'Focusing on communities represents a win-win for people and the planet'

Knife crime has fallen by 16 per cent in Greater Manchester despite rising across England and Wales - but mayor Andy Burnham says there is more work to do be done to tackle it. The city-region still has one of the highest levels of knife crime in the country.

It's now a familiar sight on Greater Manchester's streets - taxis with 'out of town' plates. A recent investigation found that more than a third of private hire drivers - who work for companies like Uber - are actually licensed by Wolves Council, who operate 80 miles away.

Avanti West Coast is to cut the number of services it operates in December because of staff shortages, reducing weekend train frequency on one of Britain’s main intercity lines before Christmas.

One of the most powerful public officials in Greater Manchester has announced he will be retiring. Eamonn Boylan will step down as chief executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) in May.

Beyond The Music‘ conference on Friday (October 13), Burnham said there needs to be a campaign to show how “critical” the situation has become for artists and venues alike.Back in 2021, the UK music industry spoke out on how they had essentially been handed a “No Deal Brexit” when the government failed to negotiate visa-free travel and Europe-wide work permits for musicians and crew.As a result, artists attempting to hit the road again after COVID found themselves on the predicted “rocky road” for the first summer of European touring after Britain left the EU – finding that the complications of Brexit were “strangling the next generation of UK talent in the cradle”.The government were then warned that musicians and crew “could find themselves unemployed en masse”, after a hearing at the House Of The Lords revealed the damage already being caused by Brexit on those wishing to tour Europe.Speaking alongside fellow northern mayors, Tracy Brabin of West Yorkshire and Steve Rotherham of the Liverpool City Region, Burnham said they all now need to work together to create a system that allows for musicians to travel freely throughout Europe.“I think as mayors we need to build this campaign really strongly from the bottom up to say this industry is critical to us, not marginal, critical, and we need an arrangement that allows for [the] free exchange of musicians touring here from Europe and for British musicians going [into Europe],” said Burnham.“For us, it’s absolutely critical to our visitor economy, but also just to the way our city regions are seen and known around Europe. It’s just a nonsense, isn’t it? You’re having to learn about ETIAS [visas to work in Europe] and all of this.

The BBC has reached 'an agreement' with Andrew Flintoff after he was involved in a crash while filming Top Gear, the corporation has said. The former England cricket captain, 45, appeared with facial injuries in public for the first time in September, nine months after he was taken to hospital after he was hurt while filming the BBC motoring show at its test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome last December.

Manchester Evening News readers have been having their say on the issue of 'out-of-town' taxi drivers after Andy Burnham said the widespread practice was 'undermining public safety'. According to a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, 8,952 private hire drivers licensed by Wolverhampton Council are on the roads in Greater Manchester.

A total of 24 fines are to be handed out for the notorious 'jingle and mingle' Christmas party at the Tory headquarters during lockdown. It took place in December 2020 at the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) for activists on behalf of Shaun Bailey’s unsuccessful effort to be London mayor.

Andy Burnham has released a statement on the crisis in Gaza and 'condemned without reservation the appalling attacks in Israel by Hamas'. The Mayor also said he was 'determined' that all communities in Greater Manchester would be kept safe, while also reiterating the right of the public to take part in peaceful protest.

Andy Burnham has pleaded with people not to use taxis licensed by a council 80 miles away.

Bolton’s link to the rest of Greater Manchester could end up being the unlikely beneficiary of the scrapping of HS2 as plans to bring the Metrolink tram service to the town look on the cards. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled plans to invest nearly £4billion on improving connectivity in the Northern towns and cities when the HS2 link from Birmingham to Manchester was axed last week.

More than a third of private hire taxi drivers in Greater Manchester are licensed by a council that operates around 80 miles away in Wolverhampton.

More than 200 people in Greater Manchester may have died due to air pollution since the Clean Air Zone was supposed to start, campaigners have claimed. The controversial scheme which was set to come into force last year before it was delayed could have also prevented 496 days spent in hospital due to respiratory conditions if it cut pollution as intended, they argue.

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Rishi Sunak has announced a major change to secondary education that will bring together A-levels and T-Levels.

Rishi Sunak - widely expected to announce the axing of the Manchester leg of HS2 - will criticise decades of politicians making 'the easy decision, not the right one' when he takes to the stage at the Conservative Party Conference in the heart of the city.

Andy Burnham has reacted with fury after reports HS2 trains will come to Manchester - but on 'normal tracks'. Sky News tonight reported that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has decided to drastically alter the northern leg of the high-speed rail project to save money, effectively scrapping the high-speed stretch to Manchester.

Rishi Sunak laughed after he was grilled by Susanna Reid about 'letting down the people of Manchester' amid reports he is planning to axe the northern HS2 leg.

It's over four years since Andy Burnham announced Bolton, Stockport and Wigan were next in line to be connected to the Metrolink network.

An independent inquiry into the treatment of women and girls in Greater Manchester Police custody has issued an open appeal for others to come forward and share their experiences.