Trams will make it easier to find work, says mayor

The mayor of West Yorkshire says young people will find it easier to get work once towns and cities are better connected by a planned tram system.

Labour's Tracy Brabin has been answering questions on Message the Mayor on BBC Radio Leeds.

She has also been talking about support for children with special educational needs, and given her backing to the Prime Minister.

Read our takeaways from the interview below or listen to the full interview here.

"If you are only looking in Bradford, there will be a finite number of roles that suit the things you want to do.

"That's why my job is to connect Leeds and Bradford. In Leeds we've seen the number of job vacancies rise by almost 20%, so the jobs are growing in Leeds.

"And this is where the transport really matters, because if you are only looking at the end of your road, of course there is only a number of jobs you can go for."

Brabin was responding to today's BBC story about people in Bradford struggling to find work.

Staying on trams, the mayor was asked about the decision not to publish a report that has led to West Yorkshire's planned network being delayed until the late 2030s.

"I know that people are cynical and I know people feel that we've been here twice before.

"We will have a tram. The delay is a bump in the road we will navigate.

"We have the backing of business, we have the backing of the politicians, we have the backing of government, and we have the money.

"We are going to deliver a tram for West Yorkshire."

The mayor says knife crime, the impact of gangs and reducing violence against women and girls have all been highlighted as priorities in her recent crime survey.

Members of the public had been asked about their main concerns, to help decide how policing money should be spent.

"The public care about it for their young people. They don't want them becoming vulnerable and going into gang culture or to be a victim of knife crime."

Brabin adds that West Yorkshire has the "only women's safety unit in country".

The mayor has given the Prime Minister her backing, after last week's calls for him to resign over the appointment of Lord Mandelson as US ambassador.

"I think if people understood and got closer to him, they would understand what sort of person he is - and I would want that sort of person leading the Labour Party.

"Sir Keir Starmer has spent his life tackling violence against women and girls and supporting victims.

"Just as a measure of the man, in all of the maelstrom of last couple of weeks, I got a beautiful handwritten note from Sir Keir about the birth of Silver [the mayor's first grandchild]."

Brabin says parents whose children have special education needs or disabilities should not feel they have to "sharp elbow" their way through the system to get the right support.

"Every child, if they need the support, should be able to access it - and government have understood this.

"The secretary of state for education, Bridget Phillipson, said she is going to grasp this nettle because it's not working.

The government is due to outline its plan soon to overhaul the system.