THE Greater Manchester Mayor has been in office for a year, but what has he done for Bolton?

 The opposition parties on Bolton Council were faint in their praise of the Mayor, criticising a lack of outcomes and saying he was “all talk and no money”. 

Bolton’s Labour council leader, who forms part of the combined authority leadership admitted the year had been challenging but stressed a lot of foundation work had been done. 

Andy Burnham, aged 47, was elected Mayor of Greater Manchester on May 5 last year with 63 per cent of the vote (359,352 votes).

Yesterday, an event in Manchester highlighted the Mayor’s campaign to end rough sleeping and the difference that devolution has made to the region. 

The GMCA pointed to £160 million invested in cycling/walking infrastructure, an increase in police officers and a £25 million investment from the Government for broadband. 

However, Bolton’s political opposition found it difficult to identify positives.

Cllr Hilary Fairclough, deputy leader of the Conservatives, said: “When you ask what has Andy Burnham done for Bolton? I would have to say, nothing. 

“I’m not saying there haven’t been things he’s put forward, I know he’s keen to help with homelessness and there’s the bid for Farnworth. But to my knowledge none of these things are up and running, there are no outcomes.”

Paul Heslop, of Farnworth & Kearsley First, said: “The key thing for us was that Farnworth was one of these ‘town centres’ but we have yet to hear of any financial commitment. He’s all talk no money.”

UKIP leader, Cllr Sean Hornby said: “It’s in its early days but one thing he did do was abandon the spatial framework and I think that’s an important thing for Bolton, with a view to building more on brownfield than greenbelt. I think that was right. But it’s another form of bureaucracy.”

Cllr David Wilkinson, Liberal Democrat, said: “I have no doubt he’s doing things but all I know is we have a Mayor we didn’t ask for and a council tax increase we didn’t ask for, we got a few extra police officers and the women’s bus pass. I’m sure he’s trying but he needs to try harder.”

Bolton Council Leader, Cllr Linda Thomas, said: “He is getting people round the table and a lot of this work is about setting a really stable foundation for partnerships.

“I hear from all quarters of our borough about how they want transport to look. Andy is listening to their concerns but We’ve seen half-price bus passes for 16-18-year-olds rolled out fairly rapidly and the Women’s Concessionary Travel Pass. 

“Elsewhere in bolstering community safety, Andy has managed to make some headway with very little resource. 

“He introduced a 24-hour control room for the first time, again he’s working on those vital partnerships and foundation building, to seriously utilize the 50 police officers being hired later this year.”

Mr Burnham’s office was approached for a comment but did not respond before going to print.