Manchester City Council has just scooped the title of ‘Council of the Year’ for 2022 at a prestigious awards show.
The Council took the coveted title for its “ambition, innovation, and civic leadership” at the annual LGC (Local Government Chronicle) Awards last night, as was particularly praised for the support it gave city throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as its “refreshed focus” on putting people at the heart of everything it does.
LGC Awards judges said they were impressed by “the united approach of staff, partners and residents”, and the way the Council works with partner organisations and residents to “shape services and projects” and “get results”.
“The Council is a generous partner that has transformed services with outcomes which buck the national trend,” the judges added.
It was also a year which saw the city’s children’s services rated as ‘good’ by Ofsted, which put them among the best in the North West – a huge turnaround from when they had been classed as ‘inadequate’ in 2014.
The Council’s ongoing Our Year campaign, which works to create activities and opportunities for young people post-pandemic, was also praised highly by the judges.
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The judges also commended the Council for its health and care integration across the city, putting it ahead of the national agenda on integrated care systems, and its ambitious plans to oversee the creation of 10,000 social and affordable homes over the next 10 years.
LGC Awards judges also commended the Council for its response to the climate crisis too.
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Manchester City Council Leader Cllr Bev Craig and Chief Executive Joanne Roney OBE with the award / Credit: Bev Craig (via Twitter)
“We know that Manchester is a fantastic place and it’s a great honour to receive this accolade from our peers in local government recognising the councils leadership,” said Cllr Bev Craig.
“While it is really pleasing to be recognised in this way the real reward is making a positive difference and we remain fixed on our goal of becoming a top flight world city that’s inclusive, sustainable and more equal – a city which puts its people at its heart.”
Travel warning issued as tens of thousands to descend for Manchester Half Marathon
Daisy Jackson
A travel warning has been issued ahead of the Manchester Half Marathon this weekend, with tens of thousands of runners and spectators expected to arrive in the city.
People are being urged to plan their journeys ahead of time, with significant road closures in place from the city centre as far out as Sale.
Road closures – and subsequent bus diversions – will also affect parts of Stretford, Chorlton, Trafford, and surrounding areas.
Around 32,000 people are expected to take part in the Manchester Half Marathon this Sunday, with thousands more coming out to cheer the runners on.
Transport for Greater Manchester is advising people that the Bee Network trams will be the best way to get around over the weekend.
Extra trams will be operating to provide as much capacity as possible.
Road closures and bus diversions will start on Saturday 3 October and continue until the actual race day on Sunday 4 October, lifting fully by 8.30pm.
Tens of thousands of runners and spectators will descend on Manchester for the half marathon
Earlier this year, the Manchester Marathon led to a record-breaking day for Metrolink trams, with the highest number of passengers ever recorded on a single day in the network’s history.
Whether running or cheering, people are advised to use the Bee Network app to plan their journeys and are strongly encouraged not to drive within the affected areas.
Steve Gilholme, Head of Events at Transport for Greater Manchester, said: “The Manchester Half Marathon is another one of those special occasions where the people of Greater Manchester and beyond come together, with thousands of people taking on the challenge and raising money for good causes, while many more will line the route to cheer them on.
“This does mean the city centre and especially trams will be incredibly busy so please plan ahead and give yourself extra time to make journeys.
“The Bee Network app and website will be the best places to get the latest travel information and tap and go contactless payments are the quickest and easiest way to pay.”
You can see all the road closures for the Manchester Half Marathon HERE.
Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the 14 national museums of the UK are all located in England – including the Imperial War Museum North, and the Science and Industry Museum in our region – and free entry to was first introduced all the way back in 2001, with millions of visitors having benefitted since.
National museums are said to add more than £1 billion a year to the economy, and bring in visitors from all over the world.
In fact, seven of the UK’s 10 most visited museums are national museums, and 7.1 million people visited the Natural History Museum and 6.4 million visited the British Museum in 2025 alone.
The Government has announced that all national museums in the UK will remain free for everyone to visit / Credit: Science Museum Group | Wikimedia Commons
Earlier this year though, the Government committed to working with local leaders and the museum and tourism sectors to explore whether charging overseas visitors could help museums’ finances.
But following this, it’s now believed that charging could deter visitors, and that the impacts and benefits would ‘not be felt equally’ across the sector.
Instead, the free entry will be funded by the £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere Fund – which is providing £760 million for museums – while £600 million of infrastructure funding is supporting national museums and DCMS-sponsored cultural organisations.
The latter funding will be used to address critical maintenance and works to estates, and enable institutions to deliver on their commitments to share collections with visitors from around the world.
Emily Sergeant -
21st July 2022 
