Rochdale Road/Fraser Street/Chamber Road Junction

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The Council has confirmed that until such time as the footway frontages on both Rochdale Road and Fraser Street are able to be opened fully to the public, the temporary footways will remain in place and therefore the temporary traffic lights must also remain.

Highways have had many complaints regarding the timings at these signals, however, drivers may not appreciate that they are four way signals with their own green phase on each of the four legs. This means that it will take between two and two and a half minutes between green phases on each leg, so that is six to seven minutes if your lights have just changed to red.

The signals have failed a couple of times which is unfortunate but cannot be avoided; things do malfunction from time to time.

Whenever a malfunction occurs please contact the signal company (Amberon) straight away. Phone: 07875 815 542.

Regarding the works at the shop loss adjustors have now completed their operation and the repair works are currently out to tender. Hopefully work will start in a couple of weeks.

I can assure people the owner of the business wishes these works completed as soon as possible so he can start trading again.

Despite efforts to do so I have been unable to obtain a completion date at this time, if I do I will update people.

Many thanks for your patience but for the safety of both pedestrians and drivers it is essential these signals are in place and working until these works are completed.

Warm Welcome for Lib Dem Manifesto Pledge to Triple Early Years Funding

Warm Welcome for Lib Dem Manifesto Pledge to Triple Early Years Funding

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has warmly welcomed the recent announcement by the Liberal Democrats that they will more than triple investment in the early years pupil premium from £300 to £1000 per child if they form part of the next Government.

The early years pupil premium was announced in March 2014 and is currently worth £300 for every disadvantaged child. Last week Lib Dem Schools Minister David Laws announced that as part of the party’s manifesto this would be increased to £1000.

On hearing the news, Cllr Sykes said:

“By committing this extra money to help the youngest disadvantaged children in society, the Liberal Democrats will ensure that every child gets the best possible start in life, is ready to learn when they start school and so have an opportunity to get on.

As children in early years are only in part time education this represents an equivalent investment higher than the primary school pupil premium, demonstrating the huge importance that Liberal Democrats place on early years education.

This will benefit over 170,000 disadvantaged children from 2015-16”.

Notes

• Increases to the Early Years Pupil Premium will follow the same pattern as the schools Pupil Premium – with the value gradually increasing over the lifetime of the parliament until it reaches £1000 per child. Because children in early years are only in part time education this is an equivalent rate higher than the primary school pupil premium.

• It will pay early years providers an additional amount per year for each eligible child that takes up the full 570 hour entitlement with them.

• The eligible groups will be children from low income families (defined as meeting the criteria for free school meals); children that have been looked after by the local authority for at least one day; have been adopted from care; have left care through special guardianship; and children subject to a child arrangement order setting out with whom the child is to live (formerly known as residence orders).

• As with the schools pupil premium, the Liberal Democrats would not impose restrictions on how providers spend the Early Years Pupil Premium. However, Ofsted will hold providers to account for how they’ve used the money to support their disadvantaged children through the regular inspection process.

• It is estimated that over 170,000 children could benefit from the EYPP in 2015-16 and future years.

• More information on the early years pupil premium is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/early-years-pupil-premium-and-funding-for-2-year-olds
http://www.libdems.org.uk

Shaw and Crompton Beating The Bounds 2014 – 21 Sept

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Shaw and Crompton Beating The Bounds 2014
Sunday 21 September 2014

Shaw & Crompton Parish Council are again celebrating the “Beating The Bounds” walk. Take part in this historic walk along the boundary of Shaw & Crompton. The walk is a circular route, of about 13 miles, taking in sites including, Jubilee, Pingot Quarry, Crompton Moor, Brushes Clough, Fullwood, and Ellen road; walkers can expect to see stunning views over the Pennines and Oldham and beyond.

The walk will leave from Dunwood Park, Shaw OL2 7UQ at 09.30am. If required a break will be taken at the Kings Arms, Grains Bar OL4 2JX ; other rest breaks will be available at St. Joseph’s Church, Shaw OL2 8SZ and The Puckersley Inn, 22 Narrowgate Brow, Royton OL2 6YD. For those who want an easier walk why not join us at the King’s Arms (approx. 12.00) or St. Joseph’s Church, (approx. 13.30 pm) or The Puckersley Inn, (approx.14.30 pm) where we then continue along the rest of the journey.

Anyone interested in participating in this free guided walk should meet at Dunwood Park Cafe, Smallbrook Road, Shaw, OL2 7UQ, at 09:15 am.

Walkers will need to be physically fit to take part in this intermediate-to-hard walk. Please bring a packed lunch and drinks sufficient for the walk together with water proofs and suitable footwear.

For more information prior to or on the day of the walk please contact:

Dr Ray Hughes, Clerk to the Council (clerk.shawcrompc@btconnect.com) on: 01706 847590 or Cllr Chris Stephens on: 07752968201

Lib Dems welcome findings of recent Sanctions Review

Lib Dems welcome findings of recent Sanctions Review

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Cllr Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed the recent findings of the independent review carried out by Matthew Oakley, a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Ian Duncan Smith MP.

The review was published on 22nd July; just days after Cllr Sykes had written to the Minister with his concerns about the operation of the benefits sanction regime and delays in the publication of the report.

Cllr Sykes said: “Whilst I cannot solely claim the credit for the timing of the publication of the report I am sure that my recent letter, along with many others, must have made the Minister realise that benefit claimants and policymakers were anxious to see this report sooner rather than later. The review included a public consultation that ended in January and, as I made plain in my correspondence with the Minister, the delay was I felt long enough.”

The review makes a number of core recommendations; all of which have been accepted by Minister of Employment, Esther McVey, MP, for the Government.

These recommendations included:

• Improving the letters sent to claimants
• Broader communication improvements
• Improving claimants’ understanding of what they are required to do
• Improving understanding of the sanctions process

They are intended to:

• Improve claimants’ understanding of what is expected of them in looking for work and how a sanction may be applied if they should fail to do so
• Raise the awareness of claimants of their rights to seek a review of the decision and to make an appeal
• Raise the awareness amongst claimants of the availability of hardship funds

Cllr Sykes welcomed the findings:

“In my letter to the Secretary of State, I called on him to strike the right balance between placing robust expectations on claimants to find work and giving them the right help and support to do so. Often claimants are not told what is expected of them and so may not be offered the chance or the right support to meet the requirements before being subjected to a sanction.

“As a sanction can result in benefits being withdrawn from a claimant for between four weeks and – in the most extreme instances – three years, I sought to impress upon the Secretary of State that claimants should be given the information and support they need to take responsibility and make the right choices, as well as being made aware of their right to seek a review of the decision to impose a sanction or to appeal against that decision or to make a claim for a hardship payment.

“I am pleased to say that my recommendations to the Secretary of State have been mirrored in the findings of this report.

“I now hope that claimants will be better informed as a result of the report to be able to comply with the requirements of seeking work, and so not jeopardise their entitlement to benefit, and also be more empowered to challenge effectively decisions made against them when they have good reason to do so”.

Cllr Sykes added:

“The cross-party Parliamentary Work and Pensions Select Committee said that whilst sanctions can be a ‘useful tool for encouraging engagement with employment support’, sanctions should only be used as a ‘last resort’. I hope that these changes will lead to claimants being offered a chance to make the necessary behaviour changes first (a warning if you will) before they lose their income”.

The review and the Government’s response can be found at:

Jobseeker’s Allowance sanctions: independent review: call for evidence – Consultations – GOV.UK

Lib Dems seek New Legal Powers to help Parishes go Green

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The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Cllr Howard Sykes MBE has written to Lord Wallace, co-sponsor of the Deregulation Bill, which has just had its Second Reading in the Lords.

In his letter, Cllr Sykes asks Lord Wallace, who sits as a Liberal Democrat in the House of Lords, to ensure “that the final bill contains the necessary clauses to permit Parish and Town Councils to be able to sell electricity that they produce through investment in renewable sources”. Other local authorities already have this power but Parish and Town Councils do not.

Cllr Sykes points out that this anomaly is “illogical” given that the generation of electricity from renewable sources is one of this Government’s highest priorities.

Cllr Sykes is confident that: “These changes in the legislation would allow these Councils to play a full part in the renewable energy revolution.

“5,000 community groups have already participated in renewable energy initiatives; so allowing 9,000 new Councils the power to do so could logically see a dramatic increase in such projects making a significant contribution to addressing climate change, and generating proceeds to spend on improvements in the local area”.

Both the National Association of Local Councils and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Local Democracy support Cllr Sykes’ position.

The legislative changes can be incorporated in the Deregulation Bill to:

• Classify Parish and Town Councils as ‘Local Authorities’ and so allow them to sell any electricity they generate.

• Grant the General Power of Competence to trade to these Councils

Shaw Baths

001456_Swimming-PoolShaw Baths

The closure of Shaw Baths was the subject of an officer report and presentation at last night’s Shaw and Crompton District Executive (22/07/14) following a request local councillors has made at an earlier meeting.

Many members of the public asked questions and the four items detailed below were also tabled at the meeting and voted upon. All of which would allow the Pool to re-open.

Shaw and Crompton District Executive resolved to:

1) Ask Oldham Council to spend the £50,000 identified in the report to fix the fault that caused Crompton Pool to close, plus any subsequent costs because of the length of time the Pool has deliberately remained closed so that the Pool can remain open, as promised until 2016.
Proposed Cllr Rod Blyth
Seconded Cllr Diane Williamson

2) Request that the recently announced Town Centre Viability money (£100K) be used to pay for the works to be completed so that Crompton Pool can remain open, as promised until 2016 – this would increase footfall into the Shaw Town Centre thus helping businesses.
Proposed Cllr Howard Sykes
Seconded Cllr Dave Murphy

3) Use the District Executive’s own resources to pay for the Crompton Pool works to be completed so that Pool can remain open, as promised until 2016.
Proposed Cllr Diane Williamson
Seconded Cllr Rod Blyth

4) Request the Council uses a mixture of all its own funds, the Town Centre Fund and the District Executives funds to pay for the Crompton Pool works to be completed so that the Pool can remain open, as promised until 2016.
Proposed Cllr Dave Murphy
Seconded Cllr Howard Sykes

Each resolution was agreed unanimously by Councillors Mark Alcock, Rod Blyth, John Dillon, Dave Murphy, Howard Sykes and Diane Williamson

Shaw Bus changes effective 31/08

analysis229_1_first_Temsa-busWITHDRAWN
428 Oldham – Royton – Buckstones – First Manchester.

Service 428 operates every 60 minutes on Monday to Friday daytimes. The service is being withdrawn.
New service 23 provides partial replacement (see below).
Alternative services: New service 23 between Shaw Wrens Nest and Broadway (Royton).
Service 435 between Buckstones and High Crompton, Post Office.
Service 408 between Buckstones and Oldham Town Centre.
Service 409 between Thornham, Summit and Oldham Town Centre.

NEW
23 Manchester – Chadderton – Shaw – First Manchester.

New service introduced, operating hourly during Monday to Friday daytime.
Combines with service 24 to maintain 30 minute frequency service between Thornham, Summit and Manchester.
Service 23 provides a partial replacement for withdrawn service 428.
Service 23 will operate from Shaw Centre, via Buckstones to Wrens Nest where the service will terminate before returning to Shaw centre via the reverse of the same route.

CHANGES
408 Buckstones – Oldham – Stalybridge – Droylsden – First Manchester.

Service 408 provides an hourly daily daytime service between Buckstones and Droylsden and an hourly evening service between Shaw and Stalybridge which has an earlier finish on Sundays than on Mondays to Saturdays.

The daily evening and Sunday daytime journeys currently follow a non-standard route via Alt Estate to provide links which are provided by First Manchester commercial service 425 during the daytime.

A section of Park Road, between Woodstock Street and Glodwick Road would become unserved; however, all stops are within 400 metres of alternative stops on Waterloo Street. This action simplifies the local network, removing differences between the daytime and evening service.

Questions to the Leader of Oldham Council – From Cllr Howard Sykes – Oldham Council Meeting 16 July 14

Questions to the Leader of Oldham Council – from Cllr Howard Sykes – Oldham Council Meeting 16 July 14

Q1. Closure of Crompton Pool

I would like to ask my first question about Crompton Pool, known to local people as Shaw Baths.

After the “temporary” closure of the baths in May, there were many weeks with no public announcements or updates for local elected Members or service users.

It was only earlier this month that the bombshell was dropped when the Cabinet Member suddenly announced that the pool will not re-open.

Does the Leader not fully appreciate the depth of anger and frustration felt by local people when they finally heard that this popular facility will now remain permanently closed because this Council will not find £50,000 to carry out the necessary repairs to a boiler to re-open it?

For the sake of only £50,000, many hundreds of local swimmers, members of a local swimming club and the pupils of local schools have been denied the use of a much loved and valued facility in their hometown.

This decision, taken behind closed doors and without a scintilla of public consultation, amounts to a total betrayal by this Labour Administration of the promise made to the people of Shaw and Crompton that the baths would remain open until the new facility at Royton opens in 2016.

Would the Leader concur that this action is not conducive to community cohesion as the people of Shaw and Crompton, who have also seen their local tip closed and plans to redevelop the health centre come to naught, feel more like the ‘have nots’ in this borough?

The people of Shaw and Crompton deserve to be treated better.

Q2. The Manchester Street and Union St West Footbridges

My second question concerns the employment of a rather larger figure than £50,000 – this time to demolish a white elephant rather than preserve a much needed local facility like Shaw Baths.

The Manchester Street footbridge cost £800,000 to build in 1993/94 or about £1.5M at today’s prices.

It has always been a source of problems from the day it eventually opened – later than planned I might add.

It has been subjected to repeated vandalism, it was described as “difficult to use” especially by older people and for those pushing prams, and it was used as an informal ‘youth centre’ and a vantage point for those intent on attacking and robbing passers-by.

All these issues were predicated by the then Lib Dem Opposition who fought the proposals to build this white elephant tooth and nail, calling the structure a totally unnecessarily crystal palace in the sky!

Now there is a proposal to demolish the footbridge with the work starting in August.

Can the Leader confirm that the cost of demolition is expected to be at least £500,000?

So at today’s prices that is £2M for this folly!

Now that £2M would make a substantial contribution not just to fix Crompton Pool but to replace it?

But that is not the end of this sorry story. It gets better – on top of the £2M, at a later date will be the cost of providing some alternative crossing provision at this or near to this location.

Now if we want to spend money on bridges lets do something about the Union Street West footbridge near the Sixth Form College.

This was built in 2000 at a cost of £900,000 or £1.3M in today’s prices. This bridge has always been plagued with vandalism, broken glass panels and structural problems.

In October 2009, cabinet member Councillor Shoab Akhtar was quoted in the local media: “Hundreds of people use this bridge every day and they are growing concerned and feel vulnerable especially with longer nights approaching.

There is nothing allocated to the bridge in this year’s Capital Budget but I urge the council to find the money to get this fixed as soon as possible.”

Will the Leader tell me whether, if five years on, Cllr Akhtar will see his wish granted?

Q3. Camera Cars

The Leader will doubtless recall that at October’s Council an Administration Motion attacking proposals by Conservative Ministers in the Department of Communities and Local Government to ban the use of CCTV camera cars received cross-party support.

Following the resolution, our then Chief Executive at the request of council wrote to the department outlining our objections.

Minister Brandon Lewis in his response invited the Council to respond to a forthcoming consultation on parking. This ran from December to 14th February 2014; hardly an end date we would have picked as the proposal was so unloved.

On 21st June, the department published the findings of the consultation.

In this it is reported that local authorities, cycling groups, disability groups, schools and transport groups were almost all universally opposed to this proposal, and that even groups representing motorists had mixed feelings.
I do hope that, given the depth of feeling in this chamber, that Oldham Council also submitted its comments in opposition to the proposal.

Despite this Conservative Government Ministers want to press ahead with their proposal for a ban by amending the Deregulation Bill now before Parliament.

Can I invite the Leader and Conservative and UKIP Group Leaders to join me in writing a letter to the co-sponsors of the Deregulation Bill, Oliver Letwin MP and Lord Wallace of Saltaire, asking them to resist the inclusion of clauses aimed at introducing the ban, and to also write to our three local MPs asking them to support the Council’s position?

Howard Sykes
16 July 2014

Dog fouling

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Dear Sir or Madam
RE:DOG CONTROL ORDER: CLEAN NEIGHBOURHOODS AND ENVIRONMENT ACT 2005
We receive numerous complaints annually concerning dog owners who allow their dogs to foul in public places; in order for the Neighbourhood Enforcement team to fully investigate a complaint please provide me with the following information

* The times when the owner takes their dog out
* The location where the fouling has occurred
* A description of the dog
* A description of the owner
* If the dog owner is using a car, the registration number

Dog owners who do not clean up after their dogs face an immediate £80 fixed penalty fine or face prosecution by the Local Authority which can result in a fine of up to £1000.

Should you have any queries or require any further advice, please contact the Enforcement Officer on the above telephone number or email below.

Tel: 0161 770 2244
Email: environmentalhealth@oldham.gov.uk