00:00 It's Adam Smith at the Express and Start. We've got Andy Street, West Midlands Mayor.
00:05 He's making his first announcement in the mayoral election and he's picked to improve the lives of young people in the region.
00:15 How are you doing this Andy?
00:17 So Adam, yes, nice to talk to you on the first day proper of the election campaign.
00:20 I think it's symbolic that we've chosen something about careers and young people because after all that's what matters, the future of the region.
00:26 So the commitment today is that if I'm re-elected I will make sure that the combined authority funds at least 40 dedicated full-time careers advisors in the schools that are in the most challenged areas, particularly across the black country.
00:39 And the reason I call this out is some schools have brilliant careers advice, let's be honest, but too many have fairly weak careers advice.
00:47 It doesn't have to be funded and so I'm saying we need to step in and almost guarantee a good standard across the West Midlands.
00:54 What difference can a careers officer make to the young people today?
00:59 People watching this thinking well there's young people who've got a lot of other challenges. Is careers really that important?
01:05 I think careers are utterly important to young people.
01:07 And do you know what, I've been talking to young people at this school actually in Birmingham today rather than the black country and they're all saying to me aged 14, 15, we've got ideas, we've got aspirations, we've got dreams.
01:16 But often you need someone who actually links them up with an opportunity, gets them the necessary work experience, thinks about exactly what qualifications they need.
01:25 So this idea that someone is actually there as a proper help and assistance to actually enable them to fulfil their dreams, that's what this is about.
01:33 And how can schools in a black country get involved in this?
01:36 So what will happen if I'm successful? We're always deciding how we spend the money that we've got.
01:40 Fully costed, we know where it's coming from, really important point. This is not going to be a campaign about ideas that can't be actually delivered.
01:47 We would then put a process together and we would be, probably with our supporters, colleagues in the Careers and Enterprise Council, approaching the schools where we know there is some need.
01:56 And with careers officers, would they be actually in the school or are they going to be across different schools or is each school going to get their own?
02:08 The idea of this is, I'm a great believer in this, this is a physical presence in schools.
02:14 We think it will be dedicated to particular schools where there is a need.
02:18 You can see where perhaps the outcomes are not particularly good, where potentially there's a large number of people going into need, so no employment or training opportunities.
02:27 So we'll choose those and it will be embedded because that's front, face-to-face advice.
02:32 And we hear this from young people all the time, that is what makes a difference.
02:36 And you had a business career before entering politics. Was there a lightning bolt or a teacher who said something that sparked something off in young Mr Street's brain?
02:50 Well, it's interesting you ask that, Adam, because actually part of the reason I'm so sure this really works is not just hearing young people's stories, but reflecting my own story as a young person.
03:01 That actually I was not a particularly dedicated student in any way, but there was a particular teacher who connected with me.
03:08 He was actually my economics teacher when I was 16, that critical formative time, and he was like switching a switch.
03:14 He got me to see the world, to think about the opportunities that were there.
03:17 So I know it's true that really outstanding people can sometimes be in the family, can sometimes be in the school itself, or it can be in a sort of business that you come into contact with.
03:28 But there's something that switches your brain. That's why we want to help people get to that point.
03:34 Thank you very much.
03:35 Yeah.
03:36 Okay. And now, sorry mate, PCC.
03:40 Yeah.
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