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Greater Manchester has become one of England’s leading examples of partnership working between public services and the VCFSE sector. As Andy Burnham moves to Downing Street, we look back on this journey and consider what it might mean for future discussions on devolution, community power and public service reform.
As Andy Burnham begins his new role as Prime Minister, there is renewed interest in how the approaches developed during his time as Mayor of Greater Manchester could inform national conversations about public services, communities and devolution.
For the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector, Greater Manchester provides a unique example of what can happen when communities and civil society are recognised as strategic partners in shaping public services.
Over the past decade, Greater Manchester has developed one of the strongest examples in England of partnership working between public services and the VCFSE sector, built through collective leadership, collaboration and a shared ambition to put communities at the heart of decision making.
Built on the principles of collaboration, prevention and community power, this approach offers important lessons as the country considers how to tackle inequality and reform public services.
Greater Manchester’s relationship with the VCFSE sector has been built over many years and has strengthened significantly through devolution.
Following the devolution of health and social care responsibilities to Greater Manchester in February 2015, partners recognised that improving outcomes for residents required more than traditional public services alone. A key part of this approach was recognising the contribution of the local VCFSE sector, whose knowledge, relationships and reach within communities were essential to making devolution work in practice.
In 2017, the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership and the VCFSE sector signed a Memorandum of Understanding, formally recognising the sector as a key partner in improving health and wellbeing across the city region.
Building on this relationship and driven by the ambition of the VCFSE sector for a stronger partnership model, the Greater Manchester VCFSE Accord was developed as a shared framework for collaboration between public sector organisations and civil society.
The renewed nine-year Accord, signed in 2026, builds on this legacy and sets out a continued commitment to:
The Accord was also recognised as the first case study for the National Civil Society Covenant, highlighting Greater Manchester’s approach as an example of how government and civil society can work together.
A key reason Greater Manchester has developed such a strong partnership approach is the strength of its VCFSE leadership infrastructure.
The Greater Manchester VCFSE Leadership Group has provided a collective voice for the sector, bringing together infrastructure organisations and sector leaders from across the city region to influence strategy, policy and decision making.
This has enabled the VCFSE sector to move beyond being viewed solely as a provider of services and instead be recognised as a strategic partner in designing solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing communities.
The Leadership Group has been instrumental in both establishing and shaping the Greater Manchester VCFSE Accord and supporting the development of initiatives such as Live Well, ensuring that the voices and experiences of communities remain central to regional priorities.
Greater Manchester demonstrates the importance of having strong sector leadership, trusted relationships and formal structures that enable civil society to influence decisions. The VCFSE sector has not simply been involved in delivering priorities set elsewhere; it has helped shape the structures, approaches and ambitions that underpin Greater Manchester’s approach.
One of the clearest examples of this approach is Live Well Greater Manchester.
Emerging from earlier conversations around social prescribing, community support and prevention, Live Well developed into a major ambition for Greater Manchester and a key part of Andy Burnham’s mayoral vision.
At its heart is a simple principle: people should be able to access support through trusted relationships and within their communities, rather than waiting until problems reach crisis point.
Live Well is built around a “no wrong door” approach, bringing together statutory services, community organisations and local assets to support people’s health, wellbeing and wider needs.
The ambition is for Live Well to be “community led and system enabled”.
For the VCFSE sector, this approach reflects what communities have long understood, that support is often found through trusted local organisations, community spaces and relationships.
This approach is reflected in other Greater Manchester initiatives, including A Bed Every Night, where public sector partners and VCFSE organisations worked together to respond to homelessness through a coordinated, community-focused approach.
The development of Live Well demonstrates the value of combining public sector resources with the knowledge, expertise and reach of local VCFSE organisations. The approach recognises that communities and the organisations rooted within them are essential partners in improving health, wellbeing and preventing people from reaching crisis point.
In April 2024, Andy Burnham signed the Greater Manchester VCFSE Manifesto during the metro mayoral hustings, reaffirming his commitment to working alongside the sector to tackle inequality, strengthen community-led approaches and recognise the contribution of VCFSE organisations across the city region
The manifesto reflected priorities that have long been championed by the VCFSE sector, including recognising the importance of prevention, investing in communities and ensuring local organisations have a meaningful role in shaping decisions.
This commitment built on a wider relationship between Andy Burnham, Greater Manchester leaders and the VCFSE sector, developed through years of collaboration.
While Greater Manchester provides a leading example of partnership working, the relationship between political leaders and the VCFSE sector extends across the wider North West.
As the organisation connecting the North West VCFSE sector, VSNW has worked to bring together organisations, amplify sector voices and create opportunities for collaboration across places.
At the VSNW Conference and AGM in November 2025, Andy Burnham joined sector leaders and organisations from across the region as a keynote speaker. Reflecting on Greater Manchester’s experience, he spoke about “where Greater Manchester is at and what it might mean” for the wider VCFSE sector, suggesting that the region’s approach could help inform “a new model, a new way of doing things through devolution”.
His participation reflected the importance of maintaining strong relationships between political leaders and the sector, not only within Greater Manchester but across the wider North West.
The partnership approach has also been demonstrated through action on national issues affecting the VCFSE sector.
In December 2024, Andy Burnham, alongside Councillor Arooj Shah (Leader of Oldham Council and Greater Manchester Combined Authority Portfolio Lead for Communities) and representatives from the VCFSE sector, wrote jointly to the Chancellor raising concerns about the impact of changes to National Insurance contributions on voluntary and community organisations.
The intervention highlighted the pressures facing organisations delivering essential support within communities and demonstrated the value of a collective regional voice in influencing national decisions.
However, the Greater Manchester story is not only about one political leader. It is also about the collective leadership of communities, voluntary organisations and public sector partners who have worked together over many years to create a different way of working.
As Andy Burnham begins his new role in national leadership, there will be interest in whether the approaches developed in Greater Manchester can help shape a different relationship between government, communities and the VCFSE sector.
Themes highlighted in his first speech, including a “new political and economic model”, greater devolution and helping people to “live well”, reflect many of the principles that have underpinned Greater Manchester’s approach over recent years.
The establishment of Downing Street North, with a focus on strengthening links between government and regions and supporting further devolution, provides an opportunity to explore how place-based approaches can inform national decision making.
Greater Manchester’s journey shows that lasting change happens when communities, and the VCFSE organisations rooted within them, are recognised as essential partners in shaping solutions.
