Greater Manchester Police 'deliberately' withheld information from mayor's office, claims Andy Burnham

direct to your inboxHundreds of people have called a helpline for crime victims unhappy with how Greater Manchester Police has handled their cases.The crime support line was established by mayor Andy Burnham after the force failed to record 80,000 crimes in a year - including one in four violent crimes.But the helpline will be closed down from tomorrow (Friday February 19) due to a ‘very low number’ of new callers in recent weeks.There have been 240 calls to the helpline since it launched in

direct to your inboxThe NHS has confirmed the deaths of 18 more patients in hospitals in Greater Manchester who had tested positive for coronavirus.Nationally, a further 309 hospital deaths were reported on Thursday.Of those, 42 were in hospitals in the north west region.Six further deaths have been recorded at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, with five more at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.Three further deaths were recorded at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh

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

was found dead after sleeping rough in the doorway of Marks and Spencer in Manchester city centre.

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 inboxIt was a tragic twist of fate.Artist George Mayer-Marton had carefully packed his possessions and life's work to save them from the Nazis by emigrating to England.The Hungarian had made his reputation and home in Vienna - but his Jewish heritage and artistic brilliance made him vulnerable.The German invasion of Austria in March 1938 was the trigger for him to leave that year.

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 inboxSix boroughs in Greater Manchester now have a higher coronavirus infection rate than the national average, the latest data shows.Manchester, Bolton, Salford, Wigan, Rochdale and Tameside all have higher transmission rates than the average for England, though rates are still continuing to fall in every borough.The latest Public Health England figures show that Manchester continues to have the highest infection rate in the region.It was recorded at 284.9 in the week ending

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

direct to your inboxTrafford council has called on Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to set out ‘an action plan’ to address the city-region’s police force being placed into special measures.A motion submitted by the Liberal Democrats party at last night’s full council meeting passed, with a Labour amendment.Around 8,000 crimes in Trafford went unrecorded by GMP’s systems last year – 80,000 across the city region.The motion called for clear steps to be outlined as to how Greater Manchester

direct to your inboxA yellow weather warning has been put in place for Greater Manchester with more heavy rain on its way.The wet weather is likely to lead to some travel disruption and possible flooding, the Met Office has warned.Following last week's torrential downpour from Storm Christoph thousands of homes had to be evacuated due to rising water levels.Many of the region's rivers reached 'dangerously high levels', the Environment Agency said, with the River Mersey coming 'very close' to

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