Young people across the West Midlands are being urged to stay vigilant in the COVID-19 pandemic, despite a slight drop in the number of new cases across the region. In the seven days up to 31 August, the number of cases for the seven metropolitan authorities stood at 13.7 per 100,000 population – down from…
Young citizens from across the region have written to the West Midlands Combined Authority urging it to continue to fight racism. Members of the Young Combined Authority (YCA) wrote to the WMCA’s chief executive, calling on the authority to keep structural racism and disadvantage high on the region’s agenda in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.
Plans for pop-up cycle lanes, wider pavements and many other measures to encourage more cycling and walking across the West Midlands have been given overwhelming backing from Government. The Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and its partner councils a £3.85 million grant to implement these fast-track measures over the…
Up to an additional £66 million of Government funding has been awarded to the West Midlands in order to kick-start a series of ‘shovel ready’ schemes that can help drive the region’s post-COVID-19 recovery. The money, from the Government’s Getting Building Fund, is in direct response to a list the region submitted two weeks ago…
The number of people recorded as homeless in the West Midlands has reached 23,715, new figures from Shelter reveal. Shelter’s extensive analysis of official rough-sleeping and temporary accommodation figures shows the number of homeless people in the region has increased by 64% since 2016 when the charity first published its landmark annual report.