Following the end of the ‘evictions ban’, Greater Manchester Law Centre did some research into the social housing sector in Greater Manchester. Social housing providers’ responses to Freedom of Information requests were used to consider the arguments against using ‘mandatory grounds’ to make evictions more ‘efficient’.
GRT History Month should reflect an honest history: a history of land struggles and state harassment
In this piece for GRT History Month, Sean Benstead ties together anti-GRT racism within the Labour party, land policy, and the government’s Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
Castlefield viaduct to become Manchester’s first ‘High Line’
Jonathan Schofield and how the National Trust have moved to beautify engineering.
Reshaping ownership within adult social care
Adult social care is broken. After years of marketisation and outsourcing we are left with a service where large market players dominate. Taxpayers’ money, and the savings of older people, are being extracted out of the system for shareholder gain.
The Centre for Local Economic Strategies have published a report on the issues involved.
The report’s author, Tom Lloyd Goodwin, reflects on how ownership models must be shifted to fix that broken system.
We have a collective right to Manchester — let’s proclaim it
Our report on public land privatisation published two weeks ago has sparked a political debate across our city on how we might better manage our public assets. Here we publish reflections from an organiser at Greater Manchester Labour for a Green New Deal.
How Manchester’s bus drivers beat ‘fire and rehire’
After 85 days on strike, Manchester’s bus drivers have forced corporate giant Go Ahead to abandon its plans to fire and rehire almost 500 workers – it’s a victory not only for them, but for workers across the country.
The privatisation of Manchester
As Manchester becomes increasingly gentrified and local communities are priced out, a new report on the city’s land use has found a pattern of privatisation and sell-offs – aided and abetted by its Labour council.
Salford Star closure – how Salford council tried to block and discredit the Star
The Salford Star has shut down. This article is a warning to others who may follow, on the pitfalls of founding a genuine publication that aims to give the community a voice and hold public bodies up to account. They will try to discredit you, block information and shut you down.
Here the Salford Star editor, Stephen Kingston, looks at how democracy perished badly under the Salford mayoral system.
Electoral Reform Society concern over Salford council ‘one-party fiefdom’
A new missive from the Electoral Reform Society warns that ‘Local one-party fiefdoms plague local government in England – with growing powers often wielded with shrinking oversight. It is a potential gift for lobbyists and shady contractors.’
Manchester zine takes top spot in the Post Growth Challenge
The Post Growth Challenge was set to provide concise and accessible summaries of the alternatives to the dominant global economic system which says infinite growth is possible on finite planetary resources.
Steady State Manchester presents the entries to the challenge, including the zine created by University of Manchester students which earned top spot.