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This paper aims to present a case study of the Manchester metropolitan area's efforts at implementing a regional approach to economic policy making and metropolitan governance. Vis‐à‐vis an emerging proposal for a concerted and effective approach towards the development of a governance model for the Manchester City Region, the paper aims to discuss the competing proposals for a mayoral and more “federalist” model of coordinating local policies in the area..

The paper examines the roles of different agencies – business representations and local authorities – in working towards a form of coherent governance for the city region against the backdrop of the many current precedents of such arrangements across Europe.

The paper finds that local authorities in the Greater Manchester area tend to favour a federalist City Region approach with greater autonomy for each participating local government. Yet, the alternative mayoral model retains the advantage of a distinct identity and direct accountability. In any case, a strong and coherent private sector input on key issues affecting the economy and its development in the Manchester City Region are required, but, as yet, not always sufficiently articulated.

Finding an “appropriate” model of city‐regional governance is a very topical issue. The contribution of this paper is thus timely and offers a good insight into the practical side of coordinating public and private sector interests and ways of making policies as part of city‐regional governance.

The aim of this paper is to respond to a gap in the literature around resilience in later life for older people from minority groups of identity or experience. Specifically, it argues that we need to pay greater attention to how access to different types of social capital may leave some older people more or less able to cope with adverse events and how experiences of social exclusion can limit access to important networks of support during times of crisis.

This paper draws on research conducted to inform the resilience strategy of Greater Manchester in 2019, and specifically looked at how this strategy could better address the needs of the regions’ diverse ageing population. It used a qualitative design including focus groups with older women of Punjabi heritage living in Greater Manchester, interviews with staff from a community and voluntary organisation working with these women, and interviews with staff at an organisation supporting refugees and asylum seekers in Greater Manchester who specifically worked with older adults.

The research found that belonging to a minority group and experiences of social exclusion gave participants in this study both resources and vulnerabilities when it came to dealing with external shocks in later life. Whilst participants in this study had access to strong networks of bonding capital based on shared identity and experience, social exclusion often meant they faced barriers to accessing network of support outside of these communities.

Findings from this study have implications for both future research and policy. In the case of the latter there are implications for those working in resilience planning in terms of how to address the needs of diverse older populations. For researchers, this paper has implications for how we understand the impacts on inequality in later life particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The originality of this paper lies in its consideration of the impact of inequalities and social exclusion on the resilience of older people in times of crisis. It included older people from minority groups of identity and experience addressing an important gap in the literature.

This is a paper about the soft and hard drivers for English sub-national governance. It posits that the recurrence of claims for inter-urban linkages across the two distinct conurbations of the North-West of England have been bedevilled by entrenched differences in the leadership cultures of the city-regions.

It contrasts the highly localised forms of ‘soft power’ – or the ways in which leaders mobilise brands, plans and strategies to tell stories about place – arguing that there is a considerable divergence between the way that this symbolic capital has been deployed within and across the two city-regions. Whilst this is striking it is still true that ‘Hard powers’ – fiscal, legislative or regulatory mechanisms – are elusive for both Manchester and Liverpool notwithstanding recent moves towards combined authorities for both places. The only model of English urban governance with statutory powers covering transport, economic development and planning is located in Greater London, a legacy of the post-RDA institutional landscape in England.

This paper argues that it would be extraordinary if forms of leadership capable of meaningfully connecting the two cities cannot be found but that this must be seen within a sclerotic English context where there is a huge disconnect between desirable form and functions of urban governance, and the effect this has on regional economic performance. It concludes that local government austerity has had a negative effect on the sort of ‘soft power innovations’ necessary in both cities and that rhetorics of English localism have provided neither a propitious context for inter- nor intra-urban governance innovation.

This paper seeks to describe some of the ways in which collaborations within the city-regions of Manchester and Liverpool have been achieved, making the case that there have been divergent governance experiments which may hamper the aspiration for extensions beyond their border and for intra-urban leadership and governance which combines the two great cities and their areas of influence.

This study aims to address this need. In the UK, people with dementia admitted to National Health Service mental health in-patient dementia assessment wards [dementia assessment wards] present as complex and experience a number of changed behaviours, such as excessive walking, agitation and aggression. The complexity of the presentation of dementia has been identified as underpinning pre-and post-admission to these care environments, but limited study has so far been conducted to explore the boundaries and meaning of complexity and its relationship to dementia assessment ward practice.

An online electronic survey of UK-based national dementia leaders was conducted in 2018. Nineteen completed questionnaires were returned, and mental health nurses comprised the largest sub-sample. Qualitative data of the free-text responses were analysed using manifest content analysis.

Four routes to admission to a dementia assessment ward were identified. Multiplicity of needs and interconnectedness were seen as important domains in uncovering the meaning of complexity. The importance of life story and formulation approaches were highlighted. Challenges uncovered included, better understanding changed behaviour and its relationship to complexity, the need for understanding the boundaries of complexity and making visible care practices on these specific wards.

Findings can be used to produce a heightened awareness about the meaning and function of complexity in dementia assessment wards. Policymakers and researchers need to increase the emphasis on this area of mental health and dementia care. Further training for the multidisciplinary team on formulation approaches could help to improve the evidence-base for practice.

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) aims to make the built environment less vulnerable to crime and disorder through its design. CPTED is applied in practice by Architectural Liaison Officers/Crime Prevention Design Advisors employed within each police force in England and Wales. Their aim is to advise built environment professionals (architects and planners) how opportunities for crime and disorder can be minimised through the design of a development without compromising on the design quality. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of relevant literature and an example of one force's promising, but as yet unevaluated, approach to embedding CPTED early in the planning process.

The paper takes a case study approach and outlines how Greater Manchester Police Design for Security Consultancy (GMP DFSC) liaise with built environment professionals in an attempt to design out opportunities for crime and disorder to occur at the pre‐planning stage of a development.

The findings suggest that the process and delivery of CPTED by GMP DFSC is unique when compared to the delivery of CPTED across other areas of England and Wales. Using the Crime Impact Statement (CIS), GMP DFSC are consulted on a range of proposed planning applications prior to the application being submitted to the local planning authority, opposed to later in the planning and development process, where the opportunities to “design out crime” become limited. The staff employed by GMP DFSC have previously worked within the built environment and are not warranted or retired police officers. GMP DFSC also charge a fee for the service which they provide.

This paper should be of interest to built environment professionals seeking to incorporate and embed the principles of CPTED into the design and pre‐planning stages of proposed developments.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploration of Recovery Academy influences upon employment and service use amongst individuals with lived experience of mental health difficulties.

The study utilised a questionnaire design over a nine-month period. Participants’ baseline and follow-up data were analysed to explore the influence of course attendance upon employment and service use.

At follow-up, there was a significant association between participants attending Recovery Academy courses and paid or self-employment (p<0.05). However, there were also no significant differences in service use over time between those who attended courses and those who did not attend any courses.

Further research is required to explore the cost-effectiveness of the Recovery Academy. As participants were all enroled onto the Recovery Academy findings may not be generalisable to other Recovery Colleges. There is a need for more robust research such as a randomised controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate multiple Recovery Colleges and establish definitive conclusions as to their economic implications.

There may be value in the Recovery Academy as a gateway to employment, speaking to the transformative powers of Recovery Colleges. The Recovery Academy may serve as a vehicle to support service users to obtain paid or self-employment, and thus promote community reintegration.

This paper offers an important contribution to the Recovery College literature, which remains limited in evaluative evidence, particularly regarding associated economic factors, such as employment and service use.

This study aimed to address three key gaps in existing knowledge about postgraduate researchers’ (PGRs) well-being. It investigated 1) the frequency and nature of depression, anxiety and well-being amongst PGRs, and relatedly, characteristics that convey vulnerability, 2) factors that impact PGR well-being, and 3) factors that influence help-seeking.

The mixed-methods design comprised quantitative and qualitative approaches. Using opportunity sampling, 585 PGRs registered at a large UK University completed an online survey. The perspectives of a purposive sample of academic and Professional Services staff (n = 61) involved in supporting PGRs were sought through in-depth focus groups and semi-structured interviews, which were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis.

PGRs scored lower on measures of well-being and higher on measures of anxiety and depression than aged-matched groups in the general population. PGR well-being was positively affected by personal and professional relationships, and negatively affected by academic challenges and mental health problems. Academic supervisors were the primary source of support for students experiencing well-being difficulties. Thematic analysis revealed four domains that impact upon PGR well-being: postgraduate researcher identity; pressures and expectations of postgraduate research; complexity of the supervisor role; and pinch points in postgraduate research. Each domain had associations with help-seeking behaviours.

This study provides evidence that the PGR experience is perceived to be distinct from that of other students, and this helps understand sources of stress and barriers to help-seeking. It provides a steer as to how higher education institutions could better support the PGR learning experience.

The purpose of this paper is to present alternative ways of addressing inequality in age-friendly work by drawing attention to the limitations of place-based approaches in meeting the needs of dispersed communities.

A case study of the age-friendly programme Ambition for Ageing (AfA) is used to explore three examples of working with minority communities.

Place-based age-friendly development risks further marginalising older people belonging to dispersed communities of identity or experience; therefore, we need to adopt adopt an intersectional approach to inequality in later life.

Three ways that age-friendly programmes may become more inclusive of minority groups who are geographically dispersed are identified: bringing community members together; co-production; and supporting visibility in mainstream settings.

This paper brings together insights from the AfA programme, critically assessing place-based approaches in relation to working with dispersed communities of identity. It offers some ways to mitigate limitations through adopting tailored equality approaches.

Hearing voices can be a debilitating and traumatic experience, and psychiatric hospitals can feel unsafe and overstimulating to voice hearers. Research suggests this may prolong a service user’s admission time and lead to an unhelpful experience. Therefore, a hearing voices group (HVG) was developed to create a safe space where voice hearers could share their story with others with lived experience and access support.

The group was developed by the first author under the supervision of the inpatient psychology lead. Both a practice-based and expert by experience-based approach were considered during the development of the group structure. The group also aligned with the Hearing Voices Network and the Trust’s values. A questionnaire was developed to evaluate the effectiveness of the group using six five-point Likert scale questions and three open questions to collect the data, which was then analysed.

The themes from the qualitative data showed that staff and ward-based promotion of the group were paramount to ensuring patient engagement. The results also showed that voice hearers found the group therapeutic, and some found the coping skills shared to be beneficial and effective.

A large percentage of women (76%) reported that they had attended a HVG before. This was not the case for service users from the male unit and psychiatric intensive care unit. This result is considered to reflect the fact that women in that unit had the opportunity to attend more than once during their admission, rather than that they had accessed these groups in other settings or in the community. Therefore, in the future, it would be useful to change this question to “have you attended any other HVGs in the past, prior to this admission?”, which might be more appropriate for data collection.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the original work of the first author, who is an expert by experience and an assistant psychologist. The results suggest that HVGs can be beneficial for patients in acute and intensive mental health care and highlight some necessary adaptations and the importance of adopting an MDT approach in promoting therapeutic groups.

–The purpose of this paper is to report on doctoral research that is addressing how strategic partnerships are rethinking their approach to tackling domestic abuse in Manchester, UK, and creating a new Public Service Reform Commissioning Framework, involving a significant programme of collaboration across sectors, including local authorities, Greater Manchester Police, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and voluntary not-for-profit agencies.

The methodological approach is a case study strategy (Yin, 1994). It is mainly qualitative, with multi-method data collection and analysis. The paper is a commentary on the research, rather than a research paper.

The paper explores the extent to which an innovative new public leadership approach (Brookes and Grint, 2010) to the strategy and governance framework has been adopted, and whether the partnership is succeeding in creating create public value (Moore, 1995). It will discuss how a more collaborative approach based on a community model can add greater engagement across the sectors.

Although there is a substantial body of literature about domestic abuse, there is an absence of research from a business and management perspective. The literature review identified that there is little about leadership approaches in tackling domestic abuse, or analysis of partnership approaches from a business and management perspective.