http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog The blog of the leader of Manchester City Council, Councillor Richard Leese. Jadu CMS http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thu, 23 May 2013 00:20:10 +0000 Thu, 23 May 2013 00:20:10 +0000 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/616/-tff4kids Which translates as Tobacco Free Futures for Kids. Chaired a breakfast meeting this morning organised in conjunction with TFF and the Smokefree Action Coalition. The opening speaker was Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle Council, who introduced us to amongst other things the Newcastle Declaration on Tobacco Control, something Manchester City Council will be signing up to at our next full meeting in July.The stats are pretty frightening with a headline figure of 81,400 deaths caused by smoking in England every year, still the single biggest cause of avoidable, premature deaths. The Tobacco companies of course want to replace those lost customers and the basic technique is to catch 'em young. Most smokers start when they are still in their teens and one of the reasons I support things like the plain packaging campaign is to try and cut off that new supply of cigarette addicts. Smoking in the North West of England is estimated to cost our economy £2b a year and that's £400m more than the comparable tax revenue paid by the tobacco companies. Wed, 22 May 2013 16:34:00 +0100 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/615/and-now-for-the-hard-work The Council is just about getting to the end of what has been the most difficult budget that certainly any current Councillors, and one or two go back over thirty years, can remember. You might think that Executive Members in particular would be breathing a collective sigh of relief as we get to the end of the decision making process but in reality the hard work for them and for Council officers has only begun. We now have to deliver the budget and the price of failure doesn't bear thinking about. If we don't deliver the budget financially then we end up having to make even bigger cuts to compensate. If we don't deliver the radical changes in service provision then thousands of Manchester residents, many already suffering under the government's deficit reduction programme, face an even harder time. We have to believe in a better future and for that we need to keep Manchester, the place, growing and developing. Tue, 21 May 2013 16:57:00 +0100 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/614/useful-evidence Getting very noisy around the Town Hall at the moment as preparations are finalised for our visitors from Old Trafford so a good time to do the blog. Tue, 14 May 2013 09:11:00 +0100 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/613/low-carbon-and-future-growth At a consultation event this morning organised through the Low Carbon Hub looking at the draft of the refreshed Greater Manchester Strategy. The strategy brings together creating the conditions for economic growth and supporting business with the people side of the equation, tackling worklessness, improving skills, and reducing dependency - city deal with whole place community budgets. The draft also strongly references the commitments in the city-region's Climate Change Action Plan, specifically the 48% carbon reduction target by 2020 and the need to act now to adapt to the already inevitable impacts of climate change. Thu, 09 May 2013 13:23:00 +0100 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/612/a-very-odd-feeling Yesterday was the first Thursday in May. Election Day. Local elections were taking place in counties all over the country but not in Greater Manchester. For Metropolitan District Councils like Manchester it is our fallow year, the one year in every four when we don't have local elections. However in our last fallow year we had European elections, and the two before that General Elections, so, if I've got it right, you would have to go back to the Nineteen Nineties for the last time we had a year without any elections in the city. Fri, 03 May 2013 13:53:00 +0100 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/610/where-next The monthly series of meetings around the Combined Authority are delayed a little today to allow members to attend the launch of the Manchester-China Forum. Chaired by Airport Chief Executive Charlie Cornish the Forum's objectives are to increase Greater Manchester's connectivity with China and to facilitate the business climate that enables companies in Greater Manchester to further develop relationships with China. China is already the second biggest economy in the world, and although the rate of growth has slowed there, it still won't be long before it's the biggest economy. By way of comparison, by 2020, China will probably be Germany's biggest export market. If Manchester could be involved in only a tiny sliver of that growth, the impact on our own economy would be enormous. Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:14:00 +0100 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/609/stgeorges-day Not actually going to say anything about St.George's Day which was of course yesterday, but I am going to talk about a couple of things I did on the day. The Council has started decanting staff back from 1st Street into the Town Hall Extension. Lovely phrase that, decanting, which, very appropriately, makes Council staff sound like fine wine. The decant will take until June to complete but one whole floor and a wing in another floor are already occupied so I popped in to see how the move was going and how the remodelled accommodation was working and it was all good news. The building looks tremendous inside, the working environment looks good, and the staff I spoke to all seemed to be very happy to be back in the Town Hall but in much improved office space. Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:53:00 +0100 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/608/over-the-hill The first leg of the six part 2013 UCI Track Cycling World Cup takes place at the new indoor BMX track at the National Cycling Centre tonight and tomorrow night. There will be a full house both nights and the world's best BMX riders will be experiencing the world's best all-weather facility i.e. it's indoors. It's not always elite cyclists though. There is already a thriving BMX club based at the centre, a number of schools, primary and secondary, using it on a regular basis, and it's very affordable. I can't go when the competition is on so went up this afternoon to watch some of the time trial practice sessions. There was a big audience for that including a number of school parties. It was really easy to get to. A short tram ride to the Velopark stop and then a two minute walk over the canal and the combined Velodrome and BMX facility looks fantastic. Think I'll stick to the road on my bike though! Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:57:00 +0100 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/607/on-the-rack I often describe the position the City Council is in as an impossible one, trying to balance an enormous range of demands and expectations of Manchester citizens with the ever diminishing financial resources available to us. Yesterday I met a delegation from the Save Burnage Library Campaign which included primary school pupils right through to pensioners. It was the last day of the formal consultation on the proposed library strategy so I was there principally to listen, but was given a bit of a grilling by a number of students from Burnage High School. Thu, 18 Apr 2013 14:11:00 +0100 http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/606/myths-and-legends Back to the benefit system and a presentation I was at by Trafford Councillor Anne Duffield on the recent " reforms ". Anne had collected research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and other reputable organisations which really expose many of the myths that underpin the unpopularity of the present system. Here are just a few: Fri, 12 Apr 2013 14:56:00 +0100