Calls for plan to bring Greater Manchester Police ‘up to scratch’ in Trafford after force placed into special measures

direct to your inboxA 'very large' yoga gathering held in breach of coronavirus restrictions was broken up and a £10,000 Covid-19 fine issued, civic leaders have revealed.The gathering in Stockport was revealed today by the region's deputy mayor, Bev Hughes.No exact location - or other details - were revealed.It's not known whether the gathering was held indoors or outside.But Ms Hughes, speaking during an update on the pandemic situation across Greater Manchester hosted by mayor Andy Burnham,

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester residents will see the amount they pay in council tax towards mayoral functions carried out by Andy Burnham frozen from April.The combined authority agreed that increasing the precept would place a burden on people already struggling through the Covid-19 pandemic.With council tax set by local authorities already expected to rise in the coming years, leaders renewed calls on the government to provide them with more funding.A meeting of the Greater Manchester

direct to your inboxThe Greater Manchester Pension Fund has been criticised for its ‘woeful’ response to calls to divest from fossil fuel firms and align itself with local climate change policies.GMPF, the largest local government pension scheme in the UK, invests more than £1bn in oil and gas stocks each year, a strategy which has proven controversial amongst environmental campaigners.However the fund says it is also the largest investor in renewable energy and energy efficiency with £500m tied

direct to your inboxThe Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester held a closed meeting with Trafford council this week to discuss policing, following the city-region’s police force being placed into special measures.The meeting came after local calls for Mayor Andy Burnham to set out an action plan to bring Greater Manchester Police ‘up to scratch’ in Trafford.Conservative members of the council criticised the fact that the meeting was held in private and felt members of the public,

direct to your inboxAndy Burnham’s plan to freeze his mayoral tax on Greater Manchester residents from April is expected to be backed by regional leaders this week.The mayoral precept which appears on council tax bills goes towards funding the fire service, hundreds of beds for rough sleepers and free bus passes for young people.If approved by the Greater Manchester combined authority on Friday, council tax bills for Band B and Band D properties will stay at £70.73 and £90.95 respectively during

direct to your inbox Andy Burnham has hired external consultants to review Greater Manchester Police’s response to last year’s damning inspection report.

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester Police have been forced to step in after a 'criminal' Weetabix combination went viral on Twitter.The tweet in question was posted by the popular cereal brand this morning, and quickly caught the attention of cops.And when you see what Weetabix were suggesting, it's clear to see why.Instead of the uncontested cereal and milk combination, it was suggested that customers try their Weetabix with something new.Baked Beans."Why should bread have all the fun, when

direct to your inboxThe Home Secretary has slammed the 'appalling situation' at GMP and vowed to 'hold everybody to account' for the force's failings. Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday Priti Patel said a 'force improvement plan' had been put in place in the wake of a damning inspection report in December.

direct to your inboxNew details have emerged about the new jobs and housing masterplan which will replace the scrapped Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.Council leaders of nine of the city-region’s boroughs, along with mayor Andy Burnham, will meet to consider the next steps for ‘Places For Everyone’ this week.

direct to your inbox Andy Burnham has called for poorer parts of the country to be given additional supplies of the coronavirus vaccine. The Greater Manchester Mayor said that more jabs should be given in areas where life expectancy is lower.Speaking to Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday, he said there should be 'greater flexibility' within the vaccine roll out programme so that people can be called up earlier.

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester Police ‘deliberately’ failed to properly answer the mayor’s questions on its hugely troublesome computer system, Andy Burnham and his deputy have claimed. Last Friday the mayor had appeared before a scrutiny panel to describe a litany of failures within the force, arguing there had recently been a ‘persistent and repeated underplaying of problems’ at ‘the most senior level’, including, ‘at worst’, information being deliberately withheld.

direct to your inboxA failure to guarantee wages and offer support for people during self-isolation is 'unpicking the chain' when it comes to controlling coronavirus.Mayor Andy Burnham has heralded Greater Manchester's local test and trace system for tracking down more than 16,000 people who were missed by the national programme within the 24-hour target.The success of the local push to test and trace cases and contacts in high risk settings like prisons, homeless shelters and care homes, has

Do you think a proper plan needs to be outlined now for how the government intends to fully reopen schools? Would you rather be given a proposed date for the reopening or wait until something can be set in stone? Let us know in the comments here, or share your views on our Manchester Family Facebook page. When it comes to vaccinating teachers and school staff, Mr Chalke says it would be a lot easier than the government makes it sound."There's around a million school staff," he said.

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester Police has at times ‘deliberately withheld’ information from the mayor’s office amid battles for transparency that became a ‘war of attrition’, Andy Burnham has claimed, in a veiled attack on the previous Chief Constable.In a lengthy and unprecedented diatribe on the force’s culture and leadership over the past four years, the mayor promised what he said would be the first ‘open review of the force’ in at least two decades.He claimed that concerns raised

direct to your inboxOne in four people in Greater Manchester’s hospital beds are now Covid patients, with the peak of the third wave not now expected to hit until the coming weekend and projected to last for some time.A further 999 new patients with the virus have been admitted to hospital beds here in the past week, nearly twice the numbers being recorded a month ago.

direct to your inboxMore than 300,000 people have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine so far in Greater Manchester.As of Tuesday (January 26), 309,469 first doses of the vaccine had been administered and 96pc of care homes have now been offered the vaccine.Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has praised the progress of the rollout, saying the region is in a good position to reach the mid-February deadline.There are around 560,000 people in the four highest priority groups

direct to your inboxWigan's MP has defended her decision to label new US president Joe Biden a 'woke guy'.Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, praised the attitude of America's incoming leader in an interview on BBC One's Andrew Marr Show this morning.She was asked why she referred to him as 'woke' - a term which is sometimes used to describe politicians with liberal social views but can be used by critics to suggest a person is overly sensitive to social issues.Mrs Nandy said Mr Biden's

direct to your inboxThe Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital is to open emergency Covid beds for adults in a sign of the unprecedented pressure facing Greater Manchester’s hospitals.Sir Richard Leese, the region’s health chief, said the situation in the system was now ‘critical’ as NHS bosses have scrambled to discharge as many people as possible ahead of a sustained peak over the coming three weeks.Crisis meetings have been held to determine the ability to scale up beds, as Salford Royal and

direct to your inboxThe NHS has sadly confirmed the deaths of 29 more patients in hospitals in Greater Manchester who had tested positive for Covid-19.The region's hospital death toll now stands at 4,757.NHS bosses said on Friday a further 993 people who tested positive for the virus have died in hospitals across England.It brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 65,104.In the north west, a further 94 hospital deaths were reported, the NHS said on Friday.A

Wigan, a woman became stuck in her car with water up to the bonnet.  In Radcliffe, fire crews were called to a river that had burst its banks.