The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has again written to Councillor Barbara Brownridge and Sue Dearden renewing his call for the Labour Administration to work with him to establish a Food Poverty Commission for Oldham.
Councillor Brownridge serves as Cabinet Member for Communities and Councillor Dearden is Chair of the Health and Well-being Board, Councillor Sykes first wrote to them on this matter at the end of July.
Commenting, Councillor Sykes said: “As I know well, Councillors, especially Cabinet Members, are busy people with many calls on their time so it is probably an oversight that I have as yet, received no formal response to my initial letter.”
“I am sure that every elected member shares my concern about the level of food poverty in our Borough and the need for the Council, with its responsibility for public health and well-being, to take an active lead in addressing it, so I thought it timely to send a further reminder in advance of our November Council meeting.”
“As the letter was sent very soon after World Food Day, I am sure that it will receive swift attention.”
In the letter, Cllr Sykes welcomed the recommendation to the Overview and Scrutiny Board on 13 October that they seek to establish a new Community Shop, alongside a FairShare food distribution centre, in Oldham. Councillor Sykes first raised the possibility of a community shop in a question to the Leader of the Council in February 2015, and he wants to see it become an “immediate strategic priority for the Council.”
In his letter, Councillor Sykes also identifies specific groups at risk of food poverty:
- Children attending school hungry or going without sufficient food during the school holidays
- Housebound elderly and disabled people
- Residents without the skills or the cooking facilities to effectively prepare nutritious meals
The Oldham Lib Dem Group is calling on the Council to establish more breakfast clubs, school holiday food clubs, community cafes, lunch clubs for the elderly and a home delivery service for the housebound. They also want to see residents in need being able to access cookery courses; simple, affordable and nutritious recipes; and cooking facilities for those who do not have them, coupled with budgeting support to those on low incomes.
Cllr Sykes explained: “I do recognise that, in the current financial climate, the authority is not in a position to itself shoulder the financial burden for all of these activities, but these are all activities that should form part of joined up comprehensive strategy which we would like to see developed and delivered by a Food Poverty Commission. This would comprise the Council and key partners working together to put practical measures in place so no Oldhamer goes hungry.”