Oldham’ Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has demanded the Government cancel plans to hike the average household energy bill by £500 in April.  Sykes, who represents Shaw and leads Oldham Council’s Opposition Group, says it’s time to tax the “billion-pound profits of energy companies to pay for real support for families.”

The Liberal Democrats calling for cuts to people’s bills combined with a new energy support package for businesses, leisure centres, schools and hospitals across Oldham.

Councillor Sykes said, “In April the Conservatives are planning to hike the energy price guarantee by £500.  The Liberal Democrats plan would mean that in Oldham, the average household would be £439 better off.  We would save families more than £28 million across the Borough.”

“If the government doesn’t change course, their new price hikes will be a hammer blow to families and businesses already struggling.  Action is needed now to save people from a cost-of-living cliff-edge.”

Nationally, the Liberal Democrats have set out their plan to tackle the energy crisis including: 

1. A windfall tax on oil and gas companies to raise billions of pounds

2. A cancellation of the Governments £500 energy bill rise in April 

3. A one-off bonus tax on oil and gas executives

4. Doubling the Warm Homes Discount to £300.

5. A U-turn on plans to slash energy bill support for businesses, leisure centres, schools and hospitals by 85%, and instead extend current levels of support for another six months.

NOTES
Household Plans:

Under the Government’s plans, the Energy Price Guarantee (EPG) will rise from £2,500 to £3,000 in April. This means that in the three months from April, the average household bill will rise by the equivalent of £500 a year.

From July 2023, Ofgem’s energy price cap is expected to fall below the level of the Energy Price Guarantee, to around £2,200, meaning that the EPG will no longer offer protection from high energy prices.

We estimate that under the Government’s plans, the average household bill over the 12 months from April will be £2,369. 

Under Liberal Democrat plans, the Energy Price Guarantee would be set at £1,971 for the 12 months from April. That is the same level as the April 2022 Ofgem energy price cap. Amending the EPG from its current £2,500 to £1,971 would cut the average energy bill by the equivalent of £529 a year over the three months from April.

Under Liberal Democrat plans, the average household bill over the 12 months from April would be £1,971. This is £398 lower than under the Government’s plan (see table 1).

The Liberal Democrats are also calling for an additional package of measures targeted at vulnerable households to help them save hundreds of pounds off their energy bills. This would include doubling the Warm Homes Discount and the Winter Fuel Allowance, as well as kickstarting a new home insulation scheme starting with fuel poor households.

Costings: 

The Liberal Democrat plan would mostly be funded through money already budgeted for energy support, but now unspent due to falling energy prices. Additional funds would be raised by a proper windfall tax on the record profits of oil and gas companies, including scrapping the fossil fuel investment loophole and raising the rate of the windfall tax from 35% to 40%. This could raise at least £15 billion more than the government’s current Energy Profits Levy. 

Pop along for advice, help or to discuss any issue or matter with your local Liberal Democrat councillors.

Shaw and Crompton Advice Surgeries (no appointment necessary) held on the following Thursdays at Shaw Lifelong Learning Centre – 7:30pm to 8:30pm.

March 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30

Liberal Democrats to set out plan for “Fairer futures in a safer, cleaner and greener Oldham”

• New funding for ’20 is Plenty’ streets
• New parks and recreational spaces fund
• More cash to tackle crumbling roads and footpaths
• More action on enviro crimes (litter, fly-tipping, dog fouling)
• New children’s social care residential home

Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Opposition Group have set out their alternative budget proposals ahead of a crucial Council vote on 1 March, where councillors will agree to spending plans.

Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “New funding for ’20 is plenty’ on residential streets, more cash for our parks and green spaces, real action on environmental crime and a new children’s social care residential home.”

“We’ve listened to our communities and our priorities reflect what people expect from the Council.  Our plan would make Oldham Borough a safer, cleaner, and greener place to be for all of us, but especially for the next generation.”

The Liberal Democrat proposals will be set out by Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader and Shadow Cabinet member for Finance and Low Carbon councillor Chris Gloster on 1 March. 

Councillor Gloster said, “People are fed up with a Council that fixates on flashy vanity projects in Oldham Town Centre and fails to get the basics right for all our communities.  I’m proud to present the Liberal Democrat plan for fairer futures in a safe, clean, and green Oldham starting with our plan for a brand-new children’s social care residential home.”

In the future, Oldham must be able to meet more of our care needs without sending children miles away.  Liberal Democrats have a plan to invest in a new, Council owned and operated residential home for children.”

Councillor Sykes added, “People want safer, cleaner, and greener communities.  Our plan is to invest in ’20 is Plenty’ on residential streets, cutting emissions and improving safety especial for children and older people.  Our proposals for footways, highways and disabled parking investment would make our communities more accessible for everyone.”

“Our local parks and green spaces are being neglected and left to rot without any plan from the Council.  Our plan to create a new fund for parks and recreational spaces will mean more care and maintenance of these treasured local assets.”

Link to Liberal Democrat budget proposals

https://committees.oldham.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=8538&x=1

Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has supported a recent intervention by England’s most senior church leaders, who have called for social care to become a ‘universal entitlement’, on par with the NHS.

Councillor Sykes said, “If we were building the NHS from scratch today, it would be obvious to everyone that we need a national health and social care service.  We have an ageing population and we’re living with increasingly complex physical and mental health needs in our old age.  Everyone deserves access to great healthcare and dignity in old age.  Universal social care is the step we need to take now, to make sure that our health service is fit for the future.” 

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York called for a ‘national covenant’ with a ‘stronger role for the state and citizens’ in delivering care.

Councillor Sykes said, “Here in Oldham there is an awful lot of work to do.  What our borough needs is to be able to provide more social care places ourselves, without having to rely on the private sector.  That means we need to be ambitious about building facilities for people who need them across all age ranges.”

“But we have Conservatives in government leaving a £13 billion hole in social care funding, with no plan to fill it.  It’s got the stage where we have senior church leaders calling on the government to act, because everyone knows how much of a problem this is going to be.  I hope these calls are not falling on deaf ears.”

NOTES

Mini-Budget leaves £13 billion shortfall in social care funding
Mini-Budget: £13 billion a year removed from NHS and social care funding | Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)

New figures revealed by Oldham Liberal Democrats show a drastic fall in the number of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) that Oldham Council is issuing for littering and fly-tipping offences.  Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat representative for Shaw councillor Howard Sykes MBE has slammed Oldham Council for “completely failing on the basics.”   

A Freedom of Information answer provided to the Liberal Democrats confirms that the council issued only 64 littering fines in 2022, down from 194 in 2020, when Covid restrictions were still in place.  The Council also confirmed that fewer fly-tipping fines were meted out – 33 in 2022, down from 50 in 2020. 

Councillor Sykes said, “Here we have another stark example of the Labour administration completely failing on the basics.  The Council has issued fewer fines for littering and fly-tipping than it managed to during the worst year of the pandemic.”

“We hear a lot of talk about the success of campaigns like “Don’t Trash Oldham” but the reality is Labour haven’t got a grip on environmental crime.  These numbers are shocking.  Liberal Democrats have proposed practical action and found the cash to crack down on people who blight our communities with these enviro crimes,” stated councillor Sykes.

There is a national one minute’s silence which will take place at 11am on Friday 24 February to mark the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Following the news that an individual has been found guilty in connection to the sorry events at the Full Council meeting on July 22^nd, Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes issued the following statement.

“Abuse of any kind is never acceptable in any walk of life.  Intimidation and assault of staff and members of the council have no place in Oldham Borough.  This individual has been taken to court and punished accordingly, and I welcome that.” 

Leader of Oldham Councils’ Liberal Democrat Opposition councillor Howard Sykes MBE has hit out at Labour’s Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham after government figures confirm that Greater Manchester has 112 fewer Community Support Officers than in 2017, when Mr Burnham took office.  

Councillor Sykes said, “When it comes to policing in Oldham and across Greater Manchester, the buck stops with Mayor Burnham.  He is ultimately responsible for policing.  He has promised a PCSO for every ward in Greater Manchester, and he has failed spectacularly.”

The Conservative government has a target to deliver 20,000 new police officers by 2023.  But analysis of Home Office data commissioned by the Liberal Democrats reveals that Greater Manchester PCSO numbers have fallen by 316 since 2015, a reduction of 39.3%.

Councillor Sykes said, “Far from more officers on the beat, we have 316 less.  This is a total failure of the Tory Government and the Greater Manchester Mayor who are both trying to convince the public they have a handle on policing.  The reality is they don’t, and the results of broken promises are there for everyone to see.  Our communities feel less safe, and crime is going unrecorded and investigated.”

Until October 2022, Greater Manchester Police had been placed in special measures by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies (HMIC).  But in January, Mayor Burnham announced that he would increase council tax precepts to fund policing across Oldham and Manchester. 

Councillor Sykes said, “It is quite something to ask the public to bail out what was, until very recently, a failing force during a cost-of-living crisis.  But to go cap in hand to residents when you’ve presided over a collapse in front line policing numbers insults local residents.”

NOTES

Home Office, Police Workforce: England and Wales, Jan 2023, Table H7 (various editions) and Table 3. Strength figures include those staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.