Old Trafford, M60 upgrades and new railway lines: The big Greater Manchester projects Rachel Reeves could fund this week

Here are the big projects in Greater Manchester which local leaders will be hoping to get some funding for in the Spending Review

The wait is nearly over. For months, local leaders in Greater Manchester have been lobbying the government to back various projects.

Now Rachel Reeves is set to reveal how the government is planning to spend taxpayers' money between now and the next general election. Among the schemes the Chancellor could put money towards in the Spending Review is the regeneration of Old Trafford.

Andy Burnham is also looking for a commitment from the government to build a new railway line between Manchester and Liverpool.

The Greater Manchester mayor is hoping that the 10-year infrastructure strategy, which is set to be published later in the week, will 'recognise' the need for better connectivity with the Midlands following the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 in October 2023.

The Spending Review, which will be unveiled on Wednesday (June 11), could also have implications for Manchester council's plans to move Strangeways prison and revamp the area, a new civil service hub in Ancoats and the 15,000-home Victoria North development.

Here are the big projects in Greater Manchester which local leaders will be hoping to get some funding for in the Spending Review.

Old Trafford

Earlier this year, Ms Reeves announced the government would back the regeneration of Old Trafford where a new stadium is planned.

But ministers did not say how exactly they would be supporting the major project other than to rule out funding the stadium itself.

Manchester United unveiled their plans for a new 100,000-seat stadium and more than 17,000 new homes around it back in March.

Speaking at a property conference at the French Riviera at the time, Mr Burnham set out exactly how the government could help.

The Labour mayor said he wants £300m to relocate a freight terminal behind the current stadium, creating more space on the site.

However, since March, the mayor has been much quieter about the project, focusing instead on other schemes he wants support for.

New railways

Mr Burnham has spent much of the last few months talking about his plans for a new railway line between Manchester and Liverpool.

Last month, the Manchester Evening News joined forces with the Liverpool ECHO to back the plans for a new line which promises to slash journey times to around half-an-hour with express trains running from a new underground station at Piccadilly every 10 minutes.

It is unclear whether Ms Reeves will directly refer to the major infrastructure project when she unveils her three-year spending plans, but the M.E.N. understands that hundreds of millions of pounds have been set aside for 'development and preparatory building work'.

What Mr Burnham is hoping for is a commitment to the scheme in the government's 10-year infrastructure strategy - which is expected to be published on Thursday (June 12) - that would mean the new railway line could be up and running by the 2030s.

The Greater Manchester mayor is also hoping that this document 'recognises' the need to replace the ill-fated northern leg of HS2.

It comes almost a year after he unveiled alternative plans for a new, cheaper line between Greater Manchester and the Midlands.

M60 upgrades

Setting out his asks ahead of the Spending Review earlier this year, Mr Burnham spoke of a 10-year investment pipeline of specific projects worth between £10bn to 15bn which he said would 'advance new industry and spread prosperity to growth locations'.

While most of the funding for these projects are expected to come from the private sector, not the Treasury's coffers, there is one scheme in particular that Mr Burnham mentioned that would require some government support in the form of motorway upgrades.

Atom Valley, which the mayor described as 'one of the UK's most significant development sites', promises to create more than 20,000 jobs on the Bury, Oldham and Rochdale border. But before the development can go ahead, major upgrades are needed on the M60.

Local leaders across Greater Manchester will also be hoping that lots of money has been allocated for housing developments.

Among the projects that could benefit is the 15,000-home Victoria North project in north Manchester which is already under way with the government recently announcing funding to develop plans for a new tram stop at Sandhills near Collyhurst as part of the project.

Developers will also be watching out for any news on the Housing Investment Loans Fund which closed in March after lending out around £1bn in the last decade, including controversial loans to skyscraper tycoon Renaker that are subject to an ongoing legal case.

Strangeways

It's no secret that Manchester council wants to shut Strangeways prison as part of its plans to redevelop the area near the city centre.

The only problem is, prisons across the country are so overcrowded that inmates are being released early. Closing one is a tough sell.

Nevertheless, the council has made its case to the government ahead of the spending review - and it's already had some good news.

Last month, justice secretary Shabana Mahmood announced that she has secured £4.7bn of funding to build three new prisons.

If any of these prisons are built in or near Greater Manchester, there'd be a stronger case to shut Strangeways later down the line.

So while the council isn't expecting a commitment to closing the infamous prison from the Chancellor this week, local authority leaders will be hoping for more funding to build new prisons - or expand existing ones - which could help them make their case.

Live Well

Among the many initiatives Mr Burnham has asked the government to back is the 'Live Well' programme of employment support.

The mayor has long called for Job Centres to be changed to ‘Live Well centres’ as part of a strategy to get people back into work.

Some £10m has already been allocated to kick-start the scheme with Mr Burnham hoping for more government support this week.

Speaking about the initiative earlier this year, Mr Burnham described it as a 'movement for community-led health and wellbeing'.

He said: "It is not so much about new money but re-routing some of the billions the country already spends on employment support, and putting it through the community and voluntary sector, rather than large corporates, and achieving a multiplier effect as result of that."

In the same speech at the Institute for Government, Mr Burnham said he wants more public money to be spent on 'prevention' and revealed that he has suggested to the government that Greater Manchester is designated as the UK's Prevention Demonstrator.

More civil servants

One thing we already know will be announced in the Spending Review is that more civil servants will be based outside of London.

What we don't know yet is where they will be based. Greater Manchester has seen a huge influx of in government jobs in recent years - and that trend is set to continue with the development of the Manchester Digital Campus at the old Central Retail Park in Ancoats.

Manchester council, which bought Central Retail Park for £37m in 2017, has been working with the Government Property Agency on the plans to bring civil servants working in digital and AI-related jobs together in a new building at the site off Great Ancoats Street.

The new hub, which the M.E.N. understands is unlikely to open before 2028, is expected to accommodate 7,000 civil servants.

Last month, the government announced that the number of London-based jobs will be reduced by 12,000 by 2030 as roles are relocated to 13 towns and cities across the UK - but details of which jobs will move where are set to be revealed this week.