Manchester figures weigh in on early roadmap reports
Local business leaders and MPs are all taking to social media this morning (February 22) to post their opinions following media speculation on what the government exit plan may look like.
Gary Neville has suggested the country should reopen by April 15.
Some of Manchester’s key figures are weighing in with their own verdicts as the first reports of England’s roadmap out of lockdown begin to surface.
Local business leaders and politicians are taking to social media this morning (February 22) to post their opinions following media speculation on what the government exit plan may look like.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to outline the strategy – which he spent last weekend finalising – in more detail to MPs in the House of Commons this afternoon.
A public address will follow later this evening.
It appears that restrictions will be lifted on a national basis rather than through a tiered approach.
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Schools pupils are still due to return on March 8, with relaxations around social mixing expected from March 29.
Measures on other sectors will be lifted in stages, but will need to meet four ‘tests’ along the way, Downing Street has said. These include:
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Successful deployment of vaccine
Continued evidence vaccine is working
Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS
Assessment of the risks not fundamentally changed by new ‘variants of concern’
Among the local figures commenting on these early reports is former Manchester United star and UnitedCity representative Gary Neville, who has argued that all restrictions should be lifted by mid-April.
The early reports are out on the “ Roadmap “. The suggestion seems to be 4 stages will be announced .
I can only think of 2 :
1. Children back in school ASAP 2. Re-open the country the day after all over 50’s and the vulnerable are vaccinated. ( April 15th )
The Hotel Football and Salford City Football Club owner posted on Twitter: “The early reports are out on the ‘Roadmap’.
“The suggestion seems to be 4 stages will be announced.”
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“I can only think of 2.
“1. Children back in school ASAP. 2. Re-open the country the day after all over 50’s and the vulnerable are vaccinated. (April 15th).”
Greater Manchester Nighttime Economy Adviser Sacha Lord also chimed in – claiming if initial reports were true about hospitality not opening until May, Chancellor Rishi Sunak needed to announce a support package.
Lord commented: “We need to wait for the PM to confirm today, BUT, if the return of restaurants/pubs isn’t until May, The Chancellor needs to urgently respond with a clear support package.
“A 10 day wait until 3rd March [the budget announcement] is too long for peoples mental health and anxiety over their jobs/businesses.”
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MP for Manchester Central Lucy Powell echoed Lord’s remarks, stating that economic support must be announced today ahead of the budget.
She stated: “Business rate bills for April landing now for retail, hospitality, hair & beauty, yet unlikely to be open by then; millions remain on furlough too.
“In total £50bn bombshell facing business. Extend support!”
We need to wait for the PM to confirm today, BUT, if the return of restaurants/pubs isn't until May, The Chancellor needs to urgently respond with a clear support package.
A 10 day wait until 3rd March is too long for peoples mental health and anxiety over their jobs/businesses.
Last week, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham urged the government to “go slow and go national” with lifting restrictions, claiming that the lockdown exit was too fast in spring.
Burnham argued that this rapid release of restrictions may have contributed to the likes of Manchester re-entering restrictions by the end of July.
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On Monday morning, the Mayor said that early leaks of the roadmap look “on the right lines”, but that any plan without additional support for those self-isolating had a “bloody big hole in it”.
The leaks of the PM’s roadmap sound like it is on the right lines. 👍
BUT …
Any roadmap that comes without a plan to help the 20,000 people who every day tell Test & Trace that they can’t afford to self-isolate is a roadmap with a bloody big hole in it!
The Prime Minister is expected to address MPs at around 3pm.
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Every Greater Manchester borough to get 24-7 night bus services as part of Bee Network improvements
Emily Sergeant
Every borough of Greater Manchester is set to get a night bus service in what is hoped to be a ‘boost’ to the night-time economy.
Widespread improvements are coming to bus services across the whole region are coming later this year, as Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has today (Thursday 18 March) announced 36 service changes in total – many of which are said to be the ‘most significant’ and ‘wide-ranging’ upgrades the Bee Network has seen since bus franchising was completed early last year.
The announcement comes after the Mayor gave a major update yesterday on plans to deliver a ‘decade of good growth’ in Greater Manchester, backed by at least £500 million of investment from the National Wealth Fund, taking the GM Good Growth Fund to almost £2 billion.
The Bee Network insists this raft of new changes have ‘only been made possible’ by bringing buses back under local control.
As mentioned, the most major improvement is set to be the introduction 24-hour night buses throughout Greater Manchester – with five new night buses launched to bring a 24-hour service to parts of the region that haven’t previously had them, like Oldham, Stockport, Tameside, and Trafford.
Every Greater Manchester borough is set to get 24-7 night bus services / Credit: TfGM
It’s hoped around 625,400 people in jobs that operate late into the night, as well as those enjoying everything the region’s nightlife has to offer, can get home safely.
Some of the other changes announced include a selection of brand-new bus services, more frequent buses during the day and at the weekends, and overall better connections to key employment and leisure destinations like Manchester Airport, Trafford Centre, MediaCity, Middlebrook Retail Park, Kingsway Business Park, and Logistics North.
“These changes will benefit people right across Greater Manchester,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham.
“They have come about as a direct result of your feedback and support for the Bee Network and have been made possible by the decision we took to bring our buses back under local control.
“By expanding Bee Network night buses to every borough, and providing more frequent services to key employment locations, we are creating more ways for people to access jobs and opportunities across the region.
“This is just the start. As we continue to lead the way on economic growth, so will we continue to lead the way on transforming the Bee Network, setting us up for another decade of good growth so that everyone in Greater Manchester can live a good life.”
Featured Image – TfGM
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‘Deeply worrying’ figures reveal one in seven NHS staff were physically attacked last year
Emily Sergeant
The NHS is ‘deeply worried’ after figures revealed one in seven staff were attacked by a patient or member of the public last year.
According to the latest NHS staff survey, 14.47% – which works out to almost one in seven staff members – were physically attacked by a patient or the public in the last year, which sadly works out to be the highest rate for three years.
On top of this, the shocking statistics also saw a record percentage of staff say they were subjected to ‘unwanted’ sexual behaviour, rising steeply to almost one in three ambulance staff (31%).
It also found that nearly one in 10 staff (9.26%) said they were subjected to discrimination from patients and the public, which is the highest on record.
The 2025 NHS Staff Survey results are now published.
Thank you to all NHS staff who took the time to share their experiences.
The survey helps us understand what’s working well and where improvements can be made.
Presumably because of figures like this, the survey revealed that the number of staff who would recommend their workplace to others fell slightly to 58.05% in 2025, which is down from 60.79% last year in 2024.
“These figures paint a deeply worrying picture of the abuse our hardworking NHS staff face,” commented Danny Mortimer, who is the Director General (People) for NHS England.
“Staff safety and wellbeing is paramount, and we want everyone experiencing any kind of unwanted incident to feel confident enough to report it. But while that behaviour is completely unacceptable, we must look at what more we can do to support the people who keep our services running.
‘Deeply worrying’ figures reveal that one in seven NHS staff were physically attacked last year / Credit: rawpixel
“We know about the everyday pressures staff face and we haven’t moved fast enough to fix them.
“Staff have worked so hard to improve NHS performance and deliver care over winter as shown in the latest performance figures. These survey results show it is now for the NHS to deliver improvements for staff because there is so much more to do to make the NHS a better place to work.”
However, despite all of this, an overwhelming 87.78% of respondents did say they felt their job ‘made a difference’ to patients.
As mentioned, all of these statistics have been revealed as part of the latest NHS staff survey, where more than 766,000 workers in England responded – providing what is said to be ‘vital data’ for employers and stakeholders about the staff experience.
The Manc -
22nd February 2021 
