Our Devolution Revolution is cutting the cost-of-living in our borough

New 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟-𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟏𝟖 𝐭𝐨 𝟐𝟏 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫-𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬 from September.

Trial of 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝-𝐭𝐡𝐞-𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 bus passes next month.

Work on the 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐎𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 confirmed to be under way by 2030.

More 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 to be built in Greater Manchester than is lost through Right to Buy by 2027.

A Mayoral Development Corporation will accelerate work to create an 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 between Oldham, Rochdale & Bury.

Last week, our city-region’s Mayor, Andy Burnham, put forward the Greater Manchester Strategy – a economic growth vision for the next ten years which is set to deliver the best decade for Greater Manchester since the Victorian era.

The goal is to create a city-region where everyone from every borough can have a good life. Fighting for good jobs and for decent homes were two of my four priorities for local people at the general election, and they still are. Improving transport & housing infrastructure; delivering a skills agenda for the jobs & industry for the future; easing cost-of-living pressures; and putting local services back into public control are just some of the ways we are delivering on those priorities through this GM Strategy.

More widely, we’re attracting private investment & creating good jobs across Greater Manchester: new bus routes, tramlines, & train stations will unlock land for thousands of new homes; Lord Coe will chair the MDC for Old Trafford Regeneration – the biggest sports-led scheme since London 2012; new underground services & an underground Piccadilly to act as the King’s Cross of the North by the middle of the century; giving every young person who needs one access to a guaranteed high-quality 45-day work placement in the GM Baccalaureate; and two commuter rail lines will join the Bee Network by next December, with another six joining by 2028.

The devolution revolution is still only just getting started. With the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill having its first reading in Parliament last week, we are putting forward reforms to local government, devolved bodies, and community ownership laws. By doing so, we will deliver more community ownership of pubs, shops & social hubs through a new Community Right to Buy; more rights for Mayors as the champions of their region; more efficient public services through ‘Strategic Authorities’ acting across larger economic geographies; and Local Growth Plans to turbocharge economic growth in every corner of the country.