Category Archives: Manchester City Council

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Scrutiny Week Feb 2015 for #Manchester Council – why aren’t they releasing info in this format?

Posted on February 9, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

There is no page on Manchester City Council’s “award-winning” website where you can see “in one go” the agendas of all the 6 scrutiny committees that are supposed to keep tabs on the all-powerful Executive and the shadowy and equally … Continue reading →

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#Manchester Council misses #climate plan deadline

Posted on February 9, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Manchester’s elected representatives will NOT get the chance to scrutinise the city council’s climate ‘achievements’ and future plans this week. An annual report on the council’s climate plan had been promised to the Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Committee since last February. Despite … Continue reading →

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#Manchester Evening News letter about “carbon literacy” failure #climate

Posted on February 4, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Last Friday Manchester Evening News published this letter. It’s great that the airport is booming  and that Councillor Kevin Peel is enthused about New York-style aerial walkways (Manchester Evening News, January 29th). Closer to earth, and with our feet on the … Continue reading →

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Manchester Council aims for 60 carbon literate councillors. Gets … 23.

Posted on January 29, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Manchester City Council set itself a public target last year of getting 60 of its 96 councillors to undertake “carbon literacy training.” The training involves an “on-line component, and a face-to-face session, and takes less than a day. “23 councillors … Continue reading →

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#Manchester Council spends £50k out-sourcing basic green work

Posted on January 27, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

The mercifully abolished Environmental Strategy Team awarded over 50 thousand pounds worth of contracts in 2014, for work that many will wonder “why isn’t this being done in-house?” Manchester Climate Monthly used the Freedom of Information Act to extract the … Continue reading →

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#Manchester Council abolishes its Environmental Strategy Team

Posted on January 26, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Manchester City Council is disbanding its “Environmental Strategy Team. The spin – and I hope you are sitting down and not eating anything that you might choke on as you read this – is that environmental thinking is now embedded … Continue reading →

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#Manchester Council – Economy and Communities Scrutiny Committee meetings Jan 2015

Posted on January 24, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Manchester City Council has six scrutiny committees, which meet in public about 10 times a year. They are supposed to keep tabs on the business conducted by the Executive and the senior officers. Their performance varies markedly. Scrutiny of the … Continue reading →

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#Manchester council info-stalling on #climate. Met the “new” Exec, worse than the old Exec…

Posted on January 22, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Manchester Council’s Executive Member for the Environment, Councillor Kate Chappell, has back-pedalled on an offer of information made by her predecessor. Manchester’s councillors and citizens will be in the dark for another month about the Council’s climate performance in the … Continue reading →

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Scientist; “my daughter’s generation will find it increasingly hard to survive”

Posted on January 19, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

“People say the world is robust and that’s true, there will be life on Earth, but the Earth won’t be robust for us,” [Will Steffen] said. “Some people say we can adapt due to technology, but that’s a belief system, it’s … Continue reading →

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#Manchester Council and Carbon Literacy: Promised report awol, and breaches FoIA deadline

Posted on January 13, 2015 by manchesterclimatemonthly

Manchester City Council is in breach of not one but TWO commitments to provide information about its own environmental performance. Last September the Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Committee the committee agreed to a proposal (from me) that a report on the successes/failures … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic deficit, Manchester City Council | 5 Comments