Over the last seven days Oldham Borough has a Coronavirus rate of 143 per 100,000 population, which has increased from 123 the previous week.
This is now the highest weekly rate recorded during the pandemic, and is the fourth-highest rate across Greater Manchester.
Problems with the national testing system are continuing, resulting in many people struggling to book a test. Local testing centres are still open seven days a week, and people must book an appointment online before going to a testing centre.
Bring a confirmation email of your appointment (printed out or on your phone) and ID
Wear a face covering when attending the site
Those who are unable to get a test and have symptoms, or suspect they may have Coronavirus, must self-isolate until they are able to get tested.
Children who have been sent home from school due to contact with a confirmed Coronavirus case, and told to self-isolate for 14 days, must also complete the full 14 days – even if they have a Coronavirus test and it comes back negative.
Please encourage all those you know to download the app, and also help ensure businesses owners are complying with the new regulations.
Those in hospitality, leisure and tourism or close contact services need to have downloaded and displayed their QR code, and could be fined up to £1,000 if they don’t.
Yodel have written to the Shaw Ward Councillors informing them that they are looking to relocate within the next five years from the Shaw site to a ‘super hub’. Yodel has advised Councillors that this would still be within the North West. They have also made a company commitment to protect the current workforce and expand job opportunities.
Councillor Chris Gloster stated: “This news was not unexpected. Although home shopping is on the increase, sadly old cotton mills are quickly becoming unsuitable for modern logistical operations. However, Yodel is an integral part of the Shaw community and the company employs many people from our community.”
“As local Councillors, we welcome the invitation that Yodel have offered us to work with them to look at how best to protect the existing work force, as well as create further job opportunities. The challenge will be to keep Yodel local to protect as many existing jobs as possible and to provide more new jobs for residents in Shaw and Crompton.”
“Amongst other locations, a move to Kingsway Business Park at Milnrow would be ideal. This is still local to Shaw and Crompton, and accessible by Metrolink. This option would preserve jobs whilst taking many large goods vehicles off Shaw’s roads. The heavy traffic is certainly something that many of our residents will not miss.”
Councillor Gloster added: “We will meet with Yodel as soon as possible to discuss in detail their plans and to offer them as much assistance as possible to ensure jobs are protected and to ensure this redevelopment enhances job prospects for Shaw residents rather than being a devastating blow to the community and more widely”.
Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillor Dave Murphy was delighted to hear recently that Oldham Council will be acting on his suggestion that taxi exhaust emissions be properly tested to ensure they do not pose an undue hazard to human health.
Councillor Murphy, who carries out MOT tests in his professional life in the motor vehicle industry, posed a question at the last full meeting of Oldham Council asking why the emissions of private motor vehicles are routinely checked using specialist equipment, yet the assessment on taxis only involved a ‘visual test’.
Councillor Murphy said: “Taxis are driven many more miles per year than an average motor vehicle, they are on the road for longer and their engines are idled for longer periods of time so a taxi could cause a lot more air pollution. When we are trying to make sure we have clean air, why should taxis not have the same checks as our cars?”
In her written response, Cabinet Member Councillor Barbara Brownridge confirmed that “full emissions tests” will now be carried out on all vehicles.
“My query has come up trumps” said Councillor Murphy. “With over 1,100 private and public hire taxis licensed to operate on Oldham’s roads, carrying out these checks will make a big contribution to reducing air pollution”.
The question from Cllr Dave Murphy to Councillor Brownridge at Full Council 9 September 2020 read:
Private motor vehicles are subject to an annual emissions test when they have a MOT test, which is carried out by inserting a tube into the exhaust and measuring it using a calibrated emissions tester. However, when taxis are checked through the taxi test, the emissions are only visually checked.
Can the relevant Cabinet Member explain why there is this discrepancy between the emissions testing of private cars and taxis?
There are hundreds of taxis on our roads today. They are driven many more miles per year than an average motor vehicle, they are on the road for longer and their engines are idled for longer periods of time so a taxi could cause a lot more air pollution.
When we are trying to make sure we have clean air, why should taxis not have the same checks as our cars?
And can the Cabinet Member say exactly how many taxis are licensed to operate in our borough today?
The written email response from Councillor Brownridge to Councillor Murphy, dated 11 September 2020 reads:
These are the answers to the questions you asked in Council as promised:
In terms of vehicles licensed we have 1060 private hire and 85 hackneys.
At the present time testers are performing a visual test on exhausts and, if there is smoke, they then perform a full test on emissions. With the clean air proposals going out to the consultation the licensing manager feels we should have a more stringent test so has asked that full emissions tests commence on all vehicles.
The Oldham Liberal Democrats want to see some action to bring speed cameras back into use and more transparency over where they are sited and how they are funded.
At present officers from GM Councils, the Greater Manchester Police and Transport for Greater Manchester meet to discuss speed cameras, with elected councillors having no say in decision making; a situation that Oldham Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has described as “something North Korea would be very proud of.”
Councillor Sykes has written to Eamonn Boylan, the Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, asking him to ensure that all existing speed cameras are functional and recording traffic violations as they happen, and that they be upgraded to incorporate the latest digital technology.
Councillor Sykes also wants to see more money being made available to site further cameras at accident blackspots. He last raised the issue in November 2019 and is demanding to know what if any action has been taken.
Councillor Sykes explained: “Now that people are going back to work or taking children to school, traffic on our roads is increasing, and so drivers, passengers and pedestrians are more likely to be involved in an accident. Yet we have the situation across Greater Manchester where for many months (or years) traffic cameras have not been working, and so speeding drivers have got off scot-free. Or there are situations where a speed camera is desperately needed to act as a deterrent to bad driving.”
In his letter to Mr Boylan, Councillor Sykes also raises a second concern – that there is no input into decision making by elected councillors and no transparency or accountability from the officers who currently make the decisions.
Councillor Sykes hopes that his letter, a copy of which has also been sent to the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, will shake up the system and get some action.
The letter to Mr Eamonn Boylan reads:
16 September 2020
Eamonn Boylan, Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Dear Eamonn Boylan,
Re: Roadside safety cameras across Greater Manchester
I am writing to you to urge you and other regional leaders to work together to upgrade roadside safety cameras and make them all functional across Greater Manchester to help tackle speeding.
I first raised this issue a couple of years ago and more recently at the Greater Manchester Transport Committee Meeting held on 8 November 2019. Simply put, to avoid further unnecessary deaths, injuries and damage to personal property and highways infrastructure, the following action is required:
The cash to digitise and upgrade the existing safety camera system should be found as an immediate priority.
A programme for its completion should be agreed and actioned.
The inadequacies are not just about the system – a review is also needed as to the criteria for the location and installation of safety cameras. Including their funding and the option for local funding if local priorities demand.
The Drive Safety Group/Body needs to have Councillor representation and inclusion as at present it is devoid of both and is just a group of Council Officers/TfGM Officers/Police setting priorities and policies for such matters as speed cameras.
The above should be an immediate priority, it is wrong that defunct safety cameras line our roads allowing drivers to regularly abuse speed limits.
It is also wrong that Highway Officers from the component 10 Districts (and TfGM) and the Police sit down and decide what the criteria is for safety camera approval and installation without ANY elected Councillor input or scrutiny.
I recently found/allocated money to provide a safety camera and after a very lengthy process I was informed my request does not fit the criteria. When I asked how to change the criteria, I was informed it was not an elected member right to ask for it to be changed.
Surely the public that elect us expect, rightly so, that elected members should have a say on the placement of cameras?
As currently constructed, this is a catch 22 situation and something North Korea would be very proud of.
Given the number of residents that have contacted me about speeding issues and the amount of time that has passed since I originally raised this issue, I would appreciate your response to this letter as soon as possible with hopefully a way forward from the current unsatisfactory situation.
We recognise community action is taking place across the Borough and we want to encourage and support this action, and help to sustain and maintain our vibrant sector to support Oldham people during a very challenging time. We want to encourage this to be done safely and in line with the most recent Public Health Guidance and Government directives.
We are delighted to let you know that a Community Recovery Fund pot is being made available for Oldham groups supporting Oldham’s COVID-19 Community Recovery whilst we learn to live with the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic (that comply with Public Health Guidance and Government directives).
You can apply for a grant up to
£1,000 if you are formally constituted and are a member or become a member of Action Together; or
£200 if you are an informal social action or mutual aid activity.
Please note:
Mutual Aid is the term we use to describe people giving each other needed support in communities.
Social Action is the term we use to describe people coming together (physically or remotely) to help solve the problems that are important in their communities.
What can the funding be used for?
Applications for the Community Recovery Fund should be for projects that meet one or more of the following priorities:
Encouraging fit and healthy people and communities
Developing people’s skills
Changing your local area for the better
Encouraging people to get involved in their community and social action
Protecting those who are vulnerable and those who are victims of crime or at risk of being victimised, including domestic abuse.
Building resilience, feelings of safety and confidence in community safety.
Preventing anti-social and criminal behaviour in Oldham
Helping to build resilient and resourceful communities in Oldham including online communities and protecting the places where people live, work, socialise or travel.
Funds will enable organisations to adapt their models to ensure they can operate safely according to Covd19 guidelines, and effectively support communities to recover and rebuild.
Applications for the Community Recovery Fund should meet both of the following criteria and link with Oldham Borough’s locality response.
The project includes ‘Mutual Aid’ or ‘Social Action’ activity
Voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) groups working in the borough of Oldham supporting Oldham’s COVID-19 Community Recovery whilst we learn to live with the effects of the Covid 19 Pandemic that comply with the most recent Public Health Guidance and Government directives
The Liberal Democrats are calling for an extension of the Government’s furlough scheme until the jobs market is “ready to bounce back” in the wake of “staggering job losses” across the country.
With 9.8% of people now relying on Universal Credit in Oldham, the Party claims that extending furlough would help “stop this crisis getting even worse” and protect jobs for the future.
Despite the Chancellor promising last month to do “whatever it takes” to support households and businesses through the worst of the coronavirus outbreak, the Government has so far failed to agree a plan beyond the end of the furlough scheme on 31 October.
The Liberal Democrats have also warned some of the worst hit are the country’s self-employed workers, three million of which are still not covered by support. The Party has called for support to be extended and urged the public to join its campaign to protect jobs.
Local Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, said: “With so many families in crisis, the Government should be doing everything in its power to protect jobs in Oldham and right across the country.
“The fact that 12,960people are now relying Universal Credit in Oldham shows exactly why the Chancellor must extend the furlough scheme, at least until the middle of next year.
“Ministers need to act now to stop this crisis getting even worse and extend financial support for the millions of people currently excluded from the Government assistance.
Christine Jardine MP, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson, added: “We are seeing staggering job losses, even with the furlough scheme in place.
“People have a right to expect that their Government will stand by them in exactly the way that Rishi Sunak promised when he said he would “do whatever it takes.”
“The Liberal Democrats’ are clear that the Government must extend the furlough scheme until the jobs market is ready to bounce back.”
The Oldham Liberal Democrats are concerned that social care will become a secondary priority if transferred from local authority control to the National Health Service.
At present, local authorities, like Oldham Council, take the primary role in providing a care service to elderly, disabled and vulnerable residents living at home, but Conservative ministers are rumoured to be considering transferring this responsibility to the NHS.
Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, said: “I know from recent personal experience that the National Health Service with its excellent medical facilities and dedicated staff do a wonderful job, but, the NHS does so many things and is such a large organisation, that I really fear that social care in its hands would become a Cinderella service, at the bottom of the rung for investment and innovation.”
“Caring for many elderly and vulnerable residents in their own homes is an area of expertise for local authorities. Councils, like Oldham, can call on incredible carers, who are local people with local knowledge and an understanding of local needs, to provide a responsive, personalised and professional service to those who need them. We work in partnership with the person being cared for, and with their carers, family, and friends, to ensure they are treated with dignity and encouraged to maintain their independence.”
“It is not perfect and could always be better but transfer to the NHS would be a backward step. Regrettably the NHS does not have a very good track record of promoting independence, and many NHS services continue to be delivered in institutions rather than out in the community.”
