Website’s welcome to West Midlands
Warwickshire County Council has joined with other local authorities from around the region to produce a new website that will help direct new and recent arrivals to the West Midlands to the information they need.
http://www.welcometowestmidlands.org.uk contains information and advice on living and working in Birmingham, Sandwell, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Telford and Wrekin, Walsall, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
This website, which is designed to help take pressure off existing services, has been developed thanks to funding from the West Midland’s Migration Impact Fund – a fund which has been created out of visa fees paid by migrant workers.
The website holds extensive information about education, health, housing, benefits and working in the UK. By changing the location to ‘Warwickshire’ on the website’s homepage, users are then directed to the Warwickshire County Council (http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk) which contains even more information specific to Warwickshire.
The website is also intended to be used as a central reference resource for service providers and agencies. It is populated with up to date information about rights and duties and how to get help and support in the West Midlands.
Councillor Colin Hayfield, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Customers, Workforce & Partnerships, said:
“This is a joint initiative with other local authorities around the West Midlands region which has been funded by visa fees paid by migrant workers themselves. We hope that by encouraging new arrivals to use the website and giving them easy access to accurate information, new residents will not only find this useful, but pressure on existing services will also be reduced.”