The pandemic lockdown saw communities banding together to provide support for the vulnerable, filling the gaps to support left by a slow to act state. Mutual aiders describe the challenges they face providing help during the Covid-19 crisis.
Social housing companies extracting huge shareholder payouts from housing benefits paid to vulnerable tenants
Thirteen registered providers of social housing are using this financialised lease-based model in Greater Manchester. Five have regulatory judgements against them. Wigan is the borough with the highest amount of this type of housing which is fueling substantial dividend payments to shareholders, all derived from public money paid to house people with disabilities. Social housing […]
Masks for Life scheme brings artists together to help local community
Islington Mill in Salford have launched a scheme to provide community groups with free masks and help keep local artists making and serving their communities. Covid-19 has decimated many industries and changed how we keep ourselves and others safe in public spaces. Islington Mill has launched Masks for Life, a Covid response project that aims […]
Manchester bus drivers to ballot on industrial action after boss suspends union rep
Around 500 Manchester bus drivers will hold a consultative ballot on whether to take industrial action, after employer Go North West Limited suspended a senior Unite representative for carrying out trade union activities.
Social housing is key to alleviating the housing crisis, so why are we not building it?
National statistics show that across GM as social housing has fallen, housing waiting lists and temporary accommodation has risen. Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett and author of “Safe as Houses” Stuart Hodkinson give their views on the state of social housing and what needs to be done to improve it. It was the crises of […]
Manchester housing campaigners join forces to fight predicted Covid-19 evictions ‘tsunami’
Tens of thousands of tenants across Greater Manchester at risk of losing their homes during the Covid-19 crisis, once the ban on evictions is raised on 23 August. Tenants Union UK, ACORN Manchester and the Greater Manchester Law Centre are joining forces to offer training and information to help renters resist eviction. Full details below. […]
‘Carry on asking questions’ Andy Burnham tells primary school reporters ignored by Boris Johnson
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and children’s commissioner of England answered Manchester Media Club mini-reporters’ questions in live press conferences and encouraged them to keep trying to have their voices heard. Mini-reporters from Greater Manchester interviewed Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester mayor and Anne Longfield, children’s commissioner for England, about their post-pandemic future. The six […]
Police Taser use increase poses growing ‘threat to life’, report warns
“Tasers should be abolished” say authors of Resistance Lab report which shows Greater Manchester Police increased their Taser use by 73% in a year. A significant increase in Taser usage by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) poses a growing “threat to life”, particularly against BAME groups and people with mental and physical disabilities, the report says. […]
Will this year’s A-level and GCSE predicted grades increase inequality between students in Manchester?
Concerns around this year’s A-level and GCSE predicted grade system, following the cancellation of exams due to Covid-19, have highlighted wider systemic issues of bias and inequality in the UK education system.
The climate crisis demands we scale up retrofitting homes in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester must retrofit 60,000 residential and commercial buildings a year to be zero carbon by 2038. Cooperatives and small businesses have led the way to make homes fit for the future, but not on the scale needed due to financial restrictions, skills shortages and inappropriate supply chains. Local authorities will need to work with […]