The Mancunian Way: Back-to-basics

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Here's the Mancunian Way for today:

Hello,

It’s the first day of Spring and change is afoot. And that’s certainly the case at Greater Manchester Police, where senior officers have pledged to shore up neighbourhood teams with more officers - but it will come at a price.

We’ll be discussing that in today’s newsletter, as well as a reprieve for an under-fire rail operator, the closure of a much-loved business and a review of how the city’s music venues are supported. Let’s begin.

Greater Manchester Police is set to post 264 police officers to neighbourhood teams. But bosses will be axing more than fifty percent of the force’s Police Community Force Officers (PCSOs) to pay for it.

Chief Constable Stephen Watson and Mayor Andy Burnham today announced the changes as part of a review into how policing is carried out in the region. But, as chief reporter Neal Keeling discovered, it means the number of PCSO's will be reduced by 333 - from 518 to 215. There will be one named PCSO per council ward.

The numbers will be achieved through ‘natural attrition over time’ and ‘no jobs will be lost’, according to a Neighbourhood Policing Review briefing obtained by the Manchester Evening News.

It’s understood the changes will take place over the next two years, with PCSOs moved to different roles - an option that is already open to them. Senior officers this afternoon told a press conference that 100 PCSOs have already moved over to GMP roles in administration, as call handlers and police officers.

Force bosses insist the changes are