1: Devolution

My first question to the Leader tonight concerns the all-important issue of Devolution.

The enthusiasm of the people of Scotland in campaigning in the Referendum and in casting their ballot on 18 September provides a model for participatory democracy that we should hope to emulate in this Borough.

Particularly noteworthy, when related to the business brought before this Council by the Youth Council is that young voters in Scotland, especially those voters aged 16 and 17, became fully engaged in the Democratic Process.

The Leader is, I know, well aware that the Scottish Referendum has led to increased discussion on the Devolution of further powers and revenue not only to Scotland, but from Central Government in Westminster and Whitehall to Town Halls throughout England.

The desire amongst elected Members and voters in England for Devolution is also great.
For too long now, Central Government has been seen to be just that – central and remote from the lives of people in their own localities. With powers and monies flowing downwards from the centre and sometimes grudgingly given.

Yet elected Members and local people know what is best for their own towns and communities. And Councils have well-established partnership arrangements to enable them to work effectively with key local players in the statutory, voluntary, faith and business sectors.

These two factors mean that Councils could deliver a greater range of Devolved Services more efficiently and responsively.

I am sure that every elected Member in this Chamber would welcome more authority to do things that benefit the people of this Borough and to keep more of the revenue raised locally in order to do so.

The Liberal Democrat Group would certainly welcome the chance to work with this Administration to secure for Oldham the powers and finance to build a successful and prosperous future for our Borough and its people.

Can the Leader tell me how the Liberal Democrat Group can work with Labour to press the case for Devolution?

And can he please tell us what progress has so far been made by the Leaders in the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities in making the case to Government?

And what the proposal for ‘an Eleventh Leader’ of the Combined Greater Manchester Authority actually means in practice?

2: Tooth Decay

My second question relates to Public Health.

I want to highlight two Public Health issues.

First a success story; this Borough has recently recorded one of the biggest falls in teenage pregnancies in the Country.

The Office for National Statistics has recently confirmed that the Teenage Conception Rate has dropped by almost two thirds since 1998; the largest reduction anywhere outside of London and Darlington.

This is all down to the outstanding work of the Oldham Teenage Pregnancy Partnership to whom I want to place on record my congratulations and thanks for a job well done.

However I now want to highlight a health issue in which Oldham is far from the leader.

In recently released Public Health England data, that compared all Local Authorities in England, more than one-quarter of three-year-olds in Oldham were found to be suffering from tooth decay.

We are not the worst – in Leicester it is tragically 34 per cent of three-year-olds – but we are far from the best.

The high level of tooth decay is in large part due to the fact that parents are giving infants too much fruit juice and squash.

Tooth decay is no small matter.

Quite apart from the discomfort and pain that is suffered, it has been shown that small children struggle to feed nutritiously and it has an impact on social skills and vocalisation.

So there is much work to be done in this area, yet it is estimated that this year there will be a significant underspend in Public Health funding.

I should very much look forward to the day on which I can rise in this Chamber to congratulate our Public Health Team on being number 1 on this issue also.

So can the Leader please tell me what has been done so far to educate parents on this issue?

And can he tell me how much of the under-spend from the Public Health Budget he will use to re-double our efforts to educate parents about tooth decay in young children?

3: Geothermic Heat

My final question concerns geothermic heat; that is heat sourced from below ground to heat homes and other buildings.

Let us be clear from the outset – I am not referring to fracking.

The Times reported recently that a 350-million year old volcano located deep beneath Stoke-on-Trent could help to heat more than a thousand homes.

On reading this article I naturally checked the facts as my first thought was that this must be a late-running April Fools’ Day joke.

But no; Stoke-on-Trent City Council has prepared a business case to drill a 2.5km borehole to an aquifer in which the water is heated naturally to at least 85C (185F in old money).

This heat would be transferred to the surface to heat homes and the Government has pledged £20million to fund it.

This got me thinking.

It is unlikely that Oldham sits on an ancient volcano, but we do have a rich coal mining heritage (as those amongst you who have seen the 19th Century photographic panorama of the Town Centre in Gallery Oldham will know).

So I wondered do former coal mines give off residual ground-source heat which we could possibly utilise as part of the borough’s renewable energy strategy.

And guess what they DO….

The Herald in Scotland reported in November 2013 that:
“As much as a third of the heat needed to keep Scotland warm could be provided by tapping geothermal energy from old coal mines across the central belt, a major new study for the Scottish Government has concluded.

“Warm water piped up from abandoned mine shafts between Glasgow and Edinburgh and in Ayrshire and Fife could help heat many thousands of homes and other buildings for decades, Researchers said. They are urging Ministers to embark on an ambitious attempt to make geothermal energy a major new source of clean, renewable power within a few years.”

As Oldham is far from unique in historically sourcing power from coal, would the Leader be agreeable to looking to commission with the other Leaders of the Greater Manchester Authorities a study of the potential of this power source across our county?

Howard Sykes
22 October 2014