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The scale of Manchester’s homelessness problem cannot be underestimated.
The council opened the highest number of homeless applications in the country last year - 6,525.
Meanwhile, Shelter says there's an estimated 7,450 homeless people in the city - the second highest of anywhere in the country outside of London. Of those, they estimate 7,407 - 3,649 of whom are children - are living in temporary accommodation arranged by the local authority.
And it’s thought 43 people are sleeping rough in the city on any given night.
Across Greater Manchester, the figure is even more startling. At least 11,550 people were homeless in the conurbation on any given night last year according to Shelter. Almost half of those - 5,563 - were children
And as the cost of living crisis bites, the charity says it is ’bracing’ for a spike in homelessness this year.
“A cold doorway or a grotty hostel room is not a home, but this is reality for too many people today,” Shelter chief executive Polly Neate says.
“Our frontline advisers are working tirelessly to help people who are desperate to escape homelessness - from the parents doing all they can to provide some shred of a normal family life while stuck in an emergency B&B, to the person terrified of another night sleeping rough.
“With private rents and living costs continuing to soar, thousands of people are not just facing a winter of worry, they are at risk of losing the roof over their head.”
Nationally, Shelter’s research shows that at least 271,000 people are recorded as homeless in England, including 123,000 children. London had the highest rate - with around one in 58 people homeless.
Shelter says use of temporary accommodation has risen by an ‘alarming’ 74 per cent over the last decade thanks to a ‘chronic shortage’ of social homes.
Here in Greater Manchester, there are ongoing plans to tackle homelessness. Mayor Andy Burnham has expanded Greater Manchester's emergency accommodation scheme to help people who end up sleeping on the streets.
And in the city of Manchester - where the problem is most acute - more social housing is being built to address the long waiting lists and the town hall is investing in temporary accommodation.
Meanwhile, the picture for individuals and families trapped without a home is bleak.
In a survey of 1,112 households in temporary accommodation, 63 per cent said their living situation had had a negative impact on their mental health.
Half said this had negatively affected their physical health and 39 per cent said living in temporary accommodation had made it harder to access GP and other healthcare appointments.
The government says it has provided £366m to councils to help prevent evictions, support to pay deposits and provide temporary housing. They also say more than half a million households have been prevented from becoming homeless since 2018 through the Homelessness Reduction Act.
‘Filmed on the wings’
Inmates at a Salford prison used smuggled phones to shoot a rap video on a wing under the noses of guards - then posted it on YouTube.
The video shows two Forest Bank prisoners - named L1 Manny and Mazza L20 - mouthing the words to their rap in their cells and on the wing, with officers nowhere to be seen.
It states it was 'filmed by all the mandem' and starts with a message reading: "This music video was filmed on the wings".
As crime reporter John Scheerhout reports, one of the rappers can be seen strolling along a corridor outside the cells mouthing the lyrics to the rap and making one of many gun signs.
In another section, inmates can be seen walking around the prison yard.
So far the film has clocked up 178,000 views.
A spokesperson for the prison - which is run by Sodexo on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, said: "We constantly review our activity to tackle the issue".
This story follows news of a 'ten-man-brawl' at the jail and the death of an inmate on January 4. It was the latest in a series of deaths at the privately run prison.
GMP hired a child
Some stories are stranger than fiction. And this exclusive, by crime reporter John Scheerhout, certainly fits that description.
John has revealed that Greater Manchester Police hired a child as a student officer - and only realised when he started inviting colleagues to his 18th birthday party.
The boy, 17, was mistakenly sworn in as a police officer due to an 'administrative error’.
His warrant card was removed and bosses apologised to the youth, who had done nothing wrong.
GMP say he was not posted onto any police division, had no contact with the public during this period and that he has not been exposed to any harm. He was kept on as his 18th birthday was due a month later, when he was sworn in for a second time and his warrant card returned.
Would-be police officers can apply from the age of 17, they cannot become student officers until they reach 18.
It’s understood the boy entered his correct date of birth on his application but this had not been spotted by managers until after he had taken the police 'attestation' - where a candidate swears an oath to serve the monarch.
GMP say it was ‘a simple, human, administrative error’ which they have apologised for.
"This student officer in question is excelling here at GMP and is a great success story of our GMP Apprenticeship Scheme," they added.
Andy is TOTP
Everybody thinks they have good taste in music and Andy Burnham is no exception. That’s why he’s going to be choosing an Artist of the Month during his phone-in on BBC Radio Manchester.
The mayor says it’s a chance to champion new music from across Greater Manchester. And it means the chosen bands and artists will get a chance to perform to fans at the new Co-op Live venue next year, which sounds like an incredible opportunity.
Musicians can nominate themselves with submissions reviewed by the Greater Manchester Music Commission and decided by the mayor. Details here.
Mr Burnham says it’s a chance to ‘put the spotlight on acts that are just starting out, groups who are looking to break through and get that first radio play’.
“Everybody knows how rich our musical heritage is. But it didn’t happen by chance. Our city-region was lucky to have someone like Tony Wilson who relentlessly promoted our music and got it heard around the world,” he says.
“We need to learn from what Tony did and do the same again. There’s so much new Greater Manchester music out there right now that deserves to be heard. I want to give our emerging talent a platform but also make sure more established acts are getting the recognition they deserve. That’s what the Mayor’s Artist of the Month is all about.”
The mayor has form for entertaining the masses with his music choices. DJ Burnham recently went head-to-head with his pal, the Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram at a gig to raise money for the mayor’s charity.
But it was Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner who stole the show when she blasted set you free by Oldham’s N-Trance directly into the faces of the crowds at Mayfield.
Weather etc
- Saturday: Heavy rain changing to cloudy in the afternoon. 9C.
- Road closures: M56 Eastbound exit slip road to the A34 closed due to roadworks at A34 Kingsway until 7am February 5.
- Trains: Salford Central will be closed until summer 2023 for vital platform and canopy works.
- Trivia question: Vimto was created in Manchester in 1908. Where in the city is the Vimto Monument?
Manchester headlines
Urgent statement: MP Andrew Gwynne has called for an urgent statement from the government after a schoolgirl was groomed by a secret porn network on Spotify. An M.E.N investigation revealed the 11-year-old, from Reddish, was able to upload several explicit pictures of herself to the music streaming platform before her parents found out. Mr Gwynne raised the issue in parliament on Thursday, calling for an urgent response about the ‘shifting focus of online harms to platforms that possibly fall outside the scope of the bill before parliament’. More here.
Special measures: A damning report has revealed 'widespread' evidence of unsafe practices at a Manchester care firm. Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission unearthed serious issues around medication at Routes Healthcare's Manchester branch, which provides care for the elderly, those living with dementia and disabled people in their homes. The branch has been placed into special measures. The watchdog found five people had missed doses of their medicines during an inspection in November and a person who ran out of a critical medicine for three weeks. A spokesperson for the firm said they had immediately seconded a senior manager into Manchester after the CQC raised their concerns. More here.
Wait times: Heart attack, stroke and sepsis patients were forced to wait more than two hours for an ambulance. New figures revealed the startling delays for patients in the North West in December, as response times fell to the worst on record nationally. The average response time for ambulances dealing with the most urgent incidents in the north west, such as cardiac arrests, was nine minutes and 58 seconds, new NHS England data shows. This is against a target of seven minutes - one in 10 call-outs had to wait at least 16 minutes, 56 seconds. For category two calls, such as suspected strokes, heart attacks, burns and epilepsy, ambulances took an average of one hour, 12 minutes and 11 seconds to respond. One in 10 call-outs had to wait at least two hours, 45 minutes, 19 seconds. This is well above the target of 18 minutes. Ambulances should respond to 90 per cent of category two calls in 40 minutes. Story here.
- Strike: More than 70,000 staff at 150 universities across the UK will strike for 18 days between February and March in disputes over pay, conditions and pensions. The University and College Union (UCU) said the precise dates of the action will be confirmed next week. The union will also re-ballot staff at all 150 universities to renew its mandate and allow industrial action to be called well into 2023, including a marking and assessment boycott from April, unless the disputes are settled. More here.
Worth a read
This is perhaps not so much a ‘good read’ as more a ‘read that will annoy the hell out of you’. Property writer Phoebe Jobling never fails to surprise me with her stories about the soaring costs of rents and house prices across Greater Manchester. And she’s done it again here.
Phoebe has been looking at the average house price in each of the ten boroughs and guess what - they’re expensive.
That's all for today
Thanks for joining me. If you have stories you would like us to look into, email beth.abbit@menmedia.co.uk.
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The answer to today's trivia question is: Granby Row, which is the location of the original Vimto premises.
