Meet Richard Parker, New mayor of the West Midlands.
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00:00So if we can, just for the purpose of the video, would you mind just introducing yourself to camera?
00:04Yep, I'm Richard Parker and I'm Metro Mayor for the West Midlands.
00:08Wonderful. So firstly, just tell me a bit about how your day has gone.
00:11You know, so you've woke up, new job, you got it a couple of days ago.
00:14How does it sort of feel at the moment?
00:16Yeah, well it's a long time since I've walked into a new job, but no, it's been fantastic.
00:20The team here at the Combined Authority have given me a great welcome, a great induction.
00:25We've talked about how we're going to work together over the next few weeks and the next four years.
00:30And I'm really, really pleased that they're really well prepared.
00:34They've been through a manifesto and we've now got a joint plan to deliver it.
00:39Perfect. And is it sort of business as usual for now?
00:42Sort of not much of a sort of teething issues or anything like that?
00:45Very much day to day?
00:47Well, I think for both of us, things will be very, very different.
00:51I've got a different set of priorities and I want to do things very differently to the previous mayor.
00:55And I'm really pleased that the officers here are prepared for that.
00:59And we've talked about how we're going to work together. And I think we've made a great start today.
01:04And tell us what your sort of two or three most pressing issues are that you're going to deal with straight away.
01:08So be really, really clear about those, about bringing the buses back into public control,
01:12having a franchising system that will ensure that people can get around the region cheaper and more easily,
01:18get to the shops, get to the doctors, get to college, get to work in a way that they can't now.
01:24We're going to deliver the biggest programme of social housing we've seen for 40 years.
01:30We're going to redeploy the way the previous mayor has used his resources.
01:35And we're going to use future housing resources to deliver at least 2000 units of social housing every year.
01:43And we're going to overhaul the skill system that fails too many of our young people.
01:47So we want a skill system, I want a skill system that allows young people to get the skills they need
01:52to get better jobs and better paid jobs.
01:54And I think that a particular focus on the black country, because too many young people in the black country
01:59aren't afforded the opportunities they need to make a success of their lives.
02:03Particularly on the black country, I did want to ask you a little bit just about crime in the area,
02:09and particularly to do with young people.
02:13In our patch, if you like, there's been a rise in fatal stabbings and murders in the area.
02:21Is that something you're specifically going to look at in the area?
02:24Because they are creeping up, there's a higher volume of them more recently.
02:28How do you plan to tackle that initially?
02:30Firstly, I've got some big plans for the black country.
02:32And I've talked about the skills agenda, but I've also talked about the fact I want a mayoral base there.
02:36And we're discussing where that base will be.
02:38So the black country is a very important part of the region for me.
02:40It's been overlooked and left behind for too long.
02:42But on the issue of crime, there is a separately elected, and I'm very pleased,
02:46separately elected Labour Police and Crime Commissioner.
02:48And I'll be meeting him later this week to talk about some of the issues that he faces, his responsibilities,
02:53but also how we can work together collectively to address those issues on the ground,
02:57with the way we deploy resources, the way we focus on our policy priorities to address some of those issues.
03:03But I hope that a programme of investment in people and skills,
03:07improving the economy, improving the hopes of the region,
03:10and a movement to change people's lives will make a big difference to everyone in the black country.
03:14Perfect. And in six months' time, what do you hope to have changed?
03:17I hope to have started to make real progress on delivering the outcomes that I want to deliver on buses, on houses and on skills.
03:27Perfect. And just on the margin of victory, if you like, it was, I mean, you won, of course, but it was somewhat slim.
03:34How do you plan on sort of winning over those people that may have not put their votes in for you?
03:38Because, of course, you're leading it.
03:40So I will be a mayor for all of our communities across every part of the West Midlands.
03:46I believe that my policy programme, the focus of my policies will be relevant and have resonance across every part of this region.
03:56I want to be a mayor who's visible, accessible and accountable everywhere.
03:59And that's why I made an early commitment to not just having this base in Birmingham,
04:03but also to work from offices in Coventry and the black country, too.
04:08Wonderful. That's everything.