My two allowed questions at tonight’s (13 Dec) Oldham Council meeting – Oldham’s Town Centre Challenge Candidate and Big Change

Council 13 December 2017 Leader’s Question 1

Oldham’s Town Centre Challenge Candidate

Mr Mayor for my first question tonight I would like to refer the Leader to an initiative launched in connection with the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) by the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham on the 17th of last month.

Mayor Burnham announced that he wanted to move away from the “developer-led, green belt approach of the past”.

This is an announcement that both I and my ward colleagues in Shaw and Crompton, as well as thousands of our constituents, will welcome, as in the original GMSF proposals Shaw and Crompton stood to be swamped by almost 3,000 new homes, other tracts of land were designated for industrial development, and our green belt and green spaces would be decimated.

After his election, the Oldham Liberal Democrats wrote to Andy Burnham to ask for the (and I quote) “opportunity to work with you to establish a revised plan that is acceptable to local ward members and our constituents, which mirrors our aspirations for housing and economic development in Greater Manchester.”

It has always been our view that there is no justification for the construction of a large number of properties (or indeed any properties) on Green Belt or Other Protected Open Land (OPOL) before new homes are first built on Brownfield sites, on sites where planning permission for housing development has already been granted and upon the many derelict and the unloved sites in our town centres and districts.

We also believe that every empty mill and factory should be converted and used for housing and that the large number of empty homes across Greater Manchester should be brought back into use.

Mayor Burnham has now invited all ten Leaders of the Greater Manchester authorities to nominate a town for inclusion in his Town Centre Challenge.

The Mayor is proposing to work with each council to bring together housing providers, public and private landowners, developers, community groups and other key stakeholders in a concerted effort to unlock the potential in these town centres, particularly to deliver “viable housing markets and sustainable communities.”

At his launch event, Mayor Burnham promised to use new planning powers and Mayoral grants “to build a new future for those towns through higher density mixed and affordable housing, with local retail and leisure facilities and supported by transport and digital connectivity.”

This sounds like potentially heady stuff, for we are not ‘Luddites’, Mr Mayor, we recognise we need to release more land for more homes for more people.

What we do not believe in is concreting over the green bits!

His plan appears to hold that promise – with an emphasis seemingly placed upon Brownfield development in towns, rather than the ‘death of the Green Belt by concrete’ approach we saw previously.

Mayor Burnham has asked Oldham to bring forward a town centre of its choice to be his development partner so Mr Mayor I would like to ask the Leader tonight whether Oldham will be nominating a town or district for the Town Centre Challenge?

If we will do make a nomination how elected members and the public can become involved in the selection?

Will we have a say on the selection and when do we have to make our nomination by?

Council 13 December 2017 Leader’s Question 2

Big Change

 Mr Mayor, I would now like to return to another very important issue that has again been raised in recent motions proposed by both sides in this chamber recently – the desperate plight of the homeless.

It is an issue that is particularly topical and poignant at this time of the year with the onset of winter.

Mr Mayor, I would like to make a practical suggestion that I feel could make big difference in this Borough.

I am referring to the Big Change scheme, a charitable programme that operates in Rochdale, Manchester, Bradford and Leeds where donors are asked to make donations to a central fund which is used to help all homeless people rather than putting money in a hat or cup on the street.

Evidence suggests that unfortunately some on-the-street donations to people who are begging helps fund drug and alcohol dependency, and can discourage them from accessing services that can help them turn their lives around.

The Big Change scheme recognises that people who are homeless often face practical barriers which need to be overcome for them to become active, independent members of their community and avoid sleeping rough.

It provides homeless people with practical items which support a long term change.  This might include paying for a deposit for a home, a training course to help improve job prospects and clothes for a job interview.

Or it could involve furnishing a new flat, including purchasing crockery, pots, pans and bed linen, as well as funding travel costs to their new home.

In the scheme run by our neighbours in Rochdale, the fund is administered by Just Giving and Forever Manchester, and applications for grants are considered by a panel which includes a former rough sleeper and representatives from charities working with the homeless.

I would therefore like to ask the Leader tonight if she will ask the Homelessness Forum to look into the practicalities of bringing Big Change to Oldham?

Oldham Liberal Democrats want LEDs to Light Way to a Green Future

At tonight’s full Oldham Council (13 December 2017), the Oldham Liberal Democrats are proposing that the Council looks to adopt LED lamps to light the Borough’s streets and council buildings.

Councillor Diane Williamson is proposing the motion: “LED lighting is the way of the future. Although there will be an initial cost in replacing existing lamps with LEDs, they cost much less to run, leading to long term savings which will free up money for essential services, and they are much better for the environment, meaning our Borough will be greener.”

Liberal Democrat Councillor John McCann, who is seconding the motion and is the party’s spokesperson on finance, proposed in the party’s 2017 alternate budget that LED lighting be adopted; a proposal endorsed by the Performance and Value for Money (PVFM) Sub Committee.

Councillor Williamson added: “This is a common sense choice for our long-term finances and the right choice for a green future. However we recognise that in Oldham we have the added complication that our street-lighting service is delivered through a Private Finance Initiative arrangement, in conjunction with our neighbours at Rochdale Council.”

“Our motion therefore asks the PVFM Sub Committee to take a further look at how the replacement of our existing lighting with LEDs can be done in an affordable and phased way over five years, and how we might look to become a signatory to the Lighten Up Campaign, run by the environmental group 10:10, as a Council fully committed to cutting our carbon footprint.”

Council 13 December 2017 – Motion – Lighten Up Pledge

 This Council notes:

  • There are an estimated 7.5 million street lights in the UK
  • In 2014, the Green Investment Bank reported that only 10% of these are LED
  • It is estimated that switching all street lights to LED would:
  • save Councils over £200 million per year, paying for half a million children to have free school meals each year or for an extra 12 million hours of social care
  • prevent over 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere every year, the equivalent of taking 400,000 cars off the road
  • take 0.5 GW off peak electricity demand, the equivalent of a coal fired power station
  • reduce light pollution as they are more directional and can employ sensors which determine when they are most needed and when they are not
  • Further cost reductions can be provided through the use of LED lighting within Council buildings
  • Affordable financing is available to Councils to make the change to LED street lights through the Public Works Loan Board, the Salix Energy Efficiency Loans Scheme and the Green Investment Group amongst others
  • That the change is possible even in a situation where the street lighting service is provided via a Private Finance Initiative model
  • That the 10:10 climate change climate group is asking Council to sign up to the Lighten Up pledge and make a commitment to going fully LED within 5 years

As a local authority committed to reducing its carbon footprint and providing residents with value-for-money services, Council recognises that a change to LED has merit, is worth investigating, and that a proposal to so was approved by the Performance and Value for Money sub-committee when it was presented as part of the alternate budget proposed by the Liberal Democrat Group in 2017.

Council therefore resolves to ask the Performance and Value for Money sub-committee to examine:

  • The practicality and affordability of replacing street lights and lighting in Council buildings with LEDs in whole or in part
  • The possibility of the Council making a commitment to replace all street lights with LEDs within five years and to making the Pledge as a signatory to the Lighten Up campaign.

Liberal Democrats call for Better Council Practice in Planning

 

The Oldham Liberal Democrat Group ‎has proposed a motion to the next meeting of Oldham Council (this Wednesday 13 December) that planning officers routinely notify Ward Councillors when developers have, or have not, complied with planning conditions and that they also provide Councillors with opportunities to meet with local constituents to discuss planning matters.

Deputy Group Leader Councillor John McCann is proposing the motion. He explained: “Local Councillors are often not informed by planning officers about public consultation events or whether, or when, developers comply with the conditions that are attached to planning consents. This is simply wrong – as local leaders we have the right to know and the right to be involved.”

Councillor McCann is backed by the Liberal Democrat Group Leader and Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE.

Councillor Sykes added:  “It is very frustrating that Ward Members are kept ‘out of the loop’.  Planning matters are often very contentious and our constituents have strong feelings on these issues.  As best practice, planning officers should routinely inform and involve members when they will be consulting the public on planning matters and they should tell us when developers have met the conditions that are attached to planning approvals.”

Councillor John McCann cited one example of a planning application where the outcome has been unsatisfactory, both for Ward Members and local residents. ‎”A classic case is that of Well I Hole Farm and Camping Site where even the conditions that a Planning Inspector imposed on an applicant have not been implemented or enforced some three years later.”

“If Ward Members are notified of circumstances such as these, we can add our weight to that of planning officers and residents to pressurise the developer into compliance.”

Councillor Sykes concluded: “Quite simply we want Oldham Council to become an exemplar local authority on planning consultation and enforcement, and we are confident that if our motion receives cross-party support at the full Council on Wednesday ‎we will move a long way in this right direction.”

The Motion reads:

Notification of Discharge of Planning Conditions to Ward Members

 Council notes that planning officers do not notify Ward Members when the conditions attached to planning approvals are satisfactorily discharged by the applicant

In order to establish greater transparency in the planning process and to keep Ward Members better informed and engaged, Council resolves that best practice be created by requiring planning officers to give such notification and that opportunities be provided for Ward Members to engage with members of the public on planning matters in the spirit of co-operation.

Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive as Head of Paid Service to liaise with the Head of Planning and Infrastructure to ensure that planning officers are made aware of these requirements and ensure that they happen.

Oldham must be High Standard on Dementia Council Tax Exemptions, says Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has written to the Borough Treasurer Ann Ryans to find out what the Council is doing to ensure that dementia sufferers and their carers receive the exemptions from Council Tax that they are entitled to.

Anyone with a severe mental impairment, such as dementia, is exempt from paying Council Tax, which means that people with the condition who live alone do not have to pay any Council Tax and those living with a carer will still receive a 25% reduction in their bill.

Councillor Sykes explained why he is concerned:  “A recent survey by the website MoneySavingExpert.com has found that up to 100,000 people are wrongly paying Council Tax because they were unaware of these exemptions.  This situation appears to have been worsened because in a mystery shopping exercise conducted by the website it was found that two thirds of local authorities contacted failed to give callers the correct information about their entitlement.”

“Martyn Lewis, the founder of this website, described the situation as a ‘postcode lottery’ and I concur. Dementia is an appalling disease and it is both tragic and criminal that sufferers should have to face the additional indignity of paying a charge for which they are not legally liable.”

Councillor Sykes has written to Ms Ryans asking for information as to what Oldham Council is doing to be an exemplar local authority in this field – “one, to ensure that applicants and their families/carers receive the right information every time and two that we have 100% take up, or as near as is possible, of the exemption for those who are eligible?”

Copy of email below:

From: Howard Sykes
Sent: 10 December 2017 14:43
To: Anne Ryans <Anne.Ryans@oldham.gov.uk>
Cc: Kay Gibson <Kay.Gibson@oldham.gov.uk>
Subject: Dementia and Council Tax

Dear Ms. Ryans,

The media has recently reported the findings of a survey by the website, Money-Saving Expert, that up to 100,000 people could be wrongly paying Council Tax because they are unaware they qualify for an exemption.

Dementia is classed as a severe mental impairment meaning that sufferers living alone are entitled to a 100 percent exemption from Council Tax, whilst a household with a dementia sufferer and a carer will still receive a 25% discount.

It is reported that a mystery shopping poll of local authorities found that two thirds of Councils were unable to provide accurate information about the exemption and how to apply for it.  This is both tragic and criminal as sufferers should not have to suffer the additional indignity of paying a charge for which they are not legally liable.

I would like to know please what Oldham Council is doing to be an exemplar local authority in this field to ensure that applicants and their families/carers receive the right information every time and that we have 100% take up, or as near as is possible,  of the exemption for those who are eligible?

Look forward to your reply with interest.

Best wishes.

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE

OLDHAM LIBERAL DEMOCRATS CALL ON GOVERNMENT TO MAKE UK “A WORLD LEADER IN ANIMAL WELFARE”

Following the Government’s recent refusal to incorporate European law on ‘animal sentience’ into UK law, the Oldham Liberal Democrats are proposing a motion to this week’s meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 13 December) calling on the Government to ‘put the necessary legislation where its mouth is’ to make the UK a world leader in animal welfare.

Councillor Julia Turner, who is proposing the motion, explained: “When Parliament debated the EU Withdrawal Bill, the Government voted to reject an amendment proposed by Caroline Lucas MP that would have transferred a European Union Protocol that recognises that animals are sentient, that is they are capable of feeling such emotions as pain and contentment, into UK law. Why does this matter? Because there is a real worry that this may lead to a slide in animal welfare standards and more animals being abused and mistreated.”

Similar concerns have been expressed by the British Veterinary Association, the professional body for practicing veterinarians in the UK.

Councillor Turner also previously brought a motion on the issue of puppy farming to Council which received cross-party support. “People are rightly appalled by the misery, neglect and cruelty inflicted by puppy farmers on the animals they exploit in this abhorrent practice. Council agreed that we needed to take action on this the issue of puppy farming and that the Government needed to also, and we urged members of the public to only buy puppies from reputable dealers. The fear is that such animals may now be further abused if the Government fails to recognise ‘animal sentience’.

“We want the Government to honour its stated commitment for the UK to become a world leader in animal welfare by bringing forward the necessary legislation to make it so. I would particularly like to see new laws to increase the sentence applied to those convicted of abusing animals from the current paltry six months to five years.”

Councillor Chris Gloster is seconding the motion.

The motion reads:

Motion – The Sentience of Animals

This Council notes that:

  • An amendment (New Clause 30) to the EU Withdrawal Bill, proposed by Caroline Lucas MP, was recently defeated by the Government in Parliament. This amendment sought to transfer the EU Protocol on animal sentience set out in Article 13 of Title II of the Lisbon Treaty into UK law, so that animals continue to be recognised as sentient beings under domestic law.
  • Widespread concern has been expressed by animal welfare groups, members of parliament and the public that the defeat of this clause will lead to a weakening of the laws protecting animals.
  • Gudrun Ravetz, Senior Vice-President of British Veterinary Association, the professional body for practicing veterinarians in the UK, stated: “Enshrining animal sentience in UK law would have acknowledged that we consider animals as being capable of feelings such as pain and contentment and, so, deserving of consideration and respect. It is a founding principle of animal welfare science, and for the way that we should treat all animals. There is now an urgent need for clarity from Government on how the provisions in Article 13 will be enshrined in UK law to ensure we do not fall short of the high standards we expect as a nation of animal lovers.”
  • In recognition of this concern, the Environment Secretary Michael Gove said in a ministerial statement that: “This Government is committed to the very highest standards of animal welfare. As the Prime Minister has set out, we will make the United Kingdom a world leader in the care and protection of animals.” In his statement, the Minister promises to increase the jail sentence for humans who abuse animals to five years, improve CCTV monitoring in slaughterhouses, and strengthen the ban on the ivory trade and ban micro-beads in products.

This Council:

  • Recognises that animals are sentient beings and deserving of the highest standards of legal protection.
  • Shares the widespread public concern that the defeat of New Clause 30 may represent a threat to the legal protection of animals.
  • Wishes to see this Government live up to its promise to “make the United Kingdom a world leader in the care and protection of animals” by enacting the measures promised by the Environment Secretary as quickly as possible.

Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to:

  • The Environment Secretary to express our concern at the defeat of New Clause 30 and to seek reassurance and clarification from the Minister as to when and how the Government intends to honour its promise to be a “world leader” in this field by enacting the alternative and enhancing animal welfare legislation outlined in his Ministerial Statement.
  • Our three local Members of Parliament to seek their support for the Council’s position