Media Watch – March 20
Top Birmingham City Council Stories
Birmingham sets its sights on sovereign wealth funds. (BBC R4 Today) Leader of Birmingham City Council, Cllr Mike Whitby, interviewed about how Birmingham is offering a partnership to cash rich sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) as a means of attracting around £1 billion of investment into the city's property portfolio.
Military council homes unveiled (BBC, BBC WM) Birmingham City Council unveils three completed homes which are part of a development specifically for ex-military personnel. Cllr John Lines interviewed.
Youth clubs to get cash boost (Birmingham Mail) Two schemes to keep young people in Bartley Green out of trouble have received a cash boost.
Girl, 9, fights cuts to library (Birmingham Mail) A schoolgirl has launched a campaign against cuts which will hit her community library.
Memories of 60s Bullring sought (Birmingham Mail) Old memories are being sought of shopping or working in Birmingham’s Bullring for a museum project celebrating all things Brum.
‘Victimised’ school staff strike again (Birmingham Mail) Teachers are staging the second of three walkouts at a Birmingham secondary school – amid claims staff are being ‘victimised’ for speaking out.
‘Flawed’ petition ends top talks on markets (Birmingham Mail) Birmingham Council may not debate the future of the city’s wholesale markets – despite receiving a petition containing more than 20,000 names. The petition was flawed on several counts and contained only 18,000 valid signatures.
City Council salaries revealed: 63 chiefs share £3m, while hundreds on little more than minimum wage (Chamberlain Files) Hundreds of Birmingham City Council workers are surviving on salaries barely above the national minimum wage while 63 chief officers and their deputies are pocketing between £78,000 and £205,000 a year, it has emerged.
Regional Headlines
M42 bridge-fall van crash: Birmingham driver dies
The driver of a van that crashed through a bridge above the M42 in the West Midlands and landed on the motorway below has died in hospital.
London 2012: Birmingham and Black Country torch relay route
Olympic torch relay organisers have revealed the streets on which the torch will be carried through Birmingham and the Black Country.
National Headlines
Queen to make Parliament address
The Queen is to make a special address to both Houses of Parliament on Tuesday to mark her 60 years on the throne.
Spending statements for taxpayers
Chancellor George Osborne is to set out plans in the Budget to give 20 million taxpayers a detailed breakdown of how their taxes are spent.
