The government is being urged to make an exemption to the new household mixing restrictions for parents with childcare issues.

Dr Justin Varney, Birmingham City Council's director of public health. said the way the current exemption has been written "prevents family members from providing childcare, and that is having significant impacts on lots and lots of families."

"This is an issue not just for Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull but for Bolton, in Greater Manchester, everywhere with the restrictions has exactly the same problems, with the way the exemption has been written, it prevents family members providing childcare and that is having significant impact on lots and lots of families," he said.

The deputy leader of the council, Brigid Jones, tweeted "if govt sill expects parents to work, childcare must be made exempt from local restrictions."

BBC Entertainment and Arts

The line-up for this year's Great British Bake Off has been revealed.

The show will return to Channel 4 on 22 September after filming was delayed because of coronavirus.

Part of the 12-strong cohort is Rowan, 55, from Worcestershire, who is a music teacher.

Image source, Channel 4

He calls his baking style ostentatious but, he hopes, tasteful.

The fitness enthusiast enjoys decorating his bakes with flowers (preferably edible ones) using what is in bloom in his garden.

Meet the other contestants here.

The coronavirus testing system is being affected by a "perfect storm of events" which is leading to a crash in the system, an infection disease expert says.

Prof Alan McNally, from the University of Birmingham, said the testing situation in the city is the "same as we're hearing from other parts of the country - lots of people struggling to get tests and no real clarity of information as to why that’s the case.

“I think the very frustrating thing is the lack of clarity of information on where the bottleneck is – my personal feeling is it’s probably no one place, I think this is multi-factorial," he told BBC Breakfast.

"I think you almost have a perfect storm of events have come together to almost essentially crash the testing system."

The government has defended the system, saying capacity was increasing.

The new restrictions across Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull are having a big impact on working parents.

Dr Justin Varney, Birmingham City Council's director of public health, acknowledged the problem and said they are "working on it".

He said: "This is an issue not just for Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull but for Bolton, in Greater Manchester, everywhere with the restrictions has exactly the same problems, with the way the exemption has been written, it prevents family members providing childcare and that is having significant impact on lots and lots of families.

"The leaders and the councils are talking to to each other jointly to put in a letter hopefully later today up to government to ask for that exemption."

Solihull MP Julian Knight has also written to the government about the issue.

BBC Weather

It will be another dry, sunny and hot day, with highs of 27°C (81°F).

The picture was taken earlier in Telford by BBC Weather Watcher Raj's Range.

Image source, Weather Watcher/Raj's Range

New lockdown measures have come into force in part of the West Midlands after the number of coronavirus cases rose.

Image source, PA Media

People in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull are banned from meeting others who are not part of their household or support bubble in homes or gardens.

The restrictions affect about 1.6 million people and run alongside wider rules which came into force on Monday.

Some parents are unhappy that grandparents cannot look after their children any more, although they would be able to meet up in pubs or restaurants. Solihull MP Julian Knight has called for a relaxation in the rule.

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Welcome to our live service for Tuesday.

Further lockdown restrictions have been introduced for Birmingham, Solihull and Sandwell and we'll bring you all the latest on that.

As well as that we'll be bringing you all the news, sport, travel and weather for the West Midlands.

We love to hear from you so share your news, thoughts and photos of the area with us via email, Twitter, external and Facebook., external

Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo says "something special" is being built at the club after he celebrated signing a new contract with a 2-0 win at Sheffield United.

The West Midlands car parts firm blames conditions in the automotive sector and Covid-19.

An inquest opens into the death of Jacob Billington who was stabbed on a night out in Birmingham.

Jamie Vardy scores a second-half penalty double as Leicester condemn West Brom to a disappointing return to the Premier League.

Don Fear becomes the first person to win the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire jackpot in 14 years.

Live updates have now ended for the day.

We'll be back with you from 08:00 on Tuesday with all the latest news, sport, travel and weather.

Local Democracy Reporting Service
Tom Davis

A special school in Coventry has shut for two weeks after a Covid-19 outbreak.

Image source, Google

Three positive cases have been confirmed at Castle Wood Special School, on Deedmore Road, with “several” symptomatic students or teachers.

Those suspected of having coronavirus were tested at home over the weekend with further home testing planned for Wednesday and Thursday.

Coventry City Council is yet to disclose whether the positive cases were staff or children.

However the local authority has confirmed the school has now closed for two weeks as a result and will reopen on Monday, 28 September.

Don Fear became the first person to win the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire jackpot in 14 years.

They say children can be left in pubs with grandparents who are banned from caring for them at home.

The recruitment of new work coaches in Wolverhampton will start next week, as local job centres look to deal with a huge rise in unemployment.

Image source, Parliament Live

The issue was raised in the Commons by the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton North East, Jane Stevenson.

She asked what the government was doing to make sure those "struggling for work before the pandemic are not forgotten over the difficult months ahead".

Employment Minister Mims Davies said job centres had remained open throughout the crisis.

She added that the number of work coaches would be "doubled" with adverts to recruit them in Wolverhampton "going live next week."

Sarah Finley
Business reporter

The BBC's weekly The Boss series profiles different business leaders from around the world. This week we speak to Jules Miller, founder of dietary supplements firm The Nue Co.

Image source, Rob Northway

The former Birmingham University student says she became so ill that she had internal bleeding.

"I was exhausted, bloated, I wasn't living a normal life anymore. That's when I started to think about food, wellness and supplements."

This was back in 2015. Living a stressful life in London, Jules, then aged 25, had been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)., external

You can read more on the story here.

A year group at a Coventry primary school has been told to stay at home and self-isolate after a confirmed case of Covid-19 at the school.

Image source, Google

Pupils from year one at Parkgate Primary School have been told to stay away until 25 September.

A letter to parents on the school website says:, external "Other members of your household can continue normal activities provided your child does not develop symptoms within the self-isolation period.

"If your child is well at the end of the period of self-isolation, then they can return to usual activities."

BBC Radio Stoke

A man from Stoke-on-Trent has been arrested by police investigating a hit-and-run collision in Crewe earlier.

A cyclist was taken to hospital suffering serious injuries after being hit on Hungerford Road just before 07:00, police said.

Police have issued an appeal to help find a silver car seen heading towards the M6 following the crash.

A 20-year-old man is being questioned in relation to the incident.