New Mayor uses first day in office to outline priorities

The newly elected Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, has started his term in office with a commitment to tackling rough sleeping and homelessness in the region.

On his first official day since being elected as the Mayor on Friday, Mr Street visited Birmingham charity St Basil’s in Digbeth as he began the process of forming a taskforce for homelessness and rough sleeping. The aim is to have the first meeting of the group before the end of the week.

The first week in office will also include setting up the Mayoral bases in Wolverhampton, Coventry and Birmingham. As part of his pledge to be the most transparent Mayor in the country, Mr Street has reaffirmed a commitment to be as mobile as possible during his tenure.

On day one, Mr Street also met with the interim chief executive of the West Midlands Combined Authority, Martin Reeves, to talk about how early pledges in his manifesto could be delivered.

Mr Street said: “It became increasing clear during the seven months on the campaign trail that the issue of rough sleeping in our towns and cities is something everybody considers unacceptable. It was even more clear that they want to see the Mayor to lead our response.

“Frankly, it’s a situation that shames us as a region. Although it is not directly in the powers of the Mayor, I want to make this an early priority.

“The first thing we need is a co-ordinated approach to the challenge and that is what I plan to offer. We need organisations and people to be working together much better than they currently do.”

Secondly, he said the region needed more funding, not just through the public sector, but also through what he described as “alternative giving systems” which would enable the public to donate quickly and easily to organisations which provide support.

“And thirdly, we need to look at other preventative measures, most obviously the supply of appropriate accommodation and work opportunities,” he added.

He has also pledged to work with the leaders of the other West Midlands councils to deliver a region-wide strategy.

“We won’t achieve everything overnight but we must make early and visible progress so that people can see the value of the Mayor and the West Midlands Combined Authority,” he said.