Andy Burnham and other senior figures in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority were at the Students’ Union as part of Andy Burnham Question Time on October 2.
The event was introduced by Activities and Culture Officer Charlie Roberts and City and Community Officer Elliot Briffa. Mayor Andy Burnham thanked the Students’ Union for hosting the event.
Audience members in the Academy were able to ask questions to the Mayor in person or submitted online.
The event started on the topic of public transport within Greater Manchester, with the introduction of the Bee Network being one of Burnham’s flagship schemes he’s pioneered during his tenure as Mayor so far.
Burnham confirmed that the Bee Network will introduce an 18-21 student ticket soon after its full launch on January 5 2025, which will halve prices for students aged between 18-21.
In response, a member of the public raised what this would mean for mature and older students: to which Burnham said “If I could do it all, I would, I would like to bring down the cost of public transport for everybody”.
He encouraged those in the audience to lobby Westminster for a bigger transport subsidy, more akin to what Transport for London (TfL) gets.
What this means is that the Bee Network will have a funding model akin to the funding model which supports TfL.
From March, Burnham continued, the plan is to launch a London style ticketing system, where customers can tap in and out of all public transport. It has been confirmed this new system will be introduced on the March 23 2025, using a similar technology to the Metrolink.
The Mayor was also asked about his pilot of night-time buses which run after 3am, and whether he plans to continue them. He confirmed that they would continue, saying “I absolutely believe that we will have a very good night bus offer down the Oxford Road corridor”, but emphasised that it will depend on people using the services to make the scheme viable.
He encouraged those in the audience to use the existing night bus services saying “We do need your help in building public awareness” about the scheme before it can be expanded further south.
Burnham went on to say that his aspiration would be to have a night bus service going into every borough, and town in Greater Manchester.
Burnham also said that it is his belief that increased usage of bus services would help to to reassure passengers who feel unsafe on sparsely populated buses.
The conversation then moved further into the question of safety, a student audience member stated that they didn’t feel safe in some areas of the city and asked a question on what was being done to improve upon this.
The Mayor cited schemes such as Operation Vulcan that have been carried out in Cheetham Hill and Piccadilly Gardens, suggesting that schemes like this along with increased police presence could be brought to Fallowfield.
Burnham said that “Particularly I’ve had a call from Fallowfield residents to take it to Fallowfield”.
Stephen Watson, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, also made it clear that he was aware of the specific targeting of students and student properties which he says are often seen as easy targets, especially those who are new to the Manchester and are known to carry or house new technology.
Elliot Briffa, the Students’ Union City and Community Officer, asked Burnham about the council backing the Unite Union’s ‘Get ME home safely’ campaign which outlines 8 calls on local councils to improve safety for workers, particularly hospitality workers, going home after working unsociable late-night hours. Briffa stated that the council had announced its support for the campaign over a year and a half ago.
The particular suggestion from the executive officers asked the council to call on the licensing body to withdraw liquor licences from businesses that do not pay for taxis or provide safe transport for their employees going home late at night.
The mayor stated that his office cannot “legally” withhold licences from companies, but that he was looking into alternatives. Burnham’s alternative to the ‘Get Me Home’ scheme is to encourage employers to work with taxi companies to give workers reduced fairs after late-night shifts.
Continuing on the topic of safety, questions shifted to the topic of violence against women.
Repeated exclamations from audience members interrupted proceedings for the following questions.
There was some confusion over the specifics of the criminal case being brought up. Burnham was clear in distinguishing his office from the Greater Manchester Police (GMP), “it is my job to hold the Greater Manchester Police to account” but made it clear he was not in a position to influence Police action.
Complainants recalled personal experiences interspersed with calls for the chief constable to “resign” before telling them “you should be ashamed of yourself, and you! [in reference to Burnham]”
The subsequent two questions focused on specific criminal cases and discontent with the alleged actions of police officers. Burnham and the host, Rob Parsons, tried to regain control of the event by taking new questions.
Finishing up the segment on safety was a question related to tackling knife crime among younger residents.
The Mayor demonstrated his support for controversial stop-and-search powers, believing them to be effective in removing weapons from the streets. But he additionally acknowledged the disproportionate use of these powers in cases with Black and Asian residents. He noted that “it can be controversial” but quoted both NHS and GMP statistics showing a reduction in the number of crimes.
The host moved the event onto the topic of quality of housing provided by landlords, in particular how students in Manchester are treated. Burnham acknowledged how bad living conditions can be for students and how unacceptable he believed this to be.
Burnham referenced how landlords have been “raking it in” whilst ignoring continuous complaints from tenants, he made it clear that “It won’t be an option anymore”
‘We’re coming after those landlords’. he proclaimed.
Addressing the audience, the Mayor asked if those in the audience could name specific landlords or agencies. He was taken aback by the number of names shouted from the crowd.
Burnham referenced a new ‘Good Landlord Charter’ an idea that the Greater Manchester Combined Authority had come up with, making it clear he was aware of the unacceptable housing conditions that private renters faced, both student and otherwise.
The Mancunion asked Burnham about the recent news that the new Fallowfield student residence redevelopment would likely not reach the NUS guidelines of affordability.
Burnham expressed his surprise in response to this news, saying that he was not aware of this, and that he would raise that with the new Vice-Chancellor.
The final topic of the night was on education, job opportunities and graduate retention.
A member of the audience asked Burnham whether he was still committed to writing a student living and staying strategy for students.
Burnham suggested that the main issue concerning the students’ living strategy was housing and that all the work that he had referenced earlier in regards to student housing would be the most meaningful change for students living in Manchester.
On the graduate retention scheme, which Burnham is a big proponent of, he said that various ideas, like a Bee Network offer or other incentives as “an offer to you guys to stay” could be amongst the possibilities.
He went on to speak about the vacancy rate in the Greater Manchester economy as what he believed to be one of the “biggest risks to it”. Burnham argues that there are good graduate jobs in Manchester, but what threatens that progress is the problems around filling those positions.
He suggested that the Combined Authority could increase information provision to undergraduates about those jobs alongside increasing access to re-skilling, particularly around IT, would allow students to more easily step into readily available graduate jobs.
You can watch the full event online via the FuseTV channel on YouTube.
