A budget of more than £900m, including funding for infrastructure, regeneration and job training schemes that can support the region’s post-Covid-19 economic recovery and help protect the environment, has been approved by the West Midlands Combined Authority. The 2021/22 WMCA Budget includes a package of major transport projects to help drive economic growth and cleaner air as well as funding to unlock and transform the region’s derelict industrial sites for new, energy efficient homes and jobs, relieving pressure on the Green Belt. An Adult Education Budget (AEB) of £142m, 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 and to secure jobs in growing sectors such as construction, digital and the emerging green industries. Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “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 £100m alone being spent over the next year on the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill extension. ”
