£900m budget for major regeneration bid gets approval
ABUDGET worth more than £900 million has been approved to support infrastructure, regeneration and job training schemes in the West Midlands.
The 2021/22 budget for the West Midlands Combined Authority includes a package of major transport projects aimed at driving economic growth and cleaner air as well as funding to transform derelict industrial sites for new green homes.
An adult education budget worth £142 million, claimed to be the biggest of any UK region outside London, will be used to give people, especially those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, the skills needed to get back into work quickly.
But in approving the budget, the combined authority’s board warned of the financial uncertainty caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic with recent independent research suggesting the West Midlands could be hit harder than any other UK regional economy.
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “The investments outlined in this budget will help the West Midlands make significant strides towards a quick and effective recovery from the coronavirus pandemic as well as tackling the climate emergency facing our region.
“We’re investing hundreds of millions of pounds in our green public transport network, with zero carbon and ‘Sprint’ buses, new rail stations, cycling infrastructure, and of course metro extensions – with almost £100 million being spent over the next year on the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension.
“More than £116 million is being spent on the remediation of derelict brownfield land, saving many acres of greenbelt, and we’re investing £142 million to increase our skills, getting us ready for the boost in the green jobs of the future.
“These investments will help create and protect jobs at a critical time for many people’s livelihoods, whilealso helping us on our way to becoming carbon neutral by 2041.
“We are managing to deliver all of this without costing the taxpayer any more as this will be the fourth year in a row where we have not introduced a mayoral precept – meaning not an extra penny from us will be added to people’s council tax bills.”
The approved budget includes £363 million for Transport for West Midlands to deliver schemes aimed at improving connectivity, driving economic growth and helping to cut carbon emissions.
These include the expansion of the tram system, the opening of new stations in Darlaston, Willenhall and Moseley among others and the development of a ‘Sprint’ bus network. More than £116 million is being committed for housing and land projects and the authority’s ‘brownfield first’ policy to unlock and redevelop derelict urban land and help safeguard the green belt. Around £120 million in capital grants will be allocated to local authorities to help fund major infrastructure projects with significant investment in Coventry such as the city’s station masterplan, the UK Central programme in Solihull and £20 million for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The £142 million skills funding will go on courses that give people the chance to upskill and get back into work.
A BITTER war of words between two previously close-knit couples ripped their family apart.
Mobeen Shahzad and Sheridan Fitzsimmons trusted Mazammal Mahmood Butt and Madihya Mazammal with their children.
The two husbands were ‘supposedly’ like brothers growing up, and the two wives were like sisters and would frequently spend time together.
But in the space of a week angry accusations and foul-mouthed insults led to bad blood.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, Fitzsimmons remarked to a paramedic: ‘’I never meant for things to go this far, I never meant for anyone to lose their life.”
The court heard she had never felt fully accepted into the wider family. Fitzsimmons met Shahzad in 2012 and they had a Muslim marriage in 2015. But it was said the fact she was not Pakistani remained an issue with some, in particular Mr Butt’s father, the owner of the family butchers in Lozells Road.
And the business itself was another source of strain.
Mr Butt had run it himself at one point, but unsuccessfully so. It ran into thousands of pounds of debt and his father was forced to turn to the Islamic community for a loan.
He also made the decision to place Shahzad and his brother in charge to turn around its fortunes. Meanwhile Mr Butt and his wife spent some time in Pakistan and returned in 2019.
But by the summer of that year Mr Butt, who was employed to work in the butchers, and Shahzad were said to be having arguments on a daily basis.