Media Watch - May 15

Top Birmingham City Council Stories

Digbeth snooker club saw predators hiring out rooms to abuse underage girls, police report claims (Birmingham Mail) A Birmingham snooker club has been accused of operating as an underage sex den with customers “hiring out rooms” to groom and abuse girls. Police have also linked four missing children reports to the Big Break Snooker Club, in Digbeth, as well as allegations of sexual assaults. Officers found weapons, drugs and used condoms at the Coventry Street club and have now presented an 84-page dossier to licencing bosses at Birmingham City Council who will conduct a premises review next week.

Senior director to leave Birmingham City Council after 40 years (Birmingham Mail) The Birmingham City Council strategic director responsible for the roll-out of wheelie bins (Sharon Lea) has announced her retirement from her £156,000-a-year job, after 40 years with the authority.

Osborne tells Brum: Elect a mayor and you get millions (Birmingham Mail) Chancellor George Osborne has told Birmingham it must agree to create a directly elected mayor if it wants hundreds of millions of pounds for housing, public transport and more.

Villa cup final parade could be on the cards (Birmingham Mail) Aston Villa are in talks over whether to hold a civic reception should they lift the FA Cup at the end of the month.

Councils fork out £100k for celebs (Birmingham Mail) Cash-strapped councils in the West Midlands have paid nearly £100,000 for celebrities to appear at award ceremonies and events over the past five years. Birmingham City Council paid out £62,000 in 2010/11 but that figure plunged to just £2,700 in the first nine months of 2014/15.

Historic Rich Bitch studios make way for student flats (Birmingham Mail) The legendary Rich Bitch recording studios where Black Sabbath, ELO, Slade  and Robert Plant played are to  be demolished this summer. Planning chiefs gave the go-ahead for the development yesterday.

Who will be in Birmingham’s next Labour council cabinet? (Birmingham Mail) A new face is tipped to join Sir Albert Bore’s Labour council cabinet as he plans his fourth year as City Council leader.

Flying the new flag for Brum (Birmingham Mail) It will be a flag which will represent Birmingham around the world – and Brummies will be voting for it. Officials now have a shortlist of six designs submitted as part of a competition to create a brand for the city. The winner will eventually be flown outside the Council House.

Regional Headlines

West Midlands’ 999 vehicles ‘crash five times daily’
More than five emergency vehicles have crashed a day on average in the West Midlands in the past three years.

Jaguar Land Rover ‘to expand i54 engineering site’
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is set to expand its engine manufacturing centre in the West Midlands.

National Headlines

David Cameron and Nicola Sturgeon to discuss new powers for Scotland
Further powers for the Scottish Parliament will dominate the agenda when David Cameron and Nicola Sturgeon hold talks in Edinburgh later.

Record number of England’s beaches face water quality failures
A record number of England’s beaches are at risk of failing to meet EU water quality standards this year, the Environment Agency has warned.


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