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EnglishArabicBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CroatianCzechDanishDutchEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchGermanGreekHindiHungarianIgboItalianJapaneseKoreanKurdish (Kurmanji)LatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalayMalteseNepaliNorwegianPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSerbianSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSudaneseSwahiliSwedishThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduVietnameseWelshYorubaManchester City Council has launched the main consultation on its 2015-17 budget options, along with a number of individual consultations on specific elements.
Options for consultation were agreed by the council’s Executive on Wednesday 26 November.
They aim to address an estimated funding shortfall of £59m in 2015/16, potentially rising to £90 million in 2016/17.
A lot of people in the local voluntary sector are going to be very angry today. They’re going to feel threatened, undervalued, rejected and hopeless. The Council’s budget proposals will make horrible reading for many people who’ve been working very hard for a long time to make a difference in the city. For some groups this will mean cuts to services and activities. For many it will mean many job losses – the sector is an employer too, after all. For some this may be the last straw and we may see the end of a number of organisations that have made a great contribution to the city.
Four weeks to go and the Spirit of Manchester Festival is building up nicely.
One of the things I love most about working in the voluntary sector is that if you have a really good idea you can generally find a way to make it happen. It might take a while – things like our State of the Sector and Civil Economy work were on my wishlist for years before we were finally able to publish the finished work. But sometimes you can be taken by surprise at how fast you can go from the idea to it actually happening.
Could Manchester be Europe’s answer to America’s hippest city - Portland, Oregon?
Manchester has enjoyed solid economic success, there is now an opportunity for a ‘new wave’ to Manchester’s future. A new report A Civil Economy for Manchester, prepared for Macc by the think-do tank the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) demonstrates how this new wave is about unleashing the power of citizens, social and voluntary group.
Before Christmas, Mike Wild (Chief Executive of Macc) and Nigel Rose (Macc’s Strategic Lead on Commissioning) met with Geoff Little (Deputy Chief Executive of Manchester City Council) and Carol Culley (Assistant Chief Executive, Finance and Performance). We wanted to discuss the impact not just of the next wave of public sector cuts but the prolonged effects of recession. We also wanted to explore the Council’s views on how the voluntary and community sector can rise to meet the challenges faced by the communities in Manchester.
Manchester City Council have published their first Market Position Statement concerning Adult Social Care.
A new tender from Manchester City Council has been advertised on The Chest. The tender is for advice services and is in 3 parts. Part 1 is for City-Wide Advice Services. Part 2 is for Targeted Individual/Family Advice Services. Part 3 is for a Framework Agreement for the Provision of Innovative Advice Solutions. All the tenders are for 1 year with the possibility of an extension for another year.
As you may be aware, earlier this year the City Council launched a competitive tendering process for the contract to provide support to the city's voluntary and community sector for the next three years.
We are delighted to announce that Macc has been awarded this contract.
During the recent bout of hot weather, I somehow managed to come down with a cold. I not only felt ill, I also felt ridiculous: I mean who gets a cold in the middle of a heatwave? As I write this, figures have just been released showing that the country’s economy is slowly starting to grow again after the recession. It’s a similar feeling: I’m being told it’s lovely out there but it feels dreadful. No matter what the economic analysis says, when I look around I see incomes reducing, prices rising, services closing and life generally becoming more difficult.
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