Statement from the five leaders of Greater Manchester’s universities and Mayor Andy Burnham

Today, we are announcing that Greater Manchester’s higher education institutions and the Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have signed a flagship agreement that will see us deepen and widen our collaboration to support the city region in meeting its ambitions to be the best place to grow up, get on and grow old.

The Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement brings together five universities, the Greater Manchester Mayor and the leaders of the 10 local authorities of the city region, covering two cities, eight boroughs and a population of 2.8 million people.

The Greater Manchester Civic University Agreement is the biggest and most ambitious deal of its kind in the country. It is the first time that our five higher education institutions in Greater Manchester have come together to make a collective commitment on this scale with the civic and political leadership of our city region. During the pandemic, our five universities came together in new ways to work collaboratively in meeting the needs of students, staff and our local communities. As we turn to recovery and building back better from Covid we can be more than the sum of our parts by working together to deliver real and lasting impact for our city region.

We are incredibly proud of the civic role of our universities. We are home to over 100,000 students, who come from every part of Greater Manchester and beyond, and we are deeply committed to widening access to higher education for all. We work with businesses day in and day out, providing them with the skilled workforce of the future and using our innovation and ideas to drive productivity and growth. We are at the heart of our communities, actively reaching out to work with partners to solve local and global challenges. We employ thousands of people across the city region and create jobs and opportunities inside and outside our city region. We host events, create space for debate and discussion, and run some of our region’s most cherished museums and galleries.

We want to rise to the challenge of reaching net zero, recovering from Covid and transitioning to a digital economy. And to do this, we need to work together because we are more than the sum of our parts.

This agreement outlines how we will work in partnership across a range of priority areas to support Greater Manchester’s social and economic ambitions. These areas are: education and skills; reducing inequalities; jobs and growth; the digital economy; net zero; and the creative and cultural economy.

Crucially, this is an agreement that is rooted in our collective priorities; not just the priorities of the universities, nor of the GMCA, but of the citizens of our city region. It reflects the priorities of citizens in Greater Manchester as well as those of the universities and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. We know that people in Greater Manchester want us to bounce back from Covid, create good jobs and opportunities for all and tackle head on the social, economic and health inequalities in our communities. This commitment is addressing the challenges that we face as a city region and that most importantly it is responding to people’s aspirations.

Our universities are at the cutting edge of innovation and we have a plan to make sure that the impact of this innovation is felt across Greater Manchester We want our region to be the best place for people of all ages to be supported to learn and gain qualifications through their lifetime, providing more ways into further and higher education, including the ongoing expansion of degree apprenticeships. And we are going to make sure that Greater Manchester meets its 2038 net zero ambition by taking action on our own estates, supporting world leading climate change research and educating tomorrow’s sustainability professionals.

We are incredibly proud to be making this exciting first step together. It is an ongoing commitment to our people and our place that will grow and evolve, responding to the needs of our communities and reacting to the changing world around us.

Together, we can and we will do more.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

Professor George Holmes, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Bolton

Professor Helen Marshall, Vice-Chancellor, University of Salford

Professor Linda Merrick, Principal, Royal Northern College of Music

Professor Malcolm Press, Vice-Chancellor, Manchester Metropolitan University

Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, President and Vice-Chancellor, The University of Manchester