Community Power, Housing and Health: Greater Manchester Mayoral Husting for the VCFSE Sector

As the backbone of our city-region, the VCFSE sector supports thousands of residents every day while helping to shape a fairer and more inclusive Greater Manchester.

Over 100 attendees came together at Friends Meeting House in Manchester on 16 July 2026 to hear Green Party candidate Geraldine Coggins, Labour & Cooperative candidate Bev Craig, and Liberal Democrat candidate Richard Kilpatrick, share their vision for working alongside the sector as Mayor.

Geraldine Coggins (Green Party) centred her opening remarks on the vital role of the VCFSE sector.  

She called for greater community power, genuinely affordable housing, better public transport, thriving local high streets and stronger action on climate change, while promising to treat the VCFSE sector as equal partners in shaping Greater Manchester's future.

Bev Craig (Labour & Co-operative) committed to abetter city region deal on work and skills, to tackle inequality, more social, affordable and community-led housing, increased community power, and a commitment to build on and grow the flagship Live Well programme.

She set out set out ambitions including 50,000 council and genuinely affordable homes, free bus travel for 11 to 18-year-olds, and action to reduce poverty and homelessness.

Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrat) argued that the VCFSE should be at the heart of decision-making because it is often more trusted and better connected to residents than public institutions.

He focused on rebuilding trust in politics and making Greater Manchester more affordable, housing and social care.

More than 100 questions were submitted, but with limited time we could only present six to the candidates. Questions focused on the topics that were raised most frequently by those in the room.

On building on Live Well, and growing community power:

Geraldine Coggins (Green)

• Proposed a £10 million Community Development Fund.
• Wants to revive local high streets through an "empty shops team" helping communities take over vacant premises.
• Advocated for citizens' assemblies to give residents more direct influence over decision-making.
• Emphasised shifting power away from institutions and towards communities.

Bev Craig (Labour & Cooperative)

• Strongly backed Live Well as a flagship social policy programme.
• Wants Live Well centres in every community.
• Argued for devolving employment support powers from the DWP to Greater Manchester.
• Focused on dignity, prevention, and community-led support.
• Wants the voluntary sector embedded as experts in policymaking and service delivery.

Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrat)

• Favoured longer-term funding commitments.
• Highlighted social value requirements for public spending.
• Proposed greater community involvement in local funding decisions.

On bringing communities together and preventing division, racism and misinformation:

Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrat)

• Described diversity as Greater Manchester's strength.
• Called for improved hate-crime recording and accountability within GMP.
• Supported increased funding to tackle extremism and misinformation.
• Advocated stronger neighbourhood policing and better police-community relationships.

Bev Craig (Labour & Cooperative)

• Emphasised zero tolerance for racism and discrimination.
• Said public institutions must be uncompromising in opposing division.
• Proposed reviewing confidence in hate-crime reporting and policing.
• Wants neighbourhood policing to better reflect local communities.
• Suggested working with trusted community organisations to combat misinformation.

Geraldine Coggins (Green)

• Argued that political leadership should actively celebrate diversity.
• Criticised divisive politics and called for attention to root causes such as poverty and underfunded services.
• Proposed greater investment in violence reduction and prevention programmes.
• Called for police reform, including ending suspicion-less stop-and-search.

On making Greater Manchester a ‘City Region of Sanctuary:

Geraldine Coggins (Green)

• Fully supported Greater Manchester becoming a City Region of Sanctuary.
• Called for faster asylum decisions, better accommodation and the right to work for asylum seekers.
• Advocated support for people with no recourse to public funds.

Bev Craig (Labour & Cooperative)

• Highlighted Manchester's existing City of Sanctuary commitment.
• Called for more ESOL provision, trauma support and better settlement services.
• Supported allowing asylum seekers to work while claims are processed.
• Argued support systems after asylum status is granted need major improvement.

Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrat)

• Strongly endorsed City Region of Sanctuary status.
• Criticised barriers asylum seekers face accessing services.
• Supported the right to work and easier access to public services.

On Community Ownership of Housing and Assets:

Bev Craig (Labour & Cooperative)

• Supported expanding community-led housing.
• Proposed dedicated housing funding streams for community-led projects.
• Wants more public land released for community housing.
• Backed a Community Ownership Fund.
• Proposed stronger powers to tackle long-term vacant and neglected properties.

Geraldine Coggins (Green)

• Plans for 20,000 genuinely affordable homes through building and refurbishment.
• Wants greater opportunities for co-operatives, housing associations and community ownership.
• Criticised private developer-led housing models.

Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrat)

• Proposed creating Greater Manchester's first major housing co-operative in decades.
• Advocated European-style co-operative housing models.
• Wants retrofitted properties transferred into community ownership.
• Stressed the need for large-scale social housing delivery and more innovative housing solutions

On providing long-term investment to community organisations and supporting them to survive and scale:

Geraldine Coggins (Green)

• Spoke to the role of VCFSE organisations in prevention, arguing prevention should be central to tackling health inequalities.
• Proposed a Healthy Homes programme targeting damp, mould and unsafe housing.
• Supported active travel and free bus travel for under-22s.

Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrat)

• Focused on improving access to funding through better procurement and social value policies.
• Wants a Greater Manchester-wide social value standard.
• Proposed greater capacity-building support for community organisations.

Bev Craig (Labour & Cooperative)

• Accepted that funding systems are too difficult for smaller organisations.
• Wants easier access to grants and more support for new organisations.
• Supported longer-term funding arrangements beyond current norms.
• Highlighted the Greater Manchester VCFSE Accord and Fair Funding Protocol as key frameworks.

On Tackling Health Inequalities:

Bev Craig (Labour & Cooperative)

• Focused on long-standing inequalities in maternity care, cancer treatment and mental health.
• Advocated "proportionate universalism", tailoring services to different communities' needs.
• Wants NHS accountability and stronger community-led health interventions

Geraldine Coggins (Green)

• Emphasised co-design and listening to affected communities.
• Argued communities themselves should help shape solutions.
• Supported improved data collection and targeted interventions.

Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrat)

• Focused on bias within healthcare pathways and institutions.
• Called for stronger scrutiny of NHS services.
• Advocated community-led and community-delivered healthcare support.