A report updating Councillors and the public on the progress made by the investigation team into historic allegations of child sexual exploitation in the Borough will be included in the agenda papers for the next full meeting of Oldham Council (4 November 2020).
Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Opposition, wrote to the Leader of the Council three weeks ago (30 Sept) requesting such a report. He has just received confirmation that this will now happen. Commenting he said: “I welcome the commitment to bring a report to the next Council meeting. There is a great deal of public and Councillor interest in this investigation and the Council has already committed to implementing its findings in full. It is now almost a year since the investigation into these serious allegations began and I am sure that everyone will now feel it timely to receive a report about the progress made by the investigating officers.”
“I will certainly be very interested to read this interim report. I asked for the report to be tabled as a specific item on the agenda to ensure that there is time given over, within an otherwise packed agenda and busy evening, for Councillors of all parties, and none, to comment upon, and ask questions about, the investigation, if they wish.”
Free one-to-one counselling for a limited number of people (up to 10 sessions per person). Due to Covid19, counselling is currently being offered via video (Zoom) or telephone, which allows people to access support in the safety and comfort of their own homes.
These sessions can help with things like:
Coming to terms with relationship breakdown or bereavement
Unhappiness, worries or stress in work or at home
Supporting people to feel happier with who they are
Improving relationships by working out better ways to communicate
Dealing with changes in people’s lives (e.g. living with long-term illness)
Feeling anxious or depressed or finding life difficult to cope with
Coping with how lockdown has left people feeling
Click on the link below for more information and who to contact:
A controversial planning application on Trent Road High Crompton, Shaw has been refused again; the application was for a change of use from retail premises to a hot food takeaway.
Crompton Ward Liberal Democrat Councillor Diane Williamson said “It was with great delight that I learnt that Oldham Council Planning Officer’s decision for this application was for refusal. The area does not lend itself to this type of business and would have brought a whole new dynamic to the area, not to mention close proximity to neighbouring residential properties, litter, smells, anti-social behaviour, as well as increased highway activity”. It should be noted that the applicant can appeal against the decision and this needs to be made within six months.
The decision to escalate the application to the Planning Committee was not taken likely; but in the interest of fairness for local residents, their voices needed to be heard. The submissions obviously helped and therefore there was no need for it to go to the committee.
“I would like to thank residents for submitting comments and including us in their correspondence; it does give us an understanding of how much changes of use can affect the local community, local residents and local businesses” said Councillor Diane Williamson.
Crompton Councillor Dave Murphy has welcomed the hugely successful adjournment debate held in the House of Commons last Wednesday (14 October) in which MPs from all parties supported the Local Electricity Bill.
Councillor Murphy, with his Liberal Democrat colleague from Shaw, Chris Gloster, proposed a motion at the July 2020 meeting of Oldham Council in support of the Bill. This received cross-party support on the night making Oldham Council one of 56 Councils across the UK to endorse the Bill.
The Local Electricity Bill if it becomes law will make it easier and cheaper for local companies to be set up to supply electricity generated from renewable sources to local people.
Councillor Murphy said: “The present arrangements are too complicated and too costly to allow local electricity companies to compete in the marketplace. At a time when more and more people are keen to become involved as shareholders and supporters of renewable energy co-operatives, more and more people are becoming interested in buying their electricity locally from these same co-operatives. It makes perfect sense to marry the two up and this Bill would, if it became law, make this so. Hopefully it would lead in the long-term to local renewable energy companies supplying the people of Oldham with their energy.”
Councillor Chris Gloster added his support: “Ironically although the Bill is new, the concept of locally produced electricity for local people is not. In times past, we had windmills to grind corn and water wheels to power factories. And during our industrial heyday we had an Oldham Corporation electric company which powered trams, businesses and homes in the Borough.”
The Local Electricity Bill currently has 208 MPs supporting it, and one of its primary sponsors is the Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, Wera Hobhouse. The Bill will receive its Second Reading in the House of Commons in January 2021.
From now on a new triage model will begin to be rolled out, which will mean that patients who come direct to the Emergency Department (A&E) at the Royal Oldham Hospital will experience a different way of being treated.
On arrival, they will be assessed by a clinical member of staff and will then be either:
Transferred to another department in the hospital or community
Where clinically required, referred into the emergency department
Given an appointment time to come back to a hospital department.
Given an appointment with a GP
Advised to contact their own GP or go to a pharmacy
Provided with self-care advice
Later in the year, as part of a national programme, patients will be asked to contact NHS 111 first, whether online or by phone, if they have an urgent medical need, as an alternative to self-presenting as a walk-in to the Emergency Department.
Oldham Liberal Democrats are seeking to ensure that the findings of the Home Office-sponsored Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) deliver practical benefits for survivors of abuse, and are implemented in councils and the care home system. The investigation is due to finish hearings into the systematic exploitation of children by organised networks on October 29.
The Liberal Democrat group on Oldham Council initially wrote to the Investigation to ask whether or not it would actively engage with the investigation in Oldham. They were told that it was looking at six other areas across the UK which had been chosen to represent a range of sizes, demographics and institutional practices, and it had not seen that it was necessary to liaise with the Oldham investigation.
The Liberal Democrats responded to confirm that the investigation currently taking place in Oldham is looking at the same areas as the IICSA investigation, and requesting they ensured that any outcomes were communicated to the Council, so that any conclusions that applied could be implemented quickly and effectively.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “As the Home Office-sponsored investigation chose not to look at cases such as those in Rochdale and Oldham directly, it is vital that we do still see outcomes that will help shape our Councils’ and communities’ response to these types of crimes.
“It is crucial that the Council learns lessons not just from the local investigation, but also from any institutional failings that have been found across the UK,” he continued. “We must ensure that survivors know that they can come forward in confidence, be heard, and know that they will be properly investigated. Our institutions must not repeat any previous mistakes.”
A separate investigation into effective leadership of child protection is due to hold its hearings in December, and again, any findings must be communicated directly to the Council to ensure that best practice can be taken forward.
Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Oldham Council Howard Sykes MBE added: “We have written to the Chief Executive of the Council to ensure that they are looking to incorporate the findings of the Home Office investigation into their own practices. The independent investigation currently taking place will no doubt deliver a number of ways in which we need to improve, but it is vital that we do not stop there. We must listen to this investigation, to charities who work in this sector, and most importantly, to the survivors of sexual violence, to ensure that they get the support they need, and the perpetrators of such crimes receive the punishment they deserve.”
The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, was heartened to receive a letter from the Chief Executive of Oldham Council, Dr Carolyn Wilkins OBE, endorsing his idea that the NHS Covid-19 app be made available pro-actively to all staff at the Council and staff in other public sector organisations who are issued with a smart phone for business use.
Describing the suggestion as an “excellent idea”, Dr Wilkins has agreed to make the app available to Council staff and has also written to partner organisations in the Borough asking them to do the same. Dr Wilkins also plays a key role in the delivery of the national Track and Trace scheme representing local authorities.
Commenting, Councillor Sykes said: “I found it frustrating that I could not readily access the app on my own business phone. If we want Council staff to lead the way in using the app, and to set an example to others, then we need to make it available to them. I am glad that the Chief Executive has responded quickly and has responded positively taking on board my suggestions.”
