Manchester United?

As of 1 April the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities’ (AGMA) will become a Combined Authority – the first of its kind in the country – but what benefits will its new-found power bring? Michelle McKenna reports

The metropolitan county of Greater Manchester spans 496 square miles and comprises 10 metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the cities of Manchester and Salford. Each area has its own very distinct identity and its communities have different needs but ultimately they are working towards the same objectives of creating a world class city region.

The Association of Greater Manchester Authorities’ (AGMA) acts as the voice of the 10 local authorities. Founded in 1986 it has developed commissions, formulated policy, and collaborated in areas including health, transport and economic development but its influence is set to increase further when it receives new powers from Whitehall to become a Combined Authority (CA) in April. The aim of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority is not to replace the 10 local authorities, but to take the work of AGMA to the next level. Lord Peter Smith, chair of AGMA , says that it will enable more control locally over issues such as transport, housing, economic development, skills and job creation.

“In the current economic climate it is more important than ever that the region speaks with one voice so we can make the strongest possible case for resources and investment,” he says. “The Combined Authority will also give us the robust governance arrangements which are needed to drive private sector growth. We will also be empowered to plan in a co-ordinated way to deliver that growth. “[It] also keeps Greater Manchester at the forefront of change, which is important if we are to rebalance the economy and ensure that not just the Manchester City Region, but the entire North of England achieves its full potential.”

With powers devolved from Whitehall over economic development, housing, climate change, transport and regeneration the Combined Authority will have far greater freedom to drive forward rapid change to improve local services based on local needs and priorities.

Responsibilities will include helping to deliver the improvement of skills across the city region, identifying priorities for young people and offering training and job opportunities; driving forward ways to tackle climate change locally; leading further education for 16 to 19-year-olds; setting up pilots to improve public services in Greater Manchester focusing on supporting children in their earliest years, transforming deprived neighbourhoods and affordable housing and connecting local businesses to international markets and greater transport responsibilities and influence.

In fact under the new arrangements a new body – Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM ) – will also be established to deliver transport across the Manchester City Region.

Decisions will be taken via a voting system involving 10 members – one appointed from each local authority. The Combined Authority will come into being at the same time as the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) – one of 30 across the U K.

LEPs are designed to support businesses and local authorities to grow the local private sector, tackle major barriers to growth and develop shared strategies for the local economy to increase job creation.

Investing in the future
A Local Investment Plan was drawn up for Greater Manchester in 2009 but given the much changed political and economic landscape and the ensuing challenges a new document has been drawn up and agreed by AGMA and the Homes and Communities Agency.

This second Local Investment Plan (LIP2) aims to bring a fresh approach to generating investment in housing and regeneration in Greater Manchester. It makes the case for public and private investment in Greater Manchester housing and regeneration and is designed to help partners achieve more for less by: encouraging the development of new models of investment in housing and regeneration; agreeing priorities across Greater Manchester so that focused investment can go further in delivering what local people need most and achieving greater autonomy for AGMA to sign off on its investment priorities.

David Chilton, head of area for Greater Manchester at the HCA , said: “Following the pioneering success of the first G reater M anchester LI P, it is important that we continue to work hand in hand with our local authority partners to help develop their plans for homes and places. T hrough this plan, we will now be able to give valuable, targeted support to bring forward new homes that will play a vital role in helping Greater Manchester meet its economic growth ambitions.”

Lord Smith, added: “Despite the squeeze on public resources, Greater Manchester needs to continue to work towards long-term economic prosperity, and the provision of new homes is essential to achieving that shared vision. Our second LIP explores new and innovative ways of attracting both public and private investment, and outlines the great challenges and opportunities we face within the current economic landscape. AGMA will continue to work closely with HCA , housing associations, developers and our other partners to maximise resources to provide much-needed homes for our residents.”

At home in Manchester
As the creation of the Combined Authority shows the county of Greater Manchester is about much more than its famous city but there is no doubting the impact that the regeneration of the city of M anchester – and its centre in particular – has had on the surrounding areas.

The first truly industrialised city it grew rapidly during the Victorian era but like many other areas, slipped into decline during the 1970s and 1980s.

The years of neglect have been reversed over the past 20 years through regeneration. Many of the grand buildings built during the Victorian heyday have been transformed into shops, bars and restaurants and there have been some new additions to the city’s skyline – the Urbis, Beetham Tower and Number One Deansgate to name but a few.

The city centre’s transformation over the past few decades has also seen it change from a place for work, shopping and socialising to a desirable place to live.

Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester City Council says that the city centre had a population of less than 500 20 years ago and now houses about 9,500 residential units with a void rate as of last month of 6.7 per cent. Regeneration and new-build programmes in Hulme, North and East Manchester and Moss Side have had a significant impact taking areas where 10 years ago residents were leaving to areas with a growing population.

The region is also attracting new residents from outside of the county – from other parts of the UK as well as overseas. While Manchester, like any other area has become home to asylum seekers and refugees Sir Richard says that international migration is “principally economic migration.”

Students have also contributed to Manchester’s growing population and act as an indicator of the region’s growing economic strength. Manchester has long been a university city but whereas in the past the city’s graduates have had to leave in search of work, there are now plenty of career options within Greater Manchester.

“Over the past decade we have moved from an exporter of graduates to an importer of graduates,” says Sir Richard. “A lot of our graduates stay and we import from elsewhere and that is obviously because of the changing economic climate within the city over the past decade or so. Twenty years ago a lot of graduates would have to have gone elsewhere to get work, that is less and less the case.”

The increasing population, growing economy and ambitious regeneration plans are indicators that the city of Manchester and the Metropolitan County that it sits within continue to grow and
move forward despite the tough economic climate.

The impact that the Combined Authority will have on the 10 local authority areas remains to be seen but as of 1 April Greater Manchester will start to flex its new found muscles in its bid to take the region forward.

Global contender

After years of decline Manchester has enjoyed a rebirth as a global city and despite Government cutbacks the city council’s leader Sir Richard Leese says it will “continue to move ahead”. He talks to Michelle McKenna

Manchester has come a long way in the past 20 years but while there have been significant new-build and regeneration programmes an everincreasing population means that the supply of homes doesn’t always match demand. “On the most recent mid-year population estimates the city has grown in population since the last census from about 430,000 to about 495,000 so we have gone from 30 years of decline into a decade of quite reasonable growth,” says Sir Richard. “You name a housing type and we need more of it and part of our strategic plan is about trying to increase in every area but at the same time creating more mixed areas.”

While housing is clearly high on the council’s agenda and the first council homes in over two decades have just been unveiled Government cutbacks could prove to be a spanner in the works for future programmes.

The decision to withdraw PFI funding will have an impact on ambitious plans for a £252 million regeneration of the Collyhurst estate but Sir Richard is confident that work will still go ahead, all be it at a slower pace. He explains that the council is now looking for alternative funding sources and what would have been a “Big Bang scheme” could now take 15 to 20 years.

The scrapping of the HMR pathfinder programme will also take its toll and was described by Sir Richard as “a mistake”. “The reason we needed HMR was simply because of the scale of the issues we faced in North and East Manchester,” he says. “The reason I think it is mistake is it is a job half done. Some programmes have stopped dead and what that does mean is that regeneration will take a lot longer, some of the techniques particularly the market analysis we will continue to apply, but regeneration will take a lot longer than it would have done otherwise.”

It is not just a lack of cash that could have an impact, the number of staff in the regeneration and strategic housing teams at Manchester City Council will be reduced by about 40 per cent as a result of 25 per cent budget cuts which will come into play next year.

Sir Richard described the reduced budget as having: “a not far off devastating impact on what we do and how we do it,” but vowed that the council will continue to invest in the economic future of the city and to move Manchester’s growth – which he says is already being recognised in international circles – forward.

“We have gone back to being a city of global significance and external commentators, eminent ones like Richard Shapiro, have identified Manchester as probably being after London the biggest growth point potential in the UK by some way,” he says.

However he says that the city’s position is not to rival London but to “play a complimentary added value role,” adding: “If we want to make comparisons the comparison should be with other European and North American cities, we should be comparing with the Chicagos, Lyons and Copenhagens not with London.”