New park, 'City of Sanctuary' and transport concessions - everything heard at Manchester full council

Key issues of transport, green spaces and the refugee response were all on the cards as councillors filled Manchester Town Hall on Wednesday.

The Lord Mayor Coun Yasmine Dar kicked things off with messages of hope as well as an update on the plan to offer Man City manager Pep Guardiola the Freedom of the City honour. The council will call a special meeting to bestow the city’s highest honour for the treble winning coach - if he accepts.

This topic was supposed to kick start the motions for the day, but was pulled due to the fact the wheels are already in motion to get this done - making a request to do it redundant.

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Coun Tracey Rawlins tabled the idea to give carers concession on public transport to ease the financial burden they already suffer. Additionally she wants to urge the Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to make sure the £2 maximum does not become a flat fee.

Coun Rawlins explained that people who can’t afford to use public transport face further isolation if they can’t get from A to B cheaply. A recent report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found that the average person needs to spend £35 a week more than the Universal Credit allowance to stay alive.

The executive member for Environment and Transport explained that if, like her, people needed to come in and out of the city centre for work six times in a week, it would cost £24 in total. That would leave just £11 leftover, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report.

Lib Dem leader Coun John Leech and his party backed this motion, he said: “The only real criticism of the £2 fare was when it was introduced that the maximum fare would become the minimum