Andy Burnham has encouraged people in Greater Manchester to begin carefully returning to work this month after “an August like no other”.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester made the announcement in a blog post via the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) website yesterday evening and stated that, whilst the past month in particular has been particularly “difficult” for the people of Greater Manchester, we cannot “live in fear of this virus and hide away”.
He has called for a “voluntary” return to work and school in the region, but one that is done “safely and with support, not threats”, which he believes will require the public to become “more disciplined in the way we live alongside COVID”.
“With a new term comes the need for a new mindset.” he said.
🗣️ "It is time to ask people to think about returning to the office. But let’s do it carefully and with support, not threats."
Read the Mayor's blog about returning to the office here:
He also aimed criticism at the government after ministers were accused this week of “threatening” people to go back to the office with the economy continuing to experience the fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.
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Mr Burnham said he had his “head in [his] hands last Friday when [he] saw the headline: “Go back to work or risk losing your job.” and stated that Greater Manchester “will be taking a different approach”.
His statement reads: “I agree with the Government that it’s important for people to begin to return to the office to support our city and town centres. But ordering people back and stoking up the fear factor is the wrong way to go about it.
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“Apart from the extra anxiety it may cause to those already worried about redundancy, it risks an unplanned rush back to work for which we don’t have capacity on public transport. If our trams and buses end up overcrowded and unsafe, it won’t build the confidence on which any recovery will have to be based”.
Mark Waugh
He continued: “Starting this week, I will be leading the call for a safety-led, voluntary return to the office for those ready to do so.
“Having spent the last five months working from home, I will return to the office myself for the first time in five months and, in so doing, hopefully set a lead others might follow.
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“It’s important because we all need to play our part in helping our city recover.”
“Where I agree with the Government is with their concern for city centres. They are right to challenge organisations abandoning offices for the foreseeable future. Cities are the engines of our economy. It is crucial that we bring them back to life and support businesses based there, but we are more likely to succeed if we do it in a gradual, careful, positive way.
“There will be some who’ll no doubt say this is irresponsible given the challenges that Greater Manchester is still experiencing with the virus. Others will claim it is contradictory, given the restrictions on home gatherings still in place. I don’t believe it is.
“The office is a more regulated environment than the home and it is our hope that the measures will be lifted everywhere soon.
“That said, it’s true that we will need to continue to be vigilant and cautious about social gatherings, particularly at home. We can’t rule out more local restrictions at some point, but nor can we let this virus rule our lives.
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“The only answer, then, is to get better at living with it.”
Mr Burnham confirmed in the blog post that he will be returning to work in his Manchester office this month and said he will also be joined by about 30% of staff who work for Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
He closed out his statement encouraging the people of Greater Manchester to “embrace the moment”.
He said: “That end-of-summer-back-to-school feeling is never a good one but is probably more daunting this year than ever. So there is only one thing for it – let’s embrace the moment we are in and use it to make positive changes to our lives. The old normal isn’t coming back any time soon, and, let’s be honest, it wasn’t that great any way.
“A difficult few months lie ahead, no doubt, but if we approach the challenge head on, we’ll get through it and soon find ourselves in the better times that await us on the other side.”
You can read Andy Burnham’s full blog post on the GMCA website here.
News
Greater Manchester officially launches five-year climate change action plan
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has officially begun its five-year climate change action plan, with the overarching goal of becoming a net-zero city region by 2038.
The comprehensive pledge put together over a number of years itself will see Manchester City Council and the nearby local authorities put into action a number of key measures that will help to reduce not only central carbon figures but, eventually, across the 10 boroughs in turn.
Over the last 15 years, emissions have been reduced by approximately 64%, saving an estimated 44,344 tonnes of carbon through cleaner building energy, street lighting and other electronics, as well as the increasingly green and over-growing Bee Network.
They have also insisted that it isn’t just about cutting down on greenhouse gases; the aim is to make the city region and the surrounding areas more sustainable, affordable and create a better standard of life.
Our five-year plan to tackle climate change launches today. 🌏
It details how we’ll continue to deliver dramatic reductions in the amount of carbon we emit (the biggest contributor to climate change). 🏙️
As per the summary on the Council website, in addition to creating more efficient homes, they’re hoping to provide more access to nature and good-quality green space, “public transport you can rely on”, and “better health and wellbeing for those who live, work, study and visit here.”
With a steadily recovering local and national economy (touch wood), they’re also hoping for an influx of new jobs, too.
Summarising the key bullet points leading up to the end of the decade, these are the next steps currently outlined by the Council:
Lower carbon emissions
Grow the use of renewable energy
Improve low-carbon travel in the city
Improve air quality
Grow the city’s natural environment and boost biodiversity
Improve resilience to flooding and extreme heat
Engage and involve our workforce and our city’s communities
Reduce waste and grow reuse, repair, sharing and recycling
Support a move to a more circular economy
Minimise the negative impact of events held in the city
Develop our knowledge of our indirect emissions and lower them
Create a green financing strategy and explore new funding models for the city
Influence the environmental practices of other organisations
As for emissions, the target is now to drop the present output by another 34%, which will prevent almost 43,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) from being pumped into the atmosphere.
Having touched upon the continued expansion of the Bee Network infrastructure, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is also set to install multiple new travel links over the coming years, including both new tram stops and train stations – further
You can read the climate action plan in full HERE.
Manchester’s firework displays are ‘back with a bang’ as they return from 2026
Emily Sergeant
Council-organised firework displays in Manchester’s parks are set to return from next year, it has been confirmed.
You may remember that these once-popular events have not been held since 2019, as the COVID-19 pandemic initially prevented them from taking place from 2020 onwards, and then following that, they remained paused on a trial basis while the Manchester City Council sought to ‘reprioritise funding’ to support a wider range of free community events across the city.
But now, as it seems, the door was never shut on their potential return.
An ‘improved financial position’ now means that the Council is in a position to bring firework events back, while also still continuing to support other community events.
Papers setting out the Council’s financial position show that fairer funding being introduced by the Government next year will leave the Council better off than previously anticipated, he the reason firework displays have been brought back into the mix.
The Council has admitted that ‘pressures remain’ after so many years of financial cuts, but this new funding creates the opportunity to invest in the things residents have said matter the most to them.
“Manchester prides itself on free community events and we know many people have missed Bonfire night firework spectaculars,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the Leader of Manchester City Council.
“That’s why we are pleased to confirm they’ll be back by popular demand in 2026.
“We know that generations of Mancunians have enjoyed Council-organised displays and that free family events are a great way to bring people together… [and] now that this Government is actually investing in Councils like ours rather than the cuts we had since 2010, we can bring back Bonfire events.”
The Manc -
1st September 2020 
