West Midlands mayor 'in lockstep' with Burnham

The mayor of the West Midlands says he fully supports the new prime minister's priorities for the country, especially around youth training and devolution.

Andy Burnham has promised a "rebalancing of power", giving English regions more control, as well as reforms to improving job prospects for young people.

Labour mayor Richard Parker said: "The priorities I've got for the West Midlands match exactly his ambitions for the country, so we are in lockstep."

He added: "We in this region are far better placed to make decisions that have an impact on and will improve the lives of the people here, if those decisions are made here, and not from Whitehall."

Parker said he and other regional mayors had already attended a meeting with the new PM, and he was in regular contact with his deputy chief of staff.

His team had put together a list for Burnham of the region's top ten priorities, he added.

Among a raft of measures announced since becoming PM, Burnham is to introduce vocational courses in schools from year 10 to give children a clearer pathway into work.

He has also proposed guaranteed work placements for 16 to 18-year-olds, which aligns with the West Midlands Combined Authority's (WMCA) efforts to tackle youth unemployment through training, work experience and apprenticeships.

Parker told BBC Radio WM the interventions were "incredibly helpful".

"We need to be preparing our young people for the world after they leave the educational system," he said. "We have failed to do that for the last three or four decades."

He said he had seen "too many young people" in the region "written off when they're 16."

He added: "That is deeply tragic, they've got their whole lives ahead of them."

Parker said the WMCA had put £75m into creating 12,000 places on construction courses across the region, as well as supporting apprenticeships in creative and life science industries.

He has recently spoken to a Royal Shakespeare Company apprentice that the programme had supported, he explained, as well as others working on TV and film sets.

"I've met many young people that have gone from studying make-up at a local college and have gone almost, if you like, from Longbridge to LA to work."

In response to questions from radio listeners, the regional mayor said his office was mapping heritage assets to try to protect them them falling into decline, and that local bus fares would be "fairer" when the network was brought back under public control from next spring.

He feels particularly optimistic about the prospect of devolution, and aims to secure "the best deal for the West Midlands".

"The purpose of number 10 in the North is to drive devolution and growth across the whole country," he said.

"His commitment to devolution means we'll have more resources here. More decisions that we can make on behalf of this region will be made here.

"When we've got that, we'll be able to improve people's lives in every part of the West Midlands."

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