Report to follow

The Executive considered a report of the Chief Executive which provided an update on key areas of progress against the Our Manchester Strategy – Forward to 2025 which reset Manchester’s priorities for the next five years to ensure the Council could still achieve the city’s ambition set out in the Our Manchester Strategy 2016 – 2025.

The Leader reported on the success of Manchester winning further accolades as an outstanding place to visit, featuring  on two prestigious lists of the best places to visit in 2024.  The city was named at number 12 in the New York Times’ 52 Places To Go In 2024 list – the only place in England to feature. Major new venues such as Aviva Studios, the home of Factory International, and Co-op Live were cited as reasons to visit as well as smaller established venues such as Band On The Wall and New Century Hall.  Manchester also featured in Time Out’s 15 Best Places To Visit in 2024 list for destinations in the UK. The publication described Manchester as “a cultural banquet”, again citing Aviva Studios and Co-op Live among the factors making the city a must-visit.

The Executive Member for Healthy Manchester and Adult Social Care reported on the establishment of a new multi-agency team called the Adults Early Support Team (AEST) to work alongside the Contact Centre.  The Team would identify appropriate short-term interventions to enable residents to live well, providing low-level technology or equipment, signposting to information, advice, guidance and community assets, or referring to appropriate services and had been established as part of developing the Adults Early Help offer in the city.

The Executive Member for Skills, Employment and Leisure reported on another successful programme of events and attractions over the festive period 2023 as the city reinforced its reputation as a place to enjoy the season.  The Christmas Markets celebrated 25 years since they were first introduced in 1998 in style with 225 stalls over nine sites and record visitor numbers. The markets also won numerous accolades including being named as the best in the UK in research by cinch and the best in Europe by Heald’s.  In addition, a  New Year’s Eve fireworks display took place for the first time since before the Covid pandemic and attracted 10,000 people to Castlefield Bowl to welcome in 2024.

The Deputy Executive Member for Skills, Employment and Leisure reported that Manchester Libraries had secured funding to create 3D walkthrough tours of all 22 city libraries.  The £20,250 grant was awarded by the Library On programme, and funded by Arts Council England, to allow the creation of virtual tours of all the venues for the first time.  Viewers would be promised an immersive experience, enabling them to explore our libraries’ broad and diverse sections, historical nuances and architecture from the comfort of their own screens.  The project was rooted in the need to make Manchester Libraries’ 22 sites easier to discover and access, physically and online.

The Executive Member for Housing and Development reported that the Council had shortlisted six multi-disciplinary teams to submit tenders to develop a new Neighbourhood Development Framework for Holt Town.  Teams would have until the end of the month to put forward their submissions for an area which had been described as the ‘missing piece of the jigsaw’ between major investment in the city centre and East Manchester. The Council was seeking to create an ambitious mixed-use city centre neighbourhood.  It was anticipated the successful team would be announced in the spring, with work to deliver the proposals commencing immediately once consultation and the necessary planning approvals had been completed. 

Decision

The Executive note the updates.