Manchester City Council has officially approved a £1 billion budget for 2026/27.
After 14 years of funding cuts and ‘unfunded pressures’ from 2010 to 2024, which saw Manchester among the hardest hit places in the country, Manchester City Council says that its financial position has improved this year due to ‘fairer funding’ from the current Government which overall reflects the city’s needs.
For the first time this year, the Council’s revenue budget exceeds £1 billion (£1.045 billion, to be exact.)
This leaves the Council able to invest even more in supporting residents’ priorities, and ultimately begin to build back some of things which were previously affected by austerity.
As well as continuing to support those who are considered to be most in-need in the city, this current 2026/27 budget also makes a series of investments in measures – which the Council says will make ‘visible improvements’ across the city.
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Some of these measures include £5.13m towards ‘ significantly enhancing’ street cleaning services across the city, more than £1.7m to boost the maintenance of public spaces, especially parks and green spaces, and almost £1m to further crack down on flytipping and littering.
This year, there’ll also be one-off investments of £1.1m improve road, pavement, and path surfaces, and £500,000 to increase pavement and footpath gritting in local centres.
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The Council has approved a £1 billion budget to ‘improve Manchester’ / Credit: Chris Curry (via Unsplash) | Manchester City Council
Elsewhere, capital funding will continue to be used to build the Council, social, and ‘genuinely affordable’ homes that the city needs, as well as invest in local high streets and district centres across the city.
“Manchester is an incredible city which we are all proud to call home,” commented Cllr Bev Craig, who is the leader of Manchester City Council.
“We’re seeing record levels of investment in our neighbourhoods and communities, more council and social homes built than for decades and stronger economic growth than anywhere in the UK.
“But we believe that Manchester can be even better, and that’s what we’re determined that this budget will help achieve – a city where everyone can have a good home, a good job and a good life in an well cared for, invested-in neighbourhood.
“That’s exactly where the extra funding available to us in this budget is being focused.”
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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Major pop star crowns humble rice and three cafe as ‘Jewel of Manchester’ ahead of sold-out gig
Thomas Melia
A beloved city centre takeaway has been given the title of ‘Jewel of Manchester’ by chart-topping UK singer Sam Smith.
Known for hits like ‘Stay With Me’, ‘I’m Not The Only One’ and more recently ‘Unholy’, UK pop-ballad act Sam Smith also likes to drop a food review every once in a while.
Currently on the road with a run of shows in Manchester and London for their ‘To Be Free’ live shows, Sam Smith is stopping off at some of our city’s much-loved spots.
On their food-reviewing account titled ‘Sam Served’, where they adopt the aptly-fitting nickname ‘Ham Smith’, Sam has visited restaurants across the globe – and most recently turned their attention to Manchester’s own This & That.
Smith decided to pop in and grab a cheeky rice and three from long-standing backstreet food business This & That, and it certainly went down a treat.
After sampling their amazing selection of meat, vegetable and vegan curries, the musician crowned this family-run Indian takeaway a ‘Jewel of Manchester’.
The hitmaker described this Northern Quarter Indian eatery as ‘Everything food should be’ and definitely enjoyed all the curries on offer ‘leaving belly and heart full’.
This & That prides itself on affordable and comforting food with its ‘Rice and Three Curries’ starting from just £6 – not bad for a city centre foodie spot.
Sam has racked up an impressive 490k followers via their ‘Sam Served’ profile, with famous faces like Lily Allen, Denise Welch and CMAT all wanting to know the superstar’s foodie thoughts.
After enjoying a curry or three, Sam Smith also made sure to feed their soul to by venturing down to Afflecks and getting lost in the music at Mars Tapes.
Recognised as one of the UK’s only cassette and tape shops, Mars Tapes lets you flick through their crates of physical media and even preview tracks before you buy with its dedicated listening areas.
It’s safe to say that Smith has ‘Latched’ onto Manchester’s independent business scene and we’re here for it.
The London-born artist has just released their latest album Hazel Eyes and is currently amid a UK residency tour with two dates in Manchester’s Albert Hall and eight shows set for London Coliseum.
24-hour bus services are now running across all Greater Manchester boroughs
Emily Sergeant
24-hour bus services are now running across all boroughs in Greater Manchester.
You may remember that back in March, it was announced that every borough of Greater Manchester was set to get a night bus service in what is hoped to be a ‘boost’ to the night-time economy… and now it’s official, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has launched those 24-hour buses this month, along with a series of other measures.
Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, and Trafford now join the rest of Greater Manchester in having 24-hour bus services, meaning every part of the region will have a night bus operating Thursday through to Sunday.
It’s expected that these new services will help around 625,400 people working in the night-time economy across Greater Manchester, as well as those out enjoying the region’s nightlife, TfGM has said.
The routes which will run around the clock from Thursday until Sunday are:
50 (Salford – Manchester)
216 (Tameside – Manchester)
263 (Trafford – Manchester)
192 (Stockport – Manchester)
83 (Oldham – Manchester)
All Greater Manchester boroughs now have 24-hour bus services / Credit: TfGM
They launch alongside the most significant service changes to the Bee Network since the completion of bus franchising last year – including other new bus routes, and more frequent services across Greater Manchester.
“We want everyone to be able to enjoy everything Greater Manchester offers, without the worry of how to get there and get home,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor, Bev Craig.
“By growing the Bee Network, we’re making it easier than ever for people to use the bus, day and night.
“Our night buses are already providing a lifeline to some of the hundreds of thousands of people who are growing our night-time economy and working in essential public services.”
“Whether people are heading home from a night at the theatre or starting the early shift at a hospital, they can now get on board the night bus as a safe and affordable way to travel.”
Further improvements will delivered from January 2027, and a full breakdown by borough can be found on the Bee Network website here.
Emily Sergeant -
3rd March 2026 
