West Midlands (region)

The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley, Solihull, Walsall and West Bromwich. The city of Coventry is also located within the West Midlands county, but is separated from the conurbation to the west by several miles of green belt.

The region is geographically diverse, from the urban central areas of the conurbation to the rural western counties of Shropshire and Herefordshire which border Wales. The longest river in the UK, the River Severn, traverses the region southeastwards, flowing through the county towns of Shrewsbury and Worcester, and the Ironbridge Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as birthplace of the Industrial Revolution. Staffordshire is home to the industrialised Potteries conurbation, including the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and the Staffordshire Moorlands area, which borders the southeastern Peak District National Park near Leek. The region also encompasses five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Warwickshire is home to the town of Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of poet William Shakespeare.

Geography
The official region contains the large conurbation that includes Birmingham and Wolverhampton, but also covers the predominantly rural shire counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.

There is some confusion in the use of the term "West Midlands", as the name is also used for the much smaller West Midlands county, and is still used by various organisations within that area such as West Midlands Police and West Midlands Fire Service.

The highest point in the region is Black Mountain, at 703 metres (2,307 ft) in west Herefordshire on the border with Powys, Wales.

The region contains five Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), including all of the Shropshire Hills, Malvern Hills and Cannock Chase, and parts of the Wye Valley and Cotswolds. The Peak District national park also stretches into the northern corner of Staffordshire.

Road
Numerous notable roads pass through the region, with most converging around the central conurbation. The M5, which connects South West England to the region, passes through Worcestershire, near to Worcester, and through the West Midlands county, past West Bromwich, with its northern terminus at its junction with the M6 just south of Walsall. The M6, which has its southern terminus just outside the southeast of the region at its junction with the M1, and which connects the region to North West England, passes Rugby and Nuneaton in Warwickshire, Coventry and Birmingham, and Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. The M6 toll provides an alternative route to the M6 between Coleshill and Cannock, passing north of Sutton Coldfield and just south of Lichfield. The M40 connects the region through South East England to London, with its northern terminus at its junction with the M42; it passes close to Warwick and Banbury. The M42 connects the M5 at Bromsgrove, passing around the south and east of Birmingham, joining the M40 and M6, passing Solihull and Castle Bromwich, to Tamworth, northeast of Birmingham. The M50 connects the M5 from near Tewkesbury to Ross-on-Wye in the southwest. The M54 connects Wellington in the west, passing Telford, to the M6 near Cannock. The A5 road traverses the region northwest-southeast, passing through Shrewsbury, Cannock, Tamworth and Nuneaton.

Transport policy
As part of the transport planning system the Regional Assembly is under statutory requirement to produce a Regional Transport Strategy (RTS) to provide long term planning for transport in the region. This involves region wide transport schemes such as those carried out by the Highways Agency and Network Rail.

Within the region the local transport authorities carry out transport planning through the use of a Local Transport Plan (LTP) which outlines their strategies, policies and implementation programme. The most recent LTP is that for the period 2006-11. In the West Midlands region the following transport authorities have published their LTP online: Herefordshire, Shropshire U.A., Staffordshire, Telford and Wrekin U.A., Warwickshire, West Midlands (county) and Worcestershire. The transport authority of Stoke-on-Trent U.A. publishes a Joint Local Transport Plan in partnership with Staffordshire County Council to cover the North Staffordshire Major Urban Area, which includes Stoke-on-Trent and the more urban parts of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands.

Towns and cities
WestMidlandsRegion.jpg in  Light Green and National Parks in  Dark Green .]]
 * Bold indicates city status.

Major towns and cities in the West Midlands region include:

Population > 750,000 Population > 250,000 Population > 100,000 Population > 70,000
 * Birmingham, WMS
 * Coventry, WMS
 * Stoke-on-Trent, STS
 * Wolverhampton, WMS
 * Dudley, WMS
 * Walsall, WMS
 * Telford, SHR
 * West Bromwich, WMS
 * Sutton Coldfield, WMS
 * Newcastle-under-Lyme, STS
 * Nuneaton, WAR
 * Redditch, WOR
 * Shrewsbury, SHR
 * Solihull, WMS
 * Tamworth, STS
 * Worcester, WOR

Population > 50,000 Other Notable
 * Burton-upon-Trent, STS
 * Cannock, STS
 * Halesowen, WMS
 * Hereford, HER
 * Kidderminster, WOR
 * Rugby, WAR
 * Stafford, STS
 * Stourbridge, WMS
 * Leamington Spa, WAR
 * Leek, STS
 * Lichfield, STS
 * Stratford-upon-Avon, WAR
 * Warwick, WAR

History
Much of the Industrial revolution in the United Kingdom began in Birmingham and the Black Country area of West Midlands. The Iron Bridge was first built in Shropshire at Coalbrookdale. Much of the UK's car industry would be centred in Coventry and Birmingham. Most of this has now gone.

Regional Assembly
The official representative body of the region is the West Midlands Leaders Board which has limited administrative functions such as regional planning and economic development. The board is not an elected body, but is made up of members appointed from local councils across the region and is known as a quango. It is based on Edward Street in Birmingham, near the National Indoor Arena. From March 2010, the funding decisions at regional level were taken over by Advantage West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency.

Teenage pregnancy
For top-tier authorities in the West Midlands, Stoke on Trent has the highest teenage pregnancy rate. For council districts, Nuneaton and Bedworth in Warwickshire has the highest rate closely followed by Tamworth. For top-tier authorities, Shropshire has the lowest rate, and for council districts Malvern Hills has the lowest rate.

Social deprivation
The region, from studies of multiple deprivation, shows similarities with Yorkshire and the Humber, and is more deprived than the neighbouring East Midlands. From the Indices of deprivation 2007, it can be seen that, in common with Northern England, the region has more Lower Area Super Output Areas in the 20% most deprived districts than in the 20% least deprived districts. The region's most deprived council districts, in descending order, are Birmingham (10th highest in England), Sandwell (14th), Stoke on Trent (16th), Wolverhampton (28th), Walsall (45th), Coventry (61st), and Dudley (100th). These have Labour MPs except for a Conservative MP in Walsall, one in Sandwell, one in Dudley, and one in Wolverhampton (Wolverhampton South West), and a Lib Dem MP for Birmingham Yardley.

The least deprived districts in 2007 (before Shropshire became a unitary authority in 2009) were Bromsgrove, South Staffordshire, Warwick, Wychavon, and Lichfield. These areas, like all rural areas of the West Midlands, have Conservative MPs. At county level, the least deprived areas, in descending order, were Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Solihull, Staffordshire, and Shropshire.

Elections
In the 2010 General Election, the Conservatives gained the largest share of the region by popular vote and took control of the number of seats, with 40% of the region's electorate voting Conservative, 31% Labour and 21% Liberal Democrat (very similar to the East Midlands). Although having a slightly smaller percentage of the vote than the neighbouring East Midlands, the geographic area of the West Midlands is more Conservative, due to Labour's vote now consigned to the urban areas of Birmingham, Coventry, Telford and Stoke on Trent. The number of seats is more favoured towards Labour than the geographic spread, with 33 Conservative seats, 24 Labour and 2 Liberal Democrat (neighbouring each other around Solihull). Important metropolitan gains by the Conservatives were in the Dudley and Wolverhampton boroughs. All of Warwickshire, Staffordshire (except Newcastle-under-Lyme), Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire (except Telford) is now Conservative. The Conservatives gained 15 seats with a 6.3% swing from Labour to Conservative.



Local government
The official region consists of the following subdivisions:

Key: shire county = † | metropolitan county = *

Demography


The West Midlands' population accounts for almost 11% of England's overall population. 49.36% of the region's population resides in the West Midlands county, 20.17% in Staffordshire, 10.49% in Worcestershire, 9.91% in Warwickshire, 8.56% in Shropshire, and 3.37% in Herefordshire.

Herefordshire
Bulmers Cider is in Hereford. Cadbury UK make milk chocolate near Marlbrook (near Leominster). Weston's Cider is in Much Marcle.

Shropshire
Müller Dairy Ltd is based in Market Drayton. At Crudgington, Dairy Crest makes Country Life butter and Clover. The PDSA, Rayburn Range and Aga Rangemaster Group are based in Telford. The MoD have a significant depot at Donnington. There are also high-technology industries such as Unimation, Nikon, Hitachi Maxell, Ricoh, Capgemini, Fujitsu and Electronic Data Systems. In Hortonwood, Denso Manufacturing UK Ltd make car air-conditioning systems and GKN Wheels make car wheels.

Staffordshire
The brewing companies such as Coors Brewers are in Burton on Trent, as well as Marmite, Marston's, GNC UK (health supplements) and Punch Taverns. JCB is based in Staffordshire, near the Alton Towers colossal leisure park. Newell Rubbermaid UK (owner of Parker Pen, Berol, Paper Mate and DYMO) is at Fradley Park, next to the A38, on an old airfield. Michelin Tyres are made in Sideway in Stoke-on-Trent, with Royal Doulton and Wedgwood based in Barlaston. Manor Bakeries make Mr Kipling slices and Cherry Bakewells in Springfields in the south of Stoke. RoadChef are at Norton Canes, near Cannock. Armitage Shanks is in Rugeley. Areva T&D (UK) (formerly owned by Alstom) is based in Stafford as well as a factory and UK headquarters of Bostik. Numark Pharmacy is in Tamworth (former base of Reliant). Premier Foods make Bird's Custard, Angel Delight and Marvel powdered milk in Knighton, west of Eccleshall near the Shropshire boundary.

Warwickshire
ConocoPhillips UK, JET UK (petrol), Bridgestone UK, National Grid plc, Telent, Calor, Baxi (now owned by De Dietrich), Volvo Group UK and a large data centre of IBM are in Warwick. BMW have their main European four-cylinder engine plant at Hams Hall near the M42. Codemasters, Aga Rangemaster Group, and Wolseley UK are in Leamington Spa. Subaru UK is in Coleshill. ALDI UK is in Atherstone. Holland & Barrett, the health food chain, Triton Showers (the UK's largest shower company), and Adams Childrenswear are based in Nuneaton. Aston Martin and Land Rover have their headquarters in Gaydon. Converteam UK (former Alstom), Morgan Est, and the European HQ of Gap are in Rugby. NFU Mutual is in Tiddington near Stratford and the NFU is in Stoneleigh as is AGCO Limited UK, who own Massey Ferguson; the large factory at Coventry closed in 2002. The British Horse Society is in Kenilworth. Rolls-Royce have a large engine overhaul plant (former Armstrong Siddeley), near Ansty and the M6/M69 junction in Coombe Fields, which also makes their engine casings.

West Midlands conurbation
Nationally famous companies in the West Midlands include Cadbury's in Bournville, Birmingham. Mitchells and Butlers, the pub chain company, CrossCountry, and National Express are in Birmingham. Small-scale production of MG cars was started again by Nanjing Automobile Group on part of the former MG Rover Group site at Longbridge in 2008. H. Samuel, the jewellers, is in Hockley of the Jewellery Quarter. RoSPA is based in Edgbaston; Dollond & Aitchison and ATS Euromaster are in Aston; Goodyear Tyres and Dunlop Tyres are at Fort Dunlop near Erdington; and Severn Trent (water) in Sheldon. Alstom used to have a train factory in Washwood Heath, which built Pendolino traines, but closed in 2007. The Highways Agency have their National Traffic Control Centre in Quinton between the M5 and A456 near junction 3.

Goodrich UK is in Shirley. Daihatsu UK is in West Bromwich. E.ON UK (former Powergen), Jaguar Cars and Volvo Cars UK, Peugeot UK (head office), Jewson, the Skills Funding Agency and Young Peoples Learning Agency (former Learning and Skills Council), Lloyds Pharmacy, and Thomson Holidays are in Coventry. The Whitley plant, just south of Coventry, has the main research centre for Jaguar Land Rover, who also have a large manufacturing plant at Castle Bromwich Assembly; this site in Pype Hayes and Tyburn built half of the RAF's Spitfires in World War 2. The main Land Rover factory, Nationwide Autocentre, and Enterprise Inns are in Solihull. The Forensic Science Service is in Bickenhill, near the airport; the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is just north, between the airport and the M42. Carillion, Tarmac and ADAS are in Wolverhampton, with Poundland in Willenhall. Hampson Industries is in Brierley Hill.

Vitamin C was first synthesised at the University of Birmingham in 1933, and in 1940 the university developed the cavity magnetron which was important in radar for RAF night fighters and the development of the microwave oven. The steam engine has mostly a Birmingham heritage.

Worcestershire

 * ''see also Manufacturing in Worcester

Halfords and GKN are in Redditch. Lea & Perrins is in Worcester. The West Midland Safari Park is off the A456 in Bewdley. Liquid crystal displays were developed in 1972 in conjunction with the Royal Radar Establishment, which largely invented the idea of the integrated circuit in the 1950s. It was based in Malvern, and became the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, which developed thermal imaging, and is now a large site owned by QinetiQ. Morgan Motor Company is in Malvern Link. Commsoft RMS is in Evesham.

Education


Birmingham (8), Walsall (2), Wolverhampton (1), Warwickshire (6), Stoke on Trent (1), and Telford and Wrekin (2) have selective schools. The other counties or metropolitan boroughs do not: being completely comprehensive. Virtually all of the grammar schools are in the top twenty schools for the West Midlands. Competition for these schools can be high, with their excellent records. The top 20 schools at A-level rarely changes from year to year.

At GCSE, the best performing area in 2009 is Shropshire, followed closely by Solihull. Warwickshire, Herefordshire, and Staffordshire are also above the England average. The (consistently) worst performing area is Sandwell, followed by Stoke-on-Trent. Wolverhampton and Walsall also do not perform well. For metropolitan boroughs, Solihull then Dudley perform the best, and Dudley also is the best metropolitan borough at A-level, being much better than Solihull.

At A-level in 2009, the consistently best performing area is Herefordshire, followed by Shropshire. Herefordshire's results are due to most of its A-level candidates going to Hereford's sixth form college. Dudley and Birmingham are also above the England average; the other metropolitan boroughs have low A-level results. Solihull does not perform as well at A-level as it does at GCSE.

There are thirty-seven FE colleges (FECs). There are six LSCs for the area (which fund FECs), and the Learning and Skills Council head office is based in Coventry. The three main FE colleges are Warwickshire College, South Birmingham College and Worcester College of Technology.

School children in Shropshire and Solihull are most likely to attend university, followed by Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire.

School league tables
Below is a list of the top twenty state schools in the West Midlands by 2009 A level results:
 * 1. King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys, Kings Heath (1190)
 * 2. King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls, Kings Heath
 * 3. King Edward VI Five Ways, Bartley Green
 * 4. King Edward VI School Stratford-upon-Avon
 * 5. Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls
 * 6. Wolverhampton Girls' High School
 * 7. King Edward VI Handsworth
 * 8. Stratford-upon-Avon Grammar School for Girls
 * 9. Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall
 * 10. Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, Sutton Coldfield
 * 11. King Edward VI College, Stourbridge
 * 12. King Edward VI Aston
 * 13. Thomas Telford School, Telford
 * 14. Queen Mary's High School, Walsall
 * 15. Newport Girls High School
 * 16. Adams' Grammar School, Newport, Shropshire
 * 17. Hereford Sixth Form College
 * 18. St. Joseph's College, Stoke-on-Trent
 * 19. Moorlands Sixth Form College, Cheadle, Staffordshire
 * 20. King Edward VI School (Lichfield) (931)

Universities


There are also three university colleges:
 * Harper Adams University College, 2,200 students
 * Newman University College, 2,600 students
 * University College Birmingham, 13,970 students

The University of Birmingham is the main university in the region. It has the most funding and the most students. It has a large research grant, as does the University of Warwick, which is the next largest, in terms of funding. Keele and Aston have a moderate research grant, but none of the other universities do. Keele, although having the largest campus in the UK (by area), is one of the smallest universities in the region. UCE and Wolverhampton are the next largest after Birmingham, by numbers. The three medical schools are at Warwick, Keele and Birmingham. Birmingham and Warwick receive more than twice as much total income than any other university in the region - around £400 million each.

For students in the region, around 45% are from the region, and 35% from other regions. The other region with the most native students in the region is South East England (good access via the M40 and the West Coast Main Line), but there is a good mix of students from other regions, except the North East (especially) and Yorkshire.

Students native to the West Midlands are most likely to study in the region (40%), then the East Midlands (12%), the North West (11%), and then Yorkshire (9%). Very few go to the East of England or the North East. The region has a net export of university students to other regions.

Once graduated, almost 60% of graduates stay in the region, with 10% going to London, 7% to the South-East, and around 5% to the East Midlands. Very few go to Yorkshire, the North-East, or even (neighbouring) Wales.

Local media

 * The West Midlands region of the BBC is based at the Mailbox in Birmingham. From there, the regional programme Midlands Today is produced. ITV Central broadcasts from Birmingham, with its Central Tonight regional programme. Most television and radio services for the region come from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, with Ridge Hill for the south-west of the region.
 * BBC Radios WM, Coventry & Warwickshire, Stoke, Hereford & Worcester and Shropshire.
 * Commercial radio stations: BRMB, Beacon Radio in Wolverhampton, Mercia FM in Coventry, Touch FM (Burton, Lichfield and Tamworth) in Tamworth, Touch FM (Coventry), Touch FM (Stratford-upon-Avon), Kerrang! 105.2 in Birmingham, Galaxy Birmingham, Smooth Radio 105.7 in Birmingham, 107.1 Rugby FM, The Severn (north Shropshire), 107.2 The Wyre in Kidderminster, 107.7 The Wolf in Wolverhampton, Wyvern FM in Worcester, 100.7 Heart FM in Birmingham, and Signal 1 from Stoke.
 * Newspapers - the Birmingham Post, Birmingham Mail, Express & Star in Wolverhampton, Burton Mail, Shropshire Star, Worcester News, The Sentinel in Stoke-on-Trent and Coventry Evening Telegraph.
 * Websites - Channel 4's 4Talent network has a hub in the West Midlands dealing with rising media talent from the region: Channel 14.