A message from the City Mayor of Salford, Paul Dennett.

I’m really pleased to be writing to you at such a pivotal time. You will see within your bumper edition of Life in Salford an overview of how your council has been delivering public services against our key priorities over the past year. You will also see that, under my leadership, the council has launched a new four-year corporate plan called ‘This is Our Salford’. It builds on our past successes and puts into practice my commitment to you when you re-elected me as your City Mayor in May. We are already delivering on those commitments and managing the way the council delivers services and spends money on what matters most to residents, businesses and communities.

I’m also really pleased to be writing to you for the first time after the general election which returned a Labour government that provides a new opportunity for communities in Salford. The election has brought changes to Salford’s Members of Parliament. I pay tribute to Barbara Keeley, who has served the people of Worsley and Eccles South diligently for nearly two decades and will now continue her work in the House of Lords. We welcome Michael Wheeler, who has big shoes to fill, and look forward to working with him on delivering for our residents, families and communities. Additionally, we thank Graham Stringer for his strong representation of Kersal and Broughton. With boundary changes, we welcome Yasmin Quereshi and Christian Wakeford, and congratulate Rebecca Long-Bailey on her re-election. With several of our Greater Manchester MPs within the new government, Salford and Greater Manchester are in pole position to be at the forefront of positive changes going forward.

For the past 14 years, Salford City Council, like many local authorities across the country, has faced colossal decreases in funding from central government. Our grant has been reduced by £245 million since 2010, while pressures on our services have massively increased, particularly in children’s services, adult social care, housing, and homelessness. It now falls to this incoming government to remove these barriers to opportunity, growth and helping people build lives based on dignity and security, which won’t be easy given the tough choices needing to be made with the public finances the government has inherited.

Despite these difficult circumstances, Salford and our people have demonstrated resilience, grit, determination, creativity, and ingenuity. We are delivering high-quality, sustainable council housing through our independent housing company Dérive. We have worked with Unison the union to deliver the ‘Salford Offer’, raising standards in the social care sector for our fantastic care workers locally. Our significant investments in MediaCity, Greengate, and New Bailey have built a modern industrial base across our city. We are responding to the climate emergency by investing in green spaces, developing green infrastructure, and earning recognition as the most sustainable council in England.

This council, under my leadership, will continue to press the new government for greater investment and a closer and more strategic working relationship between Salford, Greater Manchester and the Labour government in delivering for our residents, families, businesses and communities. We welcome the government’s commitments to delivering an industrial strategy for the country, deepening devolution settlements as part of their mission to kickstart economic growth, making Britain greener, breaking down barriers to opportunity, and building an NHS fit for the future.

Our city and wider region can provide blueprints for the progressive, inclusive, and greener society and economy. I have already written to various members of the new Cabinet, inviting them to see what we have already achieved in Salford, while also sharing what our plans are for the future. I will work with them to deliver for the people of this great city. We have a proud history of community, solidarity and supporting one another in Salford and our plans and priorities are to support all the 278,000 people who call our great city home.

City Mayor Paul Dennett