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To: Tony Lloyd, interim mayor of Greater Manchester, and the political leaders and Chief Executives of the 10 Councils of Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester demands: make local democracy a top priority for real devolution!

So far the ‘northern powerhouse’ discussions and back-room deals have been shrouded in secrecy. We want local people to have a say in their new future. We want local people to play a central part in the process, not be kept in the dark and locked out.

Of the 17 Strategic Priorities in the Greater Manchester strategy, not a single one is about local democracy - this needs to change and we need a Strategic Priority dedicated to implementing truly democratic mechanisms fit for the 21st Century, for local people to own and lead Greater Manchester’s devolution into the future.

Please give us real power in both the process and the new devolved bodies in Greater Manchester.

Why is this important?

The devolution deals in Greater Manchester have been done behind closed doors and local people cannot be confident that the new deals will work for them. For example, many healthcare professionals are very concerned about the impact on health services and social care in the region, with impending, severe cuts on the way to Council funding.

But the 'northern powerhouse' revolution also has an opportunity to be an inspiration for cities all over the UK - if the devolution process takes place in a truly transparent and democratic way that delivers real social, environmental, economic and democratic benefits in the genuine best interests of the many. That is not what is currently happening and needs to change fast!

If the new devolved powers are to work for the people of Greater Manchester, local people must be the drivers of devolution, not the passengers. It must be driven by the people, not by small cliques in central government and City Halls.
Manchester

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Updates

2016-03-14 13:48:17 +0000

An email update has been sent to signatories.

c.3,000 of us from all parts of GM signed the petition over just a single weekend before the Parliamentary committee's 'devolution inquiry' session in Manchester last Oct. The committee's report, published in Feb, confirmed "consistent very significant lack of public consultation, engagement and communication at all stages of the deal-making process".

After several months of very patient persistence, on 18th Feb we were at last able to hand in our petition in person to Tony Lloyd, GM interim mayor, and to reiterate why it was important to create a new official GM Strategic Priority dedicated to strengthening local democracy.

We also brought to Tony's attention the upcoming People's Plan - an independent public engagement programme - by and for citizens of GM.

Tony's response? I quote: "What's not to welcome?" Indeed!

We've not yet received Tony's promised written response. Let's hope we won't be waiting too much longer...

2015-11-03 15:45:46 +0000

Richard Leese (City of Manchester Council politicial leader) made an interesting announcement on Friday, via a blog post titled 'Openness and Transparency':

"In future we will operate to the convention that everything will be in public, whether it's formal decision making meetings or more informal policy development meetings, unless there is a very good reason why an item needs to be confidential. The public have a right to know what we are discussing and it is in the interest of the CA that they do. In future they will."

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/blog/leadersblog/post/753/openness-and-transparency

2015-10-26 22:38:13 +0000

Today, Monday 26 October, was the Government’s Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill Select Committee session at Manchester Town Hall. See this link for more detail. http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-resources/HOC-SEL-COM-CAL.pdf

One of our Manchester 38 Degrees organisers, David F-A, was called to give oral evidence. Here is the link to the questions he was asked and the answers he gave on our behalf: http://nationalcan.ning.com/page/clg-committee-devolution-inquiry-26th-october-2015

The next step for us will be to work with 38 Degrees head office to present the petition you signed to the Interim Mayor of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Tony Lloyd.

We hope that as many of you as possible will come along to that event.

Thanks you for all your support. This is just a beginning and 38 Degrees members have made it happen.

2015-10-23 12:34:50 +0100

1,000 signatures reached

2015-10-22 20:00:44 +0100

On Monday morning, 26th Oct, Parliament's Communities and Local Government (CLG) Committee’s 'devolution inquiry’ will be in Manchester
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/communities-and-local-government-committee/news-parliament-2015/government-devolution-bill-evidence-15-16/

Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/citiesandlocalgovernmentdevolution.html

2015-10-22 19:19:15 +0100

500 signatures reached

2015-10-22 12:48:25 +0100

100 signatures reached

2015-10-22 12:28:13 +0100

50 signatures reached

2015-10-22 12:23:16 +0100

25 signatures reached

2015-10-22 12:20:54 +0100

10 signatures reached