ByRachael Lewis, Susie Rack, West Midlands and Amy Cole, in Sutton Coldfield

Teachers at a trust that runs schools across the West Midlands have begun a nine-day strike.

In a letter to parents and carers, the chief executive of The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP), Richard Gill, said The National Education Union (NEU) confirmed in December its members would strike over the prospect of compulsory redundancies.

Of the 24 schools run by the trust in Birmingham, Coventry and Staffordshire, four would not be affected, Gill wrote.

The strikes are due to take place on 14-15, 20-22 and 26-29 January and the CEO said they would lead to "a level of disruption".

A spokesperson for the NEU said "proposed large-scale redundancies will have a detrimental impact on the support that children in our trust receive."

Gill added: "It is regrettable that the union have reached this decision.

"We have made efforts to work with colleagues from the NEU to avoid strike action and will continue to do so."

In Sutton Coldfield, teachers at the picket line outside Arthur Terry School said the proposed cuts were "heartbreaking".

Staff said a loss of jobs would result in bigger classes and more pressure on teachers.

"No-one has been told yet exactly who is going to lose their job, but it's this question of if and when, which as you can imagine is just so heartbreaking because you're constantly wondering is it going to be me," said English teacher Connor Herron.

"I just feel like I've been betrayed, I've looked after all these children all over these years, I just feel heartbroken," added Janine Nichols, the school's librarian assistant.

One parent, Jen, said teachers were "overwhelmed as it is".

"You need people at the ground level to do the one-to-one support that's detailed in the plans and if you make them redundant, you've got no one to do that work," she added.

Schools set to be affected by strike action are:

Schools not affected are The Bridge Academy Lichfield, Greysbrooke Primary in Shenstone, Brookvale Primary in Erdington and Dunstall Park Primary, Tamworth, Gill confirmed in his letter.

In a post on its website, , externalthe trust said the need to reduce staff numbers was the result of "significant overstaffing", which a spokesperson said had been masked by an accounting error in 2022-23 - and they denied the "central team" was facing cuts.

They added final plans were yet to be consulted on and that suggesting the proposals would lead to an increased workload for staff was "misleading".

Gill added the trust had approached conciliation service Acas to seek a resolution but acknowledged face-to-face education for all pupils could be compromised.

Chris Denson, from the NEU, said his union felt the cuts would "hit our most vulnerable students", see more than 100 jobs lost.

He called on the trust to drop the plans and negotiate with them on a solution.

"The cuts come as a result of financial errors at the trust, something teachers and support staff should not bear the brunt of," he added.

"The fact that the top slice central funding contribution to the ATLP is running at over 20% of every school's budget, way above that of other academies. This is where the cuts should land, not on front-line services."

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Officials say the rise in the national fare cap to £3 as a key factor in the decrease

The number of people using buses across the West Midlands has fallen with bosses blaming the hike in the national fare cap.

Figures presented to the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee showed the number of bus boarding in July to September 2025 was 57,768,872.

This represents a 2.21 per cent drop from the same period in 2024 where 59,071,487 passengers used buses in the region.

Claire Williams, director of network resilience at Transport for West Midlands, said the increase in the fare cap to £3 in January 2025 was believed to be a key factor.

Other reasons for the drop including a reduction in the commercial bus network and increase in journey times as a result of congestion.

For the same period, there was a growth of 3.26 per cent in rail users with 67,124,932 boarding trains in July to September 2025 compared with 65,003,174 in 2024.

This, however, is below the national average of seven per cent for the same period.

People using the Metro also increased with 2,239,690 passengers in the same period compared with 2,077,021 in 2024 – a rise of 7.83 per cent.

Claire Williams said: “Bus patronage has declined between these periods and we think this is due to the change in national bus fare cap which has resulted in an increase in the single fare to £3 from January 2025.

“We are though seeing an increase in passengers using the concessionary scheme as these people are less price sensitive.

“Between these two periods we have also seen a reduction in the overall commercial bus network as a result of operators seeking to reduce the impact of reducing costs and reduced revenue.

“Across the region, bus journey times are increasing due to the impact of worsening congestion.

“We continue to provide grants to prevent significant and detrimental bus service cuts during the transition to the franchise bus network and the associated terms and conditions for that grant include a commitment to prevent above inflation fare increases.

“We are also in the process of delivering bus corridor capital schemes to improve journey times and other measures to improve customer satisfaction and we will look to use bus reform to tackle this decline in usage.”

First for all the latest news from across the UK every hour on Hits Radio on DAB, at hitsradio.co.uk and on the Rayo app.

Hundreds of teachers at a trust in the West Midlands will go on strike in a dispute over job security.

Schools in Coventry, Birmingham and Staffordshire under the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership will face industrial action on nine days throughout January, starting from Wednesday.

Why are teachers striking?

The National Education Union said it is because compulsory redundancy fears as the school cannot guarantee protecting jobs in the next three years.

The trust admitted in October that it was facing financial challenges.

The union raised concerns about the impact any redundancies will have - increased workloads for staff, and less support for children.

The issue was raised in the House of Commons last October by Dave Robertson, the MP for Lichfield, Burntwood and the Villages.

He said that the prospect of redundancies is a "huge worry, not only for those hardworking staff, but for parents and pupils in the community."

At the time he said he would be encouraging both sides to get together to avoid industrial action.

When are the strikes happening?

They are set to take place on:

Which schools will be impacted by the strikes?

The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, which is located on Kittoe Road in Sutton Coldfield, runs 24 schools including five primary schools and an alternative provision.

Teachers from 20 schools will be going on strike, with four not impacted at this point.

These are the secondary schools that will be impacted:

And the primary schools:

Staff at the Bridge Academy in Lichfield, Greysbrooke Primary in Shenstone, Brookvale Primary in Erdington and Dunstall Park Primary, Tamworth will not be striking.

ITV News Central has approached the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership for comment.

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Weather maps from WXCharts show snow returning from January 20 across a 450-mile area from Aberdeen to Birmingham and the West Midlands, though BBC Weather says chance of meaningful snowfall is low

The upcoming UK snow bomb is predicted to be even more severe than Storm Goretti, bringing a 450-mile wide wall of snow to the UK. A weather map from WXCharts using the ECMWF model indicates that snow is set to return from 20 January.

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This wall of snow will impact areas ranging from Aberdeen in Scotland, to Birmingham and the West Midlands conurbation. Maps and charts have turned white as a large portion of England is battered.

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Counties at risk include Greater Manchester and Lancashire, as well as Merseyside, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, West Midlands, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Cumbria, Northumberland and Durham.

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Read more: Police update after pedestrian dies in Coventry crash

A BBC Weather team forecast from Monday 19 to Sunday 25 January states: "Changeable and milder than average overall.

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"This changed pattern should continue into the second half of January, so we can expect temperatures to be mostly above or at least close to average, with frequent west to south-westerly flows," reports Birmingham Live.

"Broadly, there should be higher pressure than normal across far eastern and north-eastern Europe with low pressure systems moving across the Atlantic, occasionally pushing across the UK. As a result, there will be periods of rain, occasionally heavy and accompanied by strong winds.

"The chance of any meaningful snowfall is low, but some wintry showers are possible in northern regions, chiefly in Scotland, in fleeting chillier and brighter spells between weather systems.

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Join the FREE Coventry WhatsApp community to get the latest news straight to your phone. Find out more .

"For most areas, precipitation amounts will be near or above normal, with a further thaw of any remaining snow."

Monday 26 January to Sunday 8 February will be "remaining unsettled and relatively mild", adding: "The broad circulation pattern should linger through to the end of January and start of February, with mild west to south-westerly winds often present, and Atlantic low pressure systems bringing further bouts of wet and windy weather.

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"Chiller interludes between systems, mainly in the northern UK, should be short-lived, and there is little sign of any return to a lasting cold regime. Any wintry showers should be confined to Scotland's uplands, and temperatures are most likely to average out above normal.

"Uncertainty inevitably increases this far ahead, however, and there are suggestions of high pressure building at higher latitudes, possibly over Scandinavia.

"If that were to develop more strongly, then there would be a chance of some colder flows, so that's something to keep an eye on. However, it's not the favoured outcome at the moment."

A bus and van collided in Small Heath at a roundabout near the area's Asda store

A bus and a van collided at a roundabout on a busy Birmingham road during rush hour.

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The crash took place near the Small Heath Asda at Heybarnes Circus, where Small Heath Highway meets Coventry Road on Monday (January 5).

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The two vehicles collided around 6pm, leading to traffic congestion on Small Heath Highway.

Read more: Fears as children spotted on icy pool at beauty spot with bike

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The smash involved a National Express West Midlands X1 bus heading to Coventry via Birmingham Airport and the NEC, according to the information on its front.

The bus’s windscreen was smashed on the driver’s side, along with other front-end damage.

The second vehicle was a red and white van, which appeared to have once been owned by the British Heart Foundation, with a faded logo on its front.

It appeared to have suffered damage to its front passenger side, with its front bumper and number plate also dislodged.

Both drivers of the vehicles were said to be men.

A passenger on the bus, who asked not to be named, said: “The accident took place at the Asda roundabout in Small Heath at Coventry Road at around six o’clockish.

“It involved the bus and a van. The driver’s side of the bus took the most damage.

“There didn’t appear to be any physical injuries but the driver was left in his seat until the emergency services arrived.”

National Express West Midlands said the incident at Heybarnes Circus in Small Heath led to its number 60 bus services diverting in both directions via Golden Hillock Road and Small Heath Highway A45.

But that disruption had cleared by 8.30pm.