Tag: 2 May

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NEWS: Criminal defence lawyer with family in Erdington to stand for West Midlands Mayor

Words by Edington Local editorial team / Pics supplied by Akhmed Yakoob

A criminal defence lawyer with family in Erdington is a last minute candidate for the upcoming mayoral elections, standing as an independent on 2 May.

Akhmed Yakoob is a director at Maurice Andrews Solicitors, based in Hockley, and offers defence counsel to people charged with crimes from bank fraud to murder. The strapline on the Maurice Andrews website reads: ‘There is a defence for every offence’.

Mr Yakoob is also a prominent social media figure in the region, with 122k followers on Instagram and 596 followers on X (formerly Twitter).

He also has 176.2K followers on TikTok where he offers no holds barred legal advice. One of his online videos on the popular platform, ‘Two things you can’t be arrested for’, has received over 600k views.

But the latest mayoral race hopeful believes he can offer the region fresh leadership and an alternative to the main political parties who he feels “speak for no-one”.

Mr Yakoob grew up in Aston and now lives in Aldridge, but has close family in Erdington on Burcote Road – just off Tyburn Road. 

He says he has seen first hand the “pain” that successive Conservative governments have brought with their austerity agenda and cuts to services such as the police force and social housing.

He told Erdington Local: “For 13 years the Tories have had power and places like Erdington have felt the pain that has brought.

“Crime has gone up in the West Midlands and people want change.”

Mr Yakoob also has personal experience of how HMOs can adversely impact a residential area, as they have in Gravelly Hill, Stockland Green, and elsewhere across the Erdington constituency.

He said: “I grew up in Aston, but as I have four children I had to move out because of the amount of HMOs in the area… which I know the people of Stockland Green and Erdington also suffer the consequences of.”

He added: “They (HMOs) ruin an area, drug dealing goes up, and I just did not want my children to grow up around that.

“As Mayor I will do everything I can to stop HMOs ruining residential areas.”

The last candidate to announce his campaign to become West Midlands Mayor and Chair of the West Midlands Combined Authority, this is the first attempt at running for elected office for the 36-year-old father of four.

However, his Twitter profile reads ‘Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Ladywood Birmingham’ – referencing the seat currently held by Shabana Mahmood MP, who recently faced protests from her own constituents after abstaining on a vote calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Mr Yakoob believes his candidacy will also be a direct threat to the Labour Party, who he feels have taken the South Asian vote “for granted” and will be “scared” of his bid for Mayor.

He has also received the backing of prominent politician George Galloway, who won the Rochdale by-election in March on a pro-Palestine platform – standing for the Workers Party of Britain.

On his campaign brochure Mr Yakoob has also referenced the conflict in the Middle East, stating ‘LEND GAZA YOUR VOTE’ and encouraging people to support his bid for Mayor on 2 May.

Inside the leaflet, the first two campaign pledges are for “unashamed support” and “aid” for people in Gaza, with the troubled area of Kashmir – fought over by India and Pakistan – also referenced.

In a recent tweet, George Galloway vocalised his endorsement for Mr Yakoob in his bid to be West Midlands Mayor.

He posted: “The only choice for #WestMidlandsMayor @Akhmedyakoob1”

Mr Yakoob told Erdington Local: “I am delighted to have got the endorsement of George Galloway. He is a man who stands against injustice and I am proud to have him at my side.

“He will be coming to Birmingham to campaign by my side.”

He added: “The main political parties speak for no-one, that is why I am standing to be a voice for the voiceless.

“Of course Labour are scared that I am standing, for generations they have took the South Asian vote for granted.

“George (Galloway) showed in Rochdale Labour cannot count on the South Asian vote and my election will further prove that point as we head into a General Election.”

As a criminal lawyer for Maurice Andrews, Mr Yakoob and has represented defendants from across the city.

When asked how he can promise to cut crime whilst also making a living representing people charged with serious offences, he said: “I love my job. And I believe everyone in this country deserves a fair trial.

“And I also believe in the rehabilitation of offenders, as their lawyer during a trial I am often the first person to see someone make the decision to change their ways, whether they are found guilty or not.

He said: “Crime keeps on going up and our court system cannot cope after so many cuts.”

Mr Yakoob also founded his own gym in Walsall called Pound 4 Pound which encourages youngsters to swerve street violence.

He said: “The motto of our gym is ‘Gloves Up, Knives Down’ and I see how knife crime wrecks lives.

“I want to save youth centres and employ more youth workers but in Birmingham they are closing them down and cutting youth worker jobs.”

He added: “I urge young people to register to vote so they can back me on 2 May.”

Also running for West Midlands Mayor are Richard parker (Labour), Sunny Virk (Lib Dems), Siobhan Harper-Nunes (Greens), Elaine Williams (Reform) – alongside incumbent Mayor Andy Street (Conservative).

For more on Akhmed Yakoob click on the links to follow him on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok.

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NEWS: West Midlands Mayor Andy Street set to invest £400m in social housing in Stockland Green and across the region

Words and pics by Erdington Local editorial team

West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, has secured £400m from Central Government in an ambitious new plan that will see the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) invest hundreds of millions in social housing across the region.

Mr Street announced the new policy at social housing provider Nehemiah Housing Association, an organisation based in Great Barr and with properties in the Erdington constituency.

Launching his mayoral election campaign at Stockland Green School on 21 March, the West Midlands mayor further identified Stockland Green as an area the WMCA will be looking at on “how to improve the housing stock”.

The plan, which was secured ahead of the mayoral election on 2 May, will be the first time the West Midlands Combined Authority has directly funded the building of social housing.

It became possible after Mr Street petitioned Government for £400m investment into the WMCA Affordable Housing Programme, which had reportedly previously only been allocated 50% of that budget, as part of the Deeper Devolution Deal agreed last year.

 

Having secured the multi-million pound social housing investment fund, which will be overseen by the West Midlands Mayor, Mr Street hopes the new plan will attract national media attention and become the blueprint for social housing provision across the country.

Mr Street told Erdington Local: “I want to do this because housing is key to solving so many problems in our region. People might find it strange a Conservative Mayor would care so much about social housing, but I know we could do so much more.”

He added: “The £400m I secured is key, it was a red line for me when signing the Deeper Devolution Deal with the Government.”

The chronic lack of quality social housing across Birmingham is a major factor why Erdington became a hotspot for Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs), assisted living properties, and exempt accommodation.

Now a widely reported and recognised national concern, Erdington Local first covered the frightening reality of those living in HMOs and Exempt Accommodation in August 2020 – with a series articles written by a reporter who has lived experience of the problems facing thousands across the country.

(Click here to read the first story in the series, titled ‘EXPLOITED: HMOs – when greed meets vulnerability, carving up communities for a profit’.)

Following the initial article published by Erdington Local, many other media outlets then covered the topic in depth – with titles from Birmingham Mail to The Guardian all shining a much needed light on the issue.

Mr Street continued: “This kind of plan is a real third term policy as we have been working towards this since I was first elected.

“Housing has always been top of my agenda, prompted by Erdington Local’s investigation into HMOs and assisted living I lobbied the Select Committee in Parliament to look into the problem.”

He added: “This policy is about building new homes, but we will continue to look at how to improve the housing stock in places like Stockland Green.

“This is about building quality social homes for rent for people who want to have a home to call their own – people like key workers, nurses, and young families.

“By partnering with organisations like Nehemiah, we will be building real communities too – that are nurtured by supportive housing associations.”

Despite securing the funding, the WMCA will not actually be building new homes or improving existing social housing themselves – but would instead partner with organisations who have experience in the sector, such as Nehemiah Housing Association, Witton Lodge Community Association, or The Pioneer Group on Castle Vale.

Using funding from the Affordable Homes Programme, Mr Street has promised to triple the current rate of 500-700 homes built by housing associations in the West Midlands to 1,700 per year by 2028.

Mr Street launched the policy at Nehemiah Housing Association, which the organisation’s website describes as providing ‘quality, affordable housing together with wellbeing services to ethnically diverse communities across.’

The housing association has more than 1,250 properties serving the multicultural African, Caribbean, Asian, Irish, and European communities across the West Midlands, including Erdington.

Martin Levermore, Vice Chair of Nehemiah Housing Association, said: “We are celebrating our 35th anniversary this year. Social housing is so important but Government policy changes so often it can be hard to keep up.

“It’s incredibly important that we build enough Social Housing, and the devolution of funding for Affordable Housing could be a game changer for the region. Housing associations like Nehemiah not only build homes, we build communities; so we look forward to seeing how we can play a role going forward.”

For more on Andy Street visit www.andystreet.org.uk

For more on the West Midlands Combined Authority visit www.wmca.org.uk

Click here to learn more about the West Midlands Mayoral elections on 2 May.

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NEWS: Andy Street announces £2.4m careers advisor fund during mayoral election campaign visit to Stockland Green School

Words and on location pics by Erdington Local

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street chose Stockland Green School to make his first major policy announcement of his election campaign.

Mr Street visited the Slade Road secondary on the first day of his official campaigning for the mayoral election to announce if re-elected on 2 May the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) will pay for 40 careers advisers for schools in some of the region’s most challenged areas.

The plan has been costed at £2.4m with funding already identified by the WMCA.

Mr Street announced the policy at Stockland Green School due to its successful careers programme, which was launched after the legacy of lockdown saw work experience plummet and face-to-face careers sessions with pupils drastically decline.

Mr Street told Erdington Local: “This school has been praised by Ofsted for its commitment to careers advice, but sadly across the West Midlands the same not can be said for all schools.

“There are still too many young people who are not getting the right opportunities and guidance during the critical years when they are deciding what to do for work.”

He added: “30 per cent of our children have not had work experience; one in six have never had face-to-face careers advice. And as usual it’s the schools in the most challenged areas which have these problems.”

Mr Street, who credits his economics teacher as the catalyst for his journey into the business world – which saw him run the department store giant John Lewis from 2007 to 2016, before entering politics – is concerned youngsters will turn elsewhere for crucial advice if denied access to careers experts.

He continued: “In a world where youngsters are getting their career advice from people like Andrew Tate on social media, having trusted local grown-ups in schools is more important than ever.

“I spoke to children in this school today and they all had a spark, a passion, and an idea what excited them concerning jobs – and for children like these, they need help to give them advice about how to get to where they want be and fulfil their aspirations.”

As announced today, if Mr Street is re-elected as West Midlands Mayor schools which score high on the pupil poverty indicators will be able to apply to the WMCA for funds to employ a dedicated careers officer.

Stockland Green School, which is part of the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, was praised last year by Ofsted for the “tenacious” approach of staff in driving up student aspiration.

Assistant headteacher, Katerina Lee, is also responsible for the careers advice in the school. She said: “The pandemic caused so many problems with work experience, and with careers advisors not meeting pupils we wanted to do something about it.

“We work with local companies to get our pupils the routes to the jobs and careers they want. However, it is hard. And it would be wonderful to have a full time careers advisor… in fact we could do with lots, their work is so important.”

She added: “It is not like in previous years, where pupils would be given a pathway to industries which would open their doors for work experience and then a job offer would be at the end of it.

“We have to work hard identifying the needs of pupils, like our SEN (special educational needs) children, it is very important to identify their needs very early on.”

Headteacher Rebecca Goode began working at Stockland Green School 16 years ago before getting the top job in 2022.

She said: “Our pupils enjoyed telling Mr Street their aspirations and what they want to do when they enter the job market. Giving them access to careers advice is a really important part of making that happen.”

Mr Street, who won the previous two West Midlands mayoral elections, promised to keep the region’s youngsters and children at the top of his agenda. He believes improving their economic prospects is key in both their success and that of the wider West Midlands.

He added: “This is one of those areas where we just haven’t had the budget, powers, and responsibility to sort this until now. But I will get a grip of career education if I’m re-elected in May.

The West Midlands Mayoral election is being held on Thursday, 2 May. Candidates include the incumbent Conservative candidate Mr Street, Labour’s Richard Parker, Reform UK’s Elaine Williams, and Sunny Virk for the Liberal Democrats.

For more on Andy Street visit www.andystreet.org.uk

For more on the West Midlands Combined Authority visit www.wmca.org.uk

Click here to learn more about the West Midlands Mayoral elections on 2 May.