Former deputy mayor to keep paid assistant role for another six months

Baroness Beverley Hughes

Greater Manchester’s previous deputy mayor will stay in a paid position for another six months as her employment is extended until the end of the year.

Baroness Beverley Hughes, who formally resigned in January from the role which oversees police, crime, the criminal justice system and the fire service, has been working part time in a newly-created post since she stepped down.

Under the title of ‘assistant deputy mayor’, the former Labour MP has been helping her successor – who was also once an MP in Trafford – as she settles into her new job.

She has been paid the same annual salary of £89,900, but on a pro-rata basis to reflect the hours she works – two and a half days a week.

This means Baroness Hughes will receive £45,000 over the year – around half of what the new deputy mayor Kate Green will earn.

The unelected post which was created by mayor Andy Burnham has now been extended until December.

A Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) report explains why the appointment – initially agreed for a six-month period – should be extended.

It said: “The arrangement has worked well and the new Deputy Mayor has now assumed full responsibility for all aspects of her role, although the Assistant Deputy Mayor continues to play a key role on the Gender Based Violence Board, the GMP Transformation Boards and the Violence Reduction Board.”

The report explains that there are three areas of work that will require ongoing input from the assistant deputy mayor beyond July 2023 – the child sexual exploitation assurance review, Manchester Arena Inquiry oversight work and an outstanding review of historic police complaints.

The deputy mayor is responsible for new complaints, according to the report, but the assistant deputy mayor is still responsible for complaints received during her tenure.

Mr Burnham selected Baroness Hughes as his unelected deputy when he became mayor in May 2017.

She served as deputy mayor until January 2023.

Before becoming an MP in the 1990s, she was the leader of Trafford council.

Labour MP Andrew Western, who also led Trafford council, won the Stretford and Urmston by-election triggered by the new deputy mayor’s appointment.

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