A year on from the firm’s collapse, many staff are still out of work while others have set up businesses.

Andy Giddings
BBC News

We'll be back with the news, sport, travel and weather on Monday from 08:00.

"They need to wake up and smell the coffee." So says Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey talking about his party and how it has failed to connect with voters.

Listen to the goals he has for the Lib Dems on the Politics Midlands Podcast on BBC Sounds this Sunday.

West Midlands deputy police and crime commissioner Waheed Saleem says officers will "move faster" to enforce the Covid-19 guidelines and those "wilfully flouting the rules" could quickly find themselves in trouble, a coronavirus briefing heard.

Earlier, Birmingham City Council deputy leader Brigid Jones said there had been more than 1,000 allegations of breaches.

Mr Saleem also said people continued to flout rules over weddings and fines of up to £10,000 were possible.

"People would rather spend money on [their] honeymoon or other things than putting money into the government coffers." he said.

Solihull Council deputy leader Karen Grinsell told the combined authority briefing the local area's rate had "fallen just slightly", but that did not "mean we are complacent in any way".

She also highlighted Arden Academy in Knowle, where some 1,800 pupils will be off school - it is closed for two weeks due to rising Covid-19 cases.

Ms Grinsell added that transmission was still predominantly between family members and friends.

Sandwell has seen an increase of more than 70% in coronavirus cases, a West Midlands Combined Authority briefing was told.

There were 337 cases on Friday, compared with 193 last week. The highest rates were again in the Smethwick area, Council Leader Maria Crompton said.

Hospitals were reporting an increase in deaths and people needing critical care, she added.

League One club Shrewsbury Town sign experienced former Sheffield United striker Leon Clarke on a one-year deal.

He says his children have no memory of their mother who had been subjected to "staggering failure".

Reece Cox, 24, was found outside a pub in Dudley with serious head injuries in August.

Following on from our story earlier about the military being asked to help with coronavirus testing in Birmingham, the city council has now said about 100 armed forces personnel will now support drop-and-collect testing.

They're expected to start within the next week.

There are 30 wards in Birmingham with more than 20 coronavirus cases, a West Midlands Combined Authority briefing has heard.

City council deputy leader Brigid Jones said there had been 118 outbreaks and a number of wards with more than 40 cases in the last seven days, including the highest, Sparkhill, with more than 70.

She said it was seeing a rise particularly among those aged 20-40, and Asian communities remained those with the highest numbers.

Image source, Google

There were six walk-through testing sites, five mobile ones and a regional facility at the airport.

Ms Jones said the council hoped to launch two more testing sites in the coming week.

Speaking in connection with the drop and collect initiative, she said about 500 council staff out of an 11,000-workforce had been seconded into high-risk areas, offering people tests, which could be picked up an hour later.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A number of former Selly Oak Hospital buildings are going to be turned into flats.

Latimer Planning has got permission to convert three listed blocks on Raddlebam Road and build another, new block to create 46 apartments.

Image source, LDRS

The buildings were used up until 2011 and a report to city councillors said they were in a "poor state of repair".

The Victorian Society had raised concerns about previous plans, but approved of these amended proposals, saying “proposed retention and reuse of the Nursing School and Well House addresses earlier objections".

People living in student areas of Birmingham are being encouraged to report any coronavirus rulebreakers to the council.

There are about 120,000 students at the five universities in the city and they are all due to return over the next few weeks.

Image source, Google

Earlier this week there was a spate of coconavirus cases in Scotland and students were told not to visit bars and restaurants, or return home this weekend.

Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council Brigid Jones said: "We expect the same of students as we do of everybody else. So if you’re seeing households not complying, if you’re seeing student venues aren’t complying, then report it."

Stoke-on-Trent Live

Here are three stories from Stoke-on-Trent Live today:

• Warning to parents as 'suspicious man tries to walk off with baby, external
• Pyjama-wearing driver smashes car into house, external
• Stoke-on-Trent firm offers private coronavirus tests for '£250', external

The number of coronavirus cases in the West Midlands Combined Authority area has gone up by more than 80%, a briefing has heard.

Dr Lola Abudu, from Public Health England, said there were 39,587 cases in the area, with 2,960 over the past week, compared with 1,620 in the previous seven days.

Image source, PA Media

Clive Wright, representing the Department of Health and Social Care in the region, said we were at "a pivotal point" with the disease "spreading more rapidly".

There was some good news, with Stoke-on-Trent being removed from the government watchlist.

Mr Wright added that demand for tests was outstripping supply.

Leisure workers in Sandwell have voted to go on strike in a row over pay and conditions.

The GMB Union members, who work for the Sandwell Leisure Trust, said it was threatening to sack and rehire staff on new terms.

Image source, Getty Images

That claim has previously been disputed by the company, which runs leisure centres on behalf of Sandwell Council.

Kathryn Stanczyszyn
Political Reporter, BBC WM

The deputy leader of Birmingham City Council has confirmed the authority is asking for military support to help with its testing programme in city hotspots.

At a weekly coronavirus briefing this afternoon, Councillor Brigid Jones said the council had been in talks with the Ministry of Defence for extra capacity for its drop off and collect programme.

Image source, Getty Images

She added that personnel would assist civilian efforts in order to maximise the numbers of tests able to be done, and not in an enforcement capacity.

The programme is aimed at areas with high rates of infection, to provide a service to people who can’t leave their homes and to encourage those who may not be proactive in getting tested.

Coventry City defender Fankaty Dabo signs a new three-year contract, with an option for a further 12 months.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

The planned Lowesmoor development in Worcester has come about after two years of discussions between Godwin Developments and Lowesmoor Wharf Developments and Worcester City Council.

If it goes ahead it will link up to the city's marina and make use of some of the existing industrial buildings there, which would be rennovated.

Image source, Godwin Developments

There are plans for balconies and roof gardens and the developers have said the scheme will be "car-free", with hundreds of cycling spaces provided.

Image source, Godwin Developments

The CEO of Telford's Southwater Events Group believes the government has unfairly left the hospitality and events industry out of its Job Support Scheme.

Tom Gray, who's business includes the Telford International Centre, said the sector was worth about £70bn to the UK economy and added: "We were not an industry that was struggling, we were booming."

Image source, LDRS

Under the chancellor's scheme.employees must be in ''viable jobs" to benefit from the scheme. Those in industries currently closed - such as those in the entertainment industry - may lose out as there isn't any work.

Mr Gray said he'd already had to let his casual staff go and there have been "significant other redundancies to full time staff".

But without further help, he warned more job losses are likely.

On Wednesday, the NEC Group in Birmingham warned job losses were inevitable.