Mayor Andy Burnham 'appalled, shocked and sickened' by free school meal parcels given to families

coronavirus pandemic.Speaking as part of Independent Venue Week’s Culture Panel last week (January 28), Burnham said the industry had a responsibility to protect beleaguered venues which have faced the threat of financial ruin.Proposing a new levy, Burnham likened it to his own role in the formation of the Football Foundation, which was established in 2000 to provide funding for grassroots football facilities.“The industry has to pay a levy to support grassroots venues, because that is their

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 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 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 inboxAndy Burnham says Greater Manchester’s flood defences worked far better than in 2015 last night thanks to subsequent investment and good planning - making its resilience in the face of Storm Christoph a ‘good news story’.But he admitted a ‘bigger look’ would now need to be taken at the Mersey.Hundreds of people had to be evacuated overnight in south Manchester as record rainfall saw the river come within a couple of centimetres of overtopping late yesterday.

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester is forecasting 200 Covid patients in critical care by next week as the system gears up for an exhausting, drawn-out third wave peak.That projection is 25pc higher than the worst part of November's second wave, according to M.E.N.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) was placed in ‘special measures’ following a damning inspection report last month.

direct to your inboxAndy Burnham has promised a 'new era' at Greater Manchester Police after the force was placed in 'special measures'.The mayor held his first policing press conference yesterday since former Chief Constable Ian Hopkins was asked to step down in the wake of a scathing inspection report.

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham wants to add £15 to the average council tax bill to help restore our failing police force.In his first policing press conference since Ian Hopkins was forced out of his job as the chief constable of GMP, the mayor outlined his vision for a 'new era' of policing.GMP was effectively placed in 'special measures' just before Christmas when Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) inspectors estimated the force had failed to properly

shopper Chantelle Monger shared her impressive haul on the 'Feed your family on a budget' Facebook page, revealing how far a tenner went at Aldi.

confirmed that the scheme will return from next week, something that many schools and parents have been campaigning for. It means that schools or councils working with Edenred UK can get gift cards for supermarkets to allow parents to choose what to spend the money on.The move comes after a picture of one mum's food parcel caused uproar after she shared it on social media, with the 'meagre' contents slammed as 'woefully inadequate'.

hereRoadside Mum Sarah has since welcomed the response from education food service provider Chartwells, telling the BBC: "It's a very positive step that they're going to look at where gaps have occurred, why they have occurred and seek to resolve them."In Prime Minister’s Questions today, Labour Leader Keir Starmer blasted the government’s handling of the food parcels provided to struggling families.“The Prime Minister says that the parcels are disgraceful but it shouldn’t have taken social

'woefully inadequate' packages received by parents in place of the free school lunches their children would usually receive.It came after Twitter user @RoadsideMum shared what she received in lieu of a fortnight's worth of supermarket vouchers, which she estimated to be worth around £5.Last night the company behind the parcels apologised, saying that 'in our efforts to provide thousands of food parcels a week at extremely short notice we are very sorry the quantity has fallen short in this

Earlier today we reported how the issue had been raised by @RoadsideMum on Twitter, who shared a photo of her parcel, provided in lieu of a fortnight's worth of supermarket vouchers, which she estimated to be worth around £5. She wrote: "Issued instead of £30 vouchers.

school meal parcel. Parents of children who would normally qualify for free school meals are being given food packages as schools once again close for remote learning.

direct to your inboxWanted: A top cop to rescue the reputation of a massive police force from a string of high-profile disasters.When mayor Andy Burnham office places an ad on the recruitment pages for a new chief constable of GMP later this month, it probably won't use such words, but not many would argue with him if it did.The force is at its lowest point.Former chief constable Ian Hopkins was forced out of his £200,000-a-year job just before Christmas following a series of calamities, most

direct to your inboxAndy Burnham admits there is 'a real worry' about the NHS in Greater Manchester due to the spiralling number of coronavirus patients.The Mayor revealed today there were 119 people in intensive care units and 922 in general hospital beds with covid-19 on January 5.That represents a 'steep rise' in the number of people in ICU, in particular, the mayor said.And the figures are, in fact, likely to be 'quite a bit worse than that', Mr Burnham added, as the situation is changing so

direct to your inboxAndy Burnham has defended his handling of the crisis at Greater Manchester Police, saying: "I'm absolutely happy to be held to account". The force was put in special measures following a damning inspection report last month which found it failed to record 80,000 crimes in a year.