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.
The Better Care Fund by the government was announced in June 2013. It is a funding mechamism, covering the period 2014/15 and 2015/16 intended to incentivise integration of health and social services and more specifically to reduce hospital admissions. North, Central and South Cliinical Commissioning Groups, together with Manchester City Council will decide shortly how their slice of national funding will be spent, as projects need to be put in place rapidly.
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.
A new 3 year tender has been issued by Salford Local Authority on behalf of all the Greater Manchester Authorities for support into employment for people who have gone through the work programme and have not got a job. Bidders can apply to deliver support just for Manchester or for multiple authorities. There is a meeting for potential applicants in Manchester on Thursday 5th December from 2-4pm at Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount St, M2 5NS.
Greater Manchester (GM) has been allocated €415 million by the UK Government for the next European programming period from 2014 until 2020 and has produced a Draft European Structural and Investment Funds Investment Plan, which sets out the priorities which will be supported by funds that will come from the European Commission between 2014-2020.
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.
At our Spirit of Manchester awards event last month one of the categories was for Most Successful Campaign. We wanted to acknowledge campaigning work because we’ve always believed that it’s the job of charities not just to meet needs but to drive change for the longer term. The history of social change in this country has been driven by the campaigning efforts of groups for centuries.
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.
The government has commissioned six centres (the What Works Network, https://www.gov.uk/what-works-network) to summarise and share research with local decision-makers including commissioners, head teachers, police and crime commissioners.