Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, was disappointed to discover recently that his Oldham Council-issued business smart phone would not permit him to download the new Government recommended Track and Trace Covid-19 App without special permission. 

He has now contacted senior officers at the Council to suggest that the App be allowed to be downloaded onto every Council-electronic device used by its employees.  This suggestion is now being rolled out across the board.

But Councillor Sykes has now gone one further.  He has written to Dr Carolyn Wilkins OBE, who in addition to being Chief Executive at Oldham Council, is the national officer lead on Track and Trace, to request that all public sector organisations in Oldham also ensure that their employees will also be able to access the Covid-19 app on their business devices.

Commenting, Councillor Sykes said:  “It seems to me common-sense that this new App should be made available to all public sector staff and that they should be encouraged to use it.  Imagine how many more people will be using it if every employee of our emergency services, our NHS, housing associations, schools and colleges were also using it.  We all need to play our part in beating Covid-19, this App is one way to do it and public sector staff who are at the forefront of that fight should be encouraged by setting an example.”