Drivers could soon be handed fines of up to £70 at a handful of local junctions if Manchester City Council is granted new powers.
Following a recent change in legislation that allows local authorities to enforce moving traffic offences, like blocking yellow boxes and banning certain turns, Manchester City Council has now selected seven sites across the city where it would enforce such restrictions – which are already in place, but police do not have the resources to enforce.
If these powers are approved by the government, the Council will launch a six-week public consultation on the scheme before it would come into effect.
Enforcing these powers would come into effect in May 2023 if approved.
An initial list 15 sites identified based on suggested ‘problem areas’ provided by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), the Council, and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) – with five potential trial sites then selected to create a shortlist, which was presented to councillors at a scrutiny committee meeting earlier this year.
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Although the committee was supportive of the scheme, it suggested that a range of restrictions are included in the trial – which would allow the Council to learn more from it.
The seven sites Manchester City Council has identified to exercise powers, should they be approved, are as follows:
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Cheetham Hill Road / Elizabeth Street – No right turn
Stockport Road – Box junction & no right turn
Princess Parkway / Palatine Road – Yellow box
Great Ancoats Street / Oldham Road / Oldham Street – Yellow box
Ashton Old Road / Chancellor Lane / Fairfield Street – Yellow box
Wilmslow Road / M56 junction 6 – Ahead Only
Kirkmanshulme Lane / Mount Road – Compulsory left turn / Yellow box
Drivers could soon be handed fines of up to £70 at a handful of local junctions if Manchester City Council is granted new powers / Credit: Google Maps
By using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at these proposed seven sites, first-time offenders would receive warning letters before the full £70 fine is issued, and any £70 fine would be reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days of the offence.
The Council says it’s hoped that dealing with “inconsiderate driving” will help public transport across the city by removing blockages, and potentially improving air quality too.
What’s next? How soon could drivers be handed fines?
If these seven sites are approved this week, then Manchester City Council will launch a public consultation lasting at least six weeks this autumn, and once objections are considered, the Council could then apply for the powers in November and would expect to gain approval from the government by May 2023.
If the Department for Transport (DfT) approves the application, then it means these offences would be decriminalised, and enforcement duties would be transferred to the Council.
The seven sites were all identified based on suggested ‘problem areas’ / Credit: Google Maps
What driving offences won’t be included?
These powers do not include enforcing speeding offences, red light violations, and cycling on the pavement – which all still remain a matter for the police.
When it comes to bus lanes, which Manchester is known for having a fair few of, any surplus income from penalty charge payments must only be used to cover enforcement costs, for highways or public transport.
Manchester City Council has said it will consider extending the enforcement trial in autumn 2023.
NHS to begin offering new one-minute jab to women with ‘aggressive’ form of cancer
Emily Sergeant
The NHS is set to begin offering new immunotherapy for hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer across the country.
Pembrolizumab – which experts have described as being able to ‘take the handbrake off’ the body’s immune system to target cancer – will now be presented as a new treatment option for women in England with locally-advanced cervical cancer, which means the cancer has grown beyond the cervix to regions such as the pelvic wall, but not yet spread further around the body.
Trials found that adding pembrolizumab to standard chemoradiotherapy helped keep cancer ‘at bay’ for longer, and improved survival rates overall.
Two years after starting the treatment, nearly seven in 10 patients (68%) were still living without their cancer progressing, compared with 57% for those receiving chemoradiotherapy alone, according to NHS figures.
The trial also found that 82.6% of patients were still alive three years after treatment with pembrolizumab and chemoradiotherapy, compared with 74.8% with chemoradiotherapy alone.
Hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer are to be offered a new immunotherapy treatment.
It marks one of the biggest improvements in treatment for the disease in years, and could help more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long term.
The drug is either given every three or siz weeks via an infusion, or as a ‘one-minute’ injection, alongside chemoradiotherapy.
The NHS estimates around 550 patients in England will be eligible for the treatment – which has been approved this week by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – over the next two years.
Patients will now receive fast-tracked access, funded by NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund.
“This is great news for women facing a diagnosis of aggressive cervical cancer, and represents one of the biggest improvements in treatment for this disease in recent years,” commented Professor Peter Johnson, who is the NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer.
“Combining this immunotherapy with existing treatment has had very positive effect for patients in trials, helping the body’s immune system to target cancer more effectively.
“We’re delighted it will be available for patients on the NHS as it could help hundreds more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long-term.”
Featured Image – NappyStudio (via Unsplash)
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Andy Burnham wants to bring the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to Westminster
Emily Sergeant
Andy Burnham has set out his vision for the country if he is to become Prime Minister.
In case you need brining up to speed first, after it was announced earlier this month that Andy Burnham had clinched the victory in the crucial Makerfield by-election, winning 24,927 votes (54.8% vote share) and a majority of 9,231, he then went onto announce his intention to run for Labour Party leader, and therefore Prime Minister, after Keir Starmer confirmed he would be stepping down.
And this week, Mr Burnham has now delivered his first speech as part of his ongoing campaign, addressing how he plans to give the country a ‘new direction’.
Burnham says that he wants to bring the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to Westminster.
A lot has been discussed and reported on when it comes to Burnham’s intentions to create a so-called Number 10 North here in Manchester, but what exactly does it mean to take the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to the capital?
“The Greater Manchester way is based on strong partnership between all sectors: public, private, community, voluntary, academic, faith, and our trade unions,” Burnham said in his speech.
He continued: “When I started as Mayor in 2017, we set about building a new approach, a new politics based on the exact opposite of the Westminster approach.
“Place-first, not party-first. Problem-solving, not point-scoring. Long-term, not short-term.
“A decade on, it’s incredible how much we’ve been able to achieve by working together instead of fighting against one another.”
Burnham said he feels the truth is that the country spends ‘too much time arguing and not enough time doing’ and that for Britain to get back where it ‘should be’, his Government would ask everyone to ‘face the same way’ and then ‘pull in that same direction together’.
He declared that No 10 North will be the ‘nerve centre’ for a rewired Britain.
“It will be the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK,” he concluded. “It will coordinate all parts of Government, at national and local level, to agree a long-term economic strategy and help all places set new growth ambitions.”
Emily Sergeant -
15th September 2022 
