Road Safety Plans presented to West Midlands Mayor

The West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, joined learners from the Summit Learning Trust at Solihull Sixth Form College in February. Learners presented their Tackling Sexual Harassment safety ideas to the Mayor and asked for his support with their work. 

Young people from Lyndon School and Ninestiles, an Academy joined College learners on campus to showcase their ideas and the solutions they have developed to keep people safe on public transport and the areas around their schools in the West Midlands. The students had already identified areas local to their academies, which they felt could be seen as unsafe, and they presented their action plans on how to improve safety to the Mayor.

The learners discussed how they have liaised with local law enforcement, the MP for Yardley Jess Phillips, as well as coming up with solutions such as awareness training for bus drivers and writing an open letter to Parliament with clear and actionable changes they feel should be made.

Anisa Lokat-Fanning, Associate Assistant Principal, has been leading on this project across the Summit secondary academies and the College. She commented:

"Learners from Summit Learning Trust have showcased creative and thought-provoking solutions to the pressing issue of sexual harassment on buses and areas local to their schools. By giving learners, the opportunity to share their ideas and solutions, we not only address an urgent issue, but also encourage a sense of responsibility and activism among young people.”

The West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, added:

“Making transport safer and more accessible is one of my priorities for people in the region. Reports of crime on public transport are relatively low and I want to keep it that way which is why we increased the number of transport safety officers on our trams, buses and trains. A key part of their job is to assist female passengers who feel threatened.

“Hearing the students’ ideas on how we can make further improvements has been insightful and useful. I look forward to sharing these with my Safer Travel team colleagues.”

28 February 2025