Pledges have been made for collective action on six priority areas:
Education and skills
Reducing inequalities
Jobs and growth
The digital economy
Net zero
The creative and cultural economy
These commitments are said to have been made following consultation with political and civic leaders.
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Polling of local Greater Manchester residents was also carried out and found that the top priorities for people living in the city region were economic growth and reducing unemployment, improving health and wellbeing, addressing the climate crisis, and increasing job quality.
The polling also highlighted that people in the city region recognise the role of universities in meeting these priorities through training professionals to work in public services, creating jobs and opening up access to higher education for young people from across Greater Manchester and beyond.
— Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (@MayorofGM) September 27, 2021
“We are very proud of the civic role that our universities already play in Greater Manchester and this agreement sets out how we can enhance this through collective action,” said the leaders of the five higher education institutions.
“During the pandemic, our five universities came together in new ways to work collaboratively in meeting the needs of students, staff and our local communities [and] as we turn to recovery and building back better from COVID, we can be more than the sum of our parts by working together to deliver real and lasting impact for our city region.
“The Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement is the biggest and most ambitious partnership of its kind in the country covering two cities, eight boroughs and 2.8 million people and outlines how we will work together to level up our city region through innovation, reach our climate ambitions and support the creation of educational pathways into good quality jobs.”
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Andy Burnham – Mayor of Greater Manchester – added: “The signing of this agreement is a landmark moment for Greater Manchester.
“Through this agreement, we can ensure our city region is the best place for people to learn and gain qualifications throughout their lifetime, by providing more ways into further and higher education.
“Our universities are at the cutting edge of innovation, and we have a plan to make sure that the impact of this innovation is felt across Greater Manchester.
“Our city region’s education institutions play an enormously important role, supporting more than 100,000 students and providing businesses with a skilled workforce, while also serving their communities and acting as major employers in their own right [and] they will have a significant part to play as we tackle challenges like reducing inequalities and meeting our net zero targets.”
Priority areas of action in the civic university agreement include Innovation GM – the £7 billion innovation blueprint for the city region, pressing on with action to reach net zero by 2038 and supporting the growth of the digital economy through initiatives such as the AI Foundry and the Cyber Foundry.
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The pledge is also building on a recent commitment to collaboration with further education colleges in Greater Manchester.
It will build partnerships with wider stakeholders across the public and private sector too.
Featured Image – University of Manchester
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Street parties and Red Arrows fly-over planned for four-day VE Day 80th anniversary celebrations
Emily Sergeant
Street parties and fly-pasts by military aircraft including the famous Red Arrows are planned for the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Victory in Europe (VE Day) – which takes place on 8 May each year, and marks the Allied victory in Europe – resulted in millions celebrating the end of the war in 1945, with street parties, dancing and singing all across the country.
And now, 80 years later, similar events and celebrations are set to take place.
The commemorations set to take place over four days at the start of May will pay tribute to the millions of people across the UK and Commonwealth who served in the Second World War, telling the stories of those who fought, the children who were evacuated, and those who stepped into the essential roles on the Home Front.
On 8 May the nation will come together to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day
— Department for Culture, Media and Sport (@DCMS) March 5, 2025
The early May bank holiday on Monday 5 May will see the beginning of the events to mark VE Day 80, with events planned including a military procession, flypast of current and historic military aircraft, and the return of the poppies to the Tower of London.
Also on bank holiday Monday is when street parties, barbecues. and community get-togethers are being encouraged to be held by communities across the country to echo the celebrations 80 years ago.
The Government has also issued a nationwide call for families to ‘delve into their lofts’ and discover their own stories from the Second World War.
On actual VE Day itself, on Thursday 8 May, a service will take place at Westminster Abbey that the Government says will be both an ‘act of shared remembrance’ and a ‘celebration’ of the end of the war.
Street parties and a Red Arrows fly-over is planned for 80th anniversary celebrations of VE Day / Credit: Vicki Burton (via Flickr)
All the planned events will conclude with a concert at the historic Horseguards Parade, with more than 10,000 members of the public expected to attend, and well-known stars of stage and screen and military musicians set to perform.
“80 years ago, the freedoms we enjoy today were defended by our remarkable Second World War generation,” commented Defence Secretary John Healey MP as the planned celebrations were announced.
“Our duty today is to safeguard the British values they sacrificed so much to uphold.
“As we mark 80 years since the end of the Second World War, our grateful nation looks forward to joining our brave Armed Forces and veterans to reflect, rejoice and remember.”
Featured Image – Jason Garcia (via Flickr)
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Manchester has been named one of the UK’s top car theft ‘hotspots’
Emily Sergeant
Manchester has unfortunately been named one of the UK’s top car theft ‘hotspots’, according to a new analysis.
In recent months, Greater Manchester has been earning itself some rather impressive new titles, with wins across areas such as property prices, arts and culture, and so much more… but when you win some, it seems like you also lose some.
That’s because a data analysis of car theft statistics across the UK in 2024 has sadly seen Manchester named in the top 10 ‘hotspots’.
Although motor thefts were found to have decreased by 6% in the previous year, there was still a whopping 61,343 cars reported stolen to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in 2024, which marked the third-highest annual total in the past decade.
The number of car thefts in 2024 was actually more than twice the number recorded in 2015.
Manchester has been named one of the UK’s top car theft ‘hotspots’ / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Analysis of the data from This is Money and MailOnline, as shared by the RAC, highlighted that East London was the worst affected area in the UK, but Manchester wasn’t too far behind.
Manchester took the third spot on the top 10 list, with a total of 912 cars reported stolen in 2024 alone, while some of the other northern cities on the ranking include Leeds and Sheffield.
It comes as no surprise, however, that at the top of the list is the capital of London, with a shockingly-high 8,145 cars stolen last year.
Top 10 UK car theft ‘hotspots’ 2024
London – 8,145
Birmingham – 3,220
Manchester – 912
Leeds – 901
Sheffield – 899
Coventry – 862
Wolverhampton – 616
Leicester – 533
Walsall – 521
Bristol – 506
According to the analysis, there are several ways that criminals are choosing to steal cars nationwide, with one of the most popular being key cloning, where a thief creates a copy of a car’s key fob or key to gain access to the vehicle.
This technique is particularly common with modern cars that use keyless entry and push-to-start systems, which communicate with the car through radio signals.
The Manc -
27th September 2021 
