State of the City report

The third edition of a comprehensive report analysing the progress Manchester is making towards its key goals has been published.

Manchester's State of the City report is an annual headline document measuring the city's current performance. This year's report shows that while good progress is being made on most fronts, deep-rooted challenges remain.

Evidence from the report is used to help city leaders, both from the City Council and partner agencies, to understand the priorities for the future.

Manchester has enjoyed a decade of unprecedented investment and its population continues to grow - the most recent estimate puts the figure at 458,100. Tourists are also flocking to the city. With more than 6.5 million overnight visits last year - a 6.3 per cent increase on the previous 12 months - it was England's second most visited city after London.

The city's economy remains strong despite the current recession. Indeed the recent Manchester Independent Economic Review concluded that the Manchester City Region was the best placed outside London to increase its growth.

Some 70 per cent of respondents to Manchester's Place Survey describe themselves as satisfied with their local area, up two per cent from last year. The report reveals that 77 per cent of respondents state that they are satisfied with their lives - an increase of two per cent from last year.

Manchester continues to have a very high proportion of residents who agree that people from different backgrounds get on well together. Although this has gone down slightly since 2008, at 73 per cent of respondents it continues to reflect the city's cosmopolitan and welcoming traditions and is the highest figure in Greater Manchester.

Tackling crime remains a concern for residents and a high priority for the City Council, working closely with Greater Manchester Police and other partners.

Progress is being made. Serious acquisitive crime - a category which includes house burglaries, car thefts and robbery - has fallen by 10 per cent over the past year and serious violent crime has also fallen. This is due in part to a targeted partnership approach which has supported residents by helping them improve security measures, through schemes such as alleygating, and raising awareness of simple crime prevention measures.

However, Manchester still has significant levels of deprivation and health figures remain a concern. For instance while Manchester no longer has the worst male life expectancy in the country, averages for both men and women still lag well behind the national average.

While GCSE results are improving at a faster rate than the national average, Key Stage 2 SATS results suggest more needs to be done if the pace of this improvement is to be maintained.

City Council Leader Sir Richard Leese said: "The purpose of this report is to give us a clear understanding of where we are as a city and measure our progress against the vision of Manchester as a world class city outlined in our Community Strategy. It is a demonstration of our determination, and that of our partners, to confront challenges rather than hiding from them."

Also published today is Manchester's State of the Wards report which looks at progress at a ward and neighbourhood level and the State of the City: Communities of Interest Report which looks at Manchester's diverse population and key themes across equality areas.

The State of the City report, State of the Wards and State of the City: Communities of Interest reports can all be downloaded from www.manchesterpartnership.org.uk