More than 700 new homes could be built in Wednesbury if senior councillors back a joint plan by Sandwell Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). Cabinet members are being asked to approve a scheme that will allow the purchase of a former sewage works near to Friar…

Walsall Council bosses could provide funding for more bobbies on the beat as part of an initiative which has been run in London. The authority said it is looking into the viability of adopting ‘Police Patrol Plus’ in Walsall as a way of increasing the number of officers on…

More than half of new jobs will go to London while the rest of the country competes for what’s left, a major new study has warned. The huge gap in wealth between London and the rest of the country is only going to get worse unless drastic action is…

The row surrounding LGBT relationships education at a Birmingham school has intensified after mediation broke down. Talks between parents and staff at Anderton Park Primary School in Sparkhill have worryingly stalled, it has emerged. Nazir Afzal, a former chief prosecutor for North West England, has been recruited to ensure…

Lawyer Nazir Afzal has pointed the finger of blame at ‘cowardly’ Government ministers and outsiders with a ‘malicious’ agenda after his failed bid to broker peace over LGBTQ equality at Anderton Park School. In his first press interview since the breakdown of talks, Mr Afzal was not holding back…

Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid has got off to a good start in his bid to become the next Conservative leader, with a pledge to increase police numbers by 20,000. It would bring the the number of police officers back roughly to where it was in 2010. Critics have been…

MP Liam Byrne’s campaign to become Labour’s candidate for West Midlands Mayor suffered a setback after Birmingham’s branch of left-wing campaign group Momentum came out against him. Earlier this month, Mr Byrne won the backing of Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, which may help…

Birmingham MP Richard Burden has urged his party to be “straight with people” about its Brexit policy – and warned that the party had lost votes because it looked “shifty”. Mr Burden, MP for Birmingham Northfield, said Labour must make its position clear, and he believed that should include…

Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid has pledged to increase police numbers by 20,000 if he becomes Conservative leader and Prime Minister. He said he would spend £1 billion over three years to put “police on the beat” and end a “culture of impunity” among criminals. It would mean around 2,000…

Plans to convert a former travel agency into a Sikh temple look set to be put on hold to allow councillors to visit the site on South Road, Smethwick. Members of Sandwell ’s planning committee have been recommended to carry out their own inspection of the proposed place of worship…