The Council and democracy The Council's aims and objectives

The Mancunian qualities of innovation, hard work and enterprise made Manchester the first modern city and placed it at the heart of the industrial world. But during the 20th century, the decline in industry led people to leave in search of work elsewhere.

Nevertheless, the originality and creative heart and soul of Manchester have inspired a successful reinvention over the past 20 years. World-class sports facilities, expanding service industries and thriving universities brought new money and new jobs to Manchester. This economic growth has been led by one of the highest rates of private sector growth over the past 15 years and the creation of over 50,000 jobs across the city. However, in spite of this renewed success and pride, Manchester is still tackling social problems left by 40-50 years of economic decline.

Serious new challenges are now affecting the city and its communities. The banking crisis, credit crunch and recession are still affecting our ability to continue to grow the economy and deliver vital services for Manchester people. The Council has also experienced a significant reduction in resources. Despite these challenges the same qualities of innovation, hard work and enterprise will see us persevere and succeed.

As a Council our objective is to support the delivery of Manchester’s Community Strategy through the Manchester Partnership. The Community Strategy was refreshed during 2012/13, reaffirming our vision of Manchester as a world class city as competitive as the best international cities;

  • that stands out as enterprising, creative and industrious
  • with highly skilled and motivated people
  • living in successful neighbourhoods whose prosperity is environmentally sustainable  
  • where all our residents can meet their full potential, are valued and secure

The refreshed strategy sets out how this vision will be achieved by focusing on three areas: Growth, People and Place.

Growth

Manchester is an engine of growth and has enormous potential to grow further, and to continue to create jobs and economic wealth. We will continue to build on our economic assets and strengths in financial and professional services; creative, digital and new media; advanced manufacturing and life sciences. We will also continue to support Manchester residents to develop the skills they need access jobs and to benefit from the economic success of the city.

People

Our priorities around growth will be linked to our ambitions to support and invest in people through the reform of public services. We will deliver services that foster aspiration, independence and resilience, and that open up pathways into employment through education and skills. This will help to reduce the demand on expensive, reactive services.

Place

We will continue to create and maintain neighbourhoods that attract, support and retain working people and offer a good quality of life for residents. We will have a focus on the needs of our different communities, ensuring that across the city our residents have access to clean, safe neighbourhoods with an attractive housing offer and the high quality range of services and facilities which are critical to the fabric of successful neighbourhoods.

The Manchester Partnership

The Manchester Partnership brings together public, private and third sector organisations that work together on delivering Manchester’s Community Strategy. Further information, including the refreshed Community Strategy and the annual State of the City report, can be found at on the Manchester Partnership website.

Plans & values

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