The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed the renewal of financial support by regional water supplier United Utilities for Oldham customers suffering financially during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Councillor Sykes said:  “At this time of rising unemployment and financial uncertainty, many people in Oldham will be struggling to meet their bills.  Any help from utility companies to ease their budget is very welcome.”

“The Oldham Liberal Democrats have always been concerned about poverty issues in our borough.  We have campaigned on food, fuel, period and, most recently, clothing poverty and over five years ago we raised the issue of water poverty in a motion we took to a meeting of the full council in July 2015.”

“Liberal Democrat Councillors then hosted a seminar later that same month, where senior staff from United Utilities outlined their support schemes to thirty professionals from a range of local agencies.  Participants also received a bespoke handbook that we jointly produced about these schemes, and this booklet was later sent out to Councillors and one hundred and twenty local agencies.”

Councillor Sykes added:  “Sadly, despite our call to the Conservative Government to recognise water poverty, five years on they have failed to do so.  The Oldham Liberal Democrats would be happy to work again with United Utilities to take the message out once more that help is available to water customers affected by Covid-19.”

United Utilities offers the following help for customers in financial difficulties:

• Back on Track – to reduce water bills for customers on low incomes, benefits or tax credits, and to establish an affordable payment plan
• Help to Pay – to cap bills for customers receiving Pension Credit
• Payment matching plus – where United Utilities matches the payments of heavily-indebted customers made to an agreed regular plan pound-for-pound
• A Restart grant – a one-off payment to help clear customers in real financial difficulty
• WaterSure – to cap the bills of customers with a water meter, where they have a larger family or use more water because of a health condition
• Universal Credit – applicants for Universal Credit can apply to have their bills delayed for eight weeks until they are in receipt of benefit
• Payment breaks – customers in difficulties can ask for a payment break

More information can be found at

https://www.unitedutilities.com/my-account/your-bill/difficulty-paying-your-bill/

Or customers can call the United Utilities affordability team on 0800 912 7247.

 “Welcome, but not enough” says the Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, in response to the recent Government’s announcement that £400 million will be made available to Mayoral Combined Authority areas, such as Greater Manchester, through a new Brownfield Fund. 

Commenting, Councillor Sykes said:  “As the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group adamantly favours building new homes on brownfield sites, and as we have previously called on this government to provide the cash to do this, it would be churlish of me not to welcome any announcement of government money to make this happen, but we have yet to see how much of this money comes to Oldham and in any case Oldham’s share will not be nearly enough.” 

Councillor Sykes is also only all too aware that the Conservative Government has previously reneged on a promise to give the ten Greater Manchester local authorities £50 million for brownfield remediation.  He said:  “The Oldham Liberal Democrat Group condemned this betrayal in a motion we took to a meeting of the full Council in July 2019; for the reality is that, for Greater Manchester, this ‘new’ fund is not ‘new’ at all.  When the government insisted that Greater Manchester build tens of thousands of new homes over twenty-five years.  The ten, then exclusively, Labour controlled Greater Manchester authorities agreed, the government sweetened the pill by promising £50 million to help build on brownfield land.  Then the government reneged on the deal.  

“We have no idea whether Greater Manchester will get at least £50 million under this new arrangement, and until we actually see the cash whether this government will really deliver.” 

In any case, Councillor Sykes is all too aware that any brownfield money will not be enough.  “There are estimates that decontaminating land sites to make them safe for new housing costs on average £250,000 per acre and that in the UK there are approximately 1 million acres of such sites.  Decontaminating a former cotton mill to make it available for housing takes several million pounds.  Though every little helps, £400 million, whilst welcome, is not therefore nearly enough.”

For real time information: https://oldham.roadworks.org/

The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed confirmation from the Leader of Oldham Council that a special meeting of the full Council will be called with a one-item agenda to discuss Labour’s green belt homes plan, called the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, and its impact on the Oldham Borough.

Responding to a letter sent from Councillor Sykes 22 July asking once more if such a meeting would be convened soon, and when, the Leader has replied in writing confirming that ‘an extraordinary meeting of the full council (will be held) with a single item agenda to discuss the plans, and that it will take place as an addition to this year’s council meeting cycle’.  The Council Leader also indicated that this meeting will ‘take place on a date this side of the council meeting scheduled for 4th November’.  

Councillor Sykes first asked the Leader for the special meeting at the Full Council meeting in September 2018, and again in December of that year. 

Commenting Councillor Sykes said:  “The Greater Manchester Spatial Framework will, aside from Coronavirus, have the greatest impact of any issue on Oldham and its people, for twenty years.  Under the current plans of the Labour Greater Manchester Mayor and the leaders of the ten Greater Manchester local authorities, thousands of new homes will be built on green belt over two decades.  This is an issue that has galvanised many of this Borough’s residents to march and protest to save the green belt.  They can be sure that Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Councillors will be on their side when this issue is debated at this special meeting – we want no development on our irreplaceable Green Belt”.

The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed recent news that sales of single-plastic bags at major supermarkets in England has dropped 95% since the 5 pence charge was brought in.

The Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has published date that shows that the main supermarket retailers sold 226 million bags in the 2019/20 financial year compared to an estimated 7.6 billion bags handed out for free in 2015.

Commenting Councillor Sykes said:  “The introduction of a 5p charge for disposable single-use plastic bags was a Liberal Democrat policy in the Coalition Government.  We wanted to introduce this to tackle the culture of shoppers routinely asking for a free bag and then disposing of it after just one use.  Unfortunately, these bags have a devastating impact on our environment.  Many of these bags ended up in landfill or, worse, on our beaches or in our rivers and seas, presenting a mortal hazard to marine life.”

“The 5p charge has had a marked impact on the behaviour of shoppers.  Most shoppers now take reusable bags with them to the supermarket.  An average shopper now buys only four single-use bags a year; horrifyingly, in 2014 the year before the charge was brought in, it was 140.”

The UK Government has recently consulted on extending the charge to all retail business, rather than only those with more than 250 employees, and to increasing the charge to 10p.  The results of the consultation will shortly be published.

Councillor Sykes thinks these changes cannot come soon enough:  “I hope that the government will introduce these changes soon.  The more retailers that apply them the better and a doubling of the charge will act as a further deterrent to the purchase of a single-bag.  We need to drive single-use bags out of existence.  Their production represents a waste of precious resources and a blight on our environment.”

The Liberal Democrat Group proposed a motion to a meeting of Oldham Council in March 2018 calling for the authority to ban the use of single-use plastics.  This policy was subsequently adopted.

The government’s announcement on the reduction in bag sales can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plastic-carrier-bag-sales-slashed-by-more-than-95-since-5p-charge-introduced

The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has written to Oldham Council to ask that Remembrance Sunday services at war memorials across the Oldham Borough should this year be filmed and made available online for members of the public to watch.

In his letter to the Deputy Chief Executive, Helen Lockwood, Councillor Sykes laments that it was impossible to properly mark the 75^th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day in May and this will also be the case with Victory over Japan Day on 15 August because of the coronavirus restrictions preventing large public gatherings. 

Councillor Sykes has asked the Council to now plan for online coverage of the Remembrance Sunday events.

Commenting Councillor Sykes said:  “In Shaw and Crompton, many hundreds of local people join local Councillors, veterans from the Royal British Legion, local clergy and young people from the uniformed services to pay their respects at the Crompton War Memorial to all the servicemen and -women who served their country in time of war and sacrificed all.  This is also the case at our war memorials elsewhere across the borough.”

“This year we are likely to able to only hold small physical services at each of war memorials and I want to ensure that no-one will be excluded from participating, despite Covid-19.  If we can show these services online, anyone with a computer will be able to participate and they will be able to properly show their respects for the sacrifice others have made in the defence of their freedom. If we can allow the public to see Council meetings on-line, we absolutely must do this for our services on Remembrance Sunday.”

I have been informed by the Council they have around 30 minutes of paper and cardboard outstanding in the Shaw area this evening.

Area affected includes the Smallbrook Road and Hillside Avenue area.

Residents are advised that they will be back first thing Monday morning to collect.

Mobile testing for people showing symptoms of Covid 19 is a vitally important tool in the effort to fight this pandemic effectively.

Oldham Borough has been highlighted as a location where a rise in cases of the virus over the past two weeks has placed Oldham Borough at risk of significantly increased restrictions should the spike not be addressed, not to mention the potential of residents falling ill, infecting others, and potentially dying as a result of being unaware they have contracted the virus.

Shaw Ward Councillors in consultation with public health colleagues managed to secure the promise of a mobile testing facility on Shaw market ground over the last week, arriving on Tuesday 4th August and again on Thursday 6th and Friday 7th.

Subsequently the Unit failed to turn up on Tuesday, despite appointments having been booked via the testing website, attended Thursday as agreed, and again failed to turn up on Friday until after 3pm, again despite tests having been booked.

On each day, despite assurances that residents were unable to simply attend and receive a test without an appointment, there is plenty of evidence that shows that people were able to do so.

Additionally residents who tried to book a test via the 119 system were told that Shaw did not have a testing site.

These issues have been raised by Councillor Howard Sykes with the appropriate agencies and subsequently the National Team responsible for Covid Testing have declared these failures as a major incident.

Howard Sykes said ‘ Shaw and Crompton residents have been treated like second class citizens, the whole process has been a farce and totally unacceptable. I have received assurances throughout the week that these issues were being resolved but as of 5pm Friday I am still unaware of how this vital service that saves lives will improve or even be available to Shaw residents moving forward. I have demanded answers and I expect the response to be 100% improved next week, it is simply not good enough’.

COPY OF A RECENT LETTER FROM DIGITAL UK

Dear Councillor,

Further to my recent email regarding the postponement of some required technical changes to TV transmitters in the North West this April due to the Coronavirus outbreak, I am writing again to inform you that these have now been rescheduled to resume in August.

As previously noted, some Freeview channels are moving to new airwaves to allow for the future development of new mobile broadband services, following a decision by the UK Government. Digital UK is working with Freeview and co-ordinating the technical planning of the updates needed at transmitters. This programme of changes started in 2017 and has been taking place region by region across the country.

The final stages of required engineering work at the Winter Hill transmitter group (serving households across Liverpool, Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and north Staffordshire) will now take place on 12 August. This follows a successful update to main BBC services earlier in February this year and work on this day will be carried out on other commercial channels including ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, and some HD services.

Residents who watch Freeview will need to retune their TV equipment if they find they are missing channels on 12 August. Those using other services based on terrestrial TV, such as YouView, BT TV or TalkTalk, will also be affected. Satellite and cable TV services are not affected.

A local information campaign will prepare people for the changes, including advertising and on-screen messages.

For the majority of viewers, retuning should be straightforward and will restore TV services to normal. Some older aerials may need to be replaced to continue receiving all channels. Viewers may be eligible for free in-home support, including aerial work if needed.

Anyone who needs advice, or who finds they are still missing services after retuning, can be directed to the Freeview Advice Line team for support on freephone 0808 100 0288. Information is also available on the Freeview website at www.freeview.co.uk/tvchanges

I would be grateful if you would please share this information with any relevant colleagues.

Should you have any further questions about the changes yourself, please contact us at industry@digitaluk.co.uk