To Jacob

Thanks so much for your email.  My answers:

Five years ago, confirmed by the election for Mayor in 2017, we had the creation of a completely new regional government organisation that I had no idea would be the result of getting a Metro Mayor four years ago!  So, we have workers like Deborah Cadman on £180,000 a year, as Chief Executive, to an unknown number of employees in many layers of a deep hierarchy.  What is worse is this.  Not one of these new decision-makers was elected.  But that will not make a scrap of difference if the election of the Mayor is anything to go by.  He has no official powers and simply says, and rubber stamps, whatever is decided by unelected officials for him.

Yet, from out of our numbers, we get members of councils who are so hopeless they have allowed professional officers, whom they have agreed with, to do this:

1. An electric tram network completely obliterated and replaced with diesel buses.
2. About 100 Kms of our West Midlands railways were used for housing and trading estates and roads.
3. The UK's very last, fully in place but, only half used, is now converted after 50 years to shuttle tramline, VLR test track and proposed extended cycle-walkway.
4. A worse public transport journey for eleven different bus routes from west Brum and the Black Country because of the rebuilding of the tram network that has always had priority over trains and buses from Metro's start in 1981.  The bus now has a longer and slower journey into Colmore Row because of the tram taking over.  If you change for the tram, this is no quicker if you have to wait upwards of 15 minutes for the tram at Five Ways to take the direct route that was taken by the bus.

IN PARTICULAR:

1) What is your official policy regarding the specific role of the metro mayor, both nationally and locally?

The Metro Mayor should be challenging the policies/decisions by the officers and not simply rubber-stamping them.  That should be his role locally and regionally.  He/she should be insisting on full council chamber debates in each of the seven district councils over the wisdom of spending £15 billion to 2040 for mainly underground and overground Metro trams to replace buses and trains.

2) What are the main points on which you are campaigning in the run up to the 2021 West Midlands mayoral election?  To expose the four scandals, above.

3) Would you change the way in which the WMCA currently works with the metro mayor?

The mayor should be more proactive and questioning and not simply a mouthpiece and PR person for the WMCA.

Please comment, if you wish.    Tim