The Council and democracy State of the City Report 2021

A progressive and equitable city

Opportunities

Manchester aims to be a place where everyone has the same opportunities and life chances, with the potential to lead a safe, healthy, happy and fulfilled life, no matter where they were born or where they live. This means reducing disparities between different areas of the city and different communities within it. While Manchester has made real progress towards achieving this aim – including improvements in education and housing, and better access to jobs – much more work is needed. The urgency of this has been heightened by the exacerbating effect of COVID-19 on the existing inequalities in the city, which disproportionately affect some of the most already disadvantaged communities. The Council’s focus on reducing inequalities is now more important than ever. 

Homelessness

Although overall incidences of homelessness have decreased slightly, the number of people engaging with homelessness services has increased as a result of the pandemic. However, there are significant pieces of work being taken forward by the Council and its partners to help meet this challenge. There will be a continued focus on prevention and relief of homelessness, enhancing advice and support, and improving access and transition to settled homes and making homelessness as brief as possible. 

Reducing the risk of poverty

Work in Manchester has focused on employment as a route out of poverty, raising and protecting family incomes, boosting resilience and building on strengths. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the city’s children and families, plunging many more into poverty. We and our partners have worked tirelessly to understand the full scale of the challenge in order to reduce the risks and mitigate the impact where possible. 

Children's Services

We continue to focus on reducing the number of children and young people going into care by using evidence-based interventions. These measures support families to remain together and - where possible - prevent the need for children to go into care, or - where they do go into care - ensure a timely return home. Our teams are working closer with health, school, police and other colleagues in neighbourhoods and localities to place a greater focus on prevention and early support, avoiding problems starting in the first place for children or families, wherever possible. 

Health

Good progress has been made in a number of health outcomes, including fewer mothers smoking during pregnancy, fewer under-18 conceptions, fewer children aged 0–5 being admitted to hospital for dental caries, and a significant reduction in the rate of suicides.

Evidence suggests, however, that the pandemic has had a major negative and disproportionate impact on the city’s residents. The life expectancy of Manchester residents and recent improvements in the numbers of deaths from preventable diseases (such as cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular) may have been reversed by the pandemic. Clear evidence has emerged that the pandemic has also disproportionately affected particular groups, notably Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, those born outside of the UK, disabled people, and those in high-risk occupations and/or in poverty. Consequently, Manchester still has some of the worst health outcomes in the country, with significant inequalities across the city.

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