The Conservatives promise to provide 85% of homes and businesses in Oldham with high-speed broadband by 2025 is set to be broken, local Liberal Democrats can reveal, with just 6.6% of homes in the more rural areas getting high speed connections.

Analysis of House of Commons Library data by the party has found that just 3.1% of premises in Oldham East and Saddleworth had gigabit broadband availability in 2021, and just 8.7% in Oldham West and Royton.

At this rate of progress, just 37.2% of homes in Oldham West and Royton will hit the target, a poor enough rate. However, this just serves to highlight the far worse figures in Oldham East and Saddleworth – only 6.6% are on track to get high speed access.

In the meantime, the GMCA Clean Air Zone is leaving business owners facing substantial costs for using vehicles. It’s a perfect storm – you can’t work from home, you can’t get public transport, and you get charged for driving.

Households and business owners in Oldham are bracing themselves for the cost of broadband to skyrocket in April. Several broadband providers have announced prices will go up by 9.3%, in line with CPI inflation of 5.4% in December – the biggest rise in almost 30 years.

With this hike on the way, Oldham Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to legally require all broadband providers to automatically offer cheaper deals through ‘social tariffs’ for struggling families. This move could save nearly 40,000 people in Oldham around £270 a year on their broadband bill.

This pandemic has shown how vital access to broadband is for learning, for work and for staying connected.  But local families and businesses are being left in the digital slow lane and face crippling hikes to their broadband bills, on top of tax raids and soaring energy prices.

These piecemeal policies are costing residents a fortune, hitting businesses in the pocket, and failing to actually deliver what they should be doing. This Government is lurching from crisis to crisis, and it has now idea how to deliver considered programmes that would actually improve this country, and the lives of every person in Oldham and Saddleworth.

The strikes that were set to be carried out by First Manchester bus drivers have been called off as the drivers vote on a new pay offer.

Both First Manchester and Unite the Union, the union representing the workers, confirmed that strikes on February 4 (today) 7, 8 and 9, will now not go ahead.

The drivers will vote on the new offer and if they vote in favour, all action will end, but the strikes will go ahead as planned if the offer is rejected.

The other planned days of strikes are February 15, 17, 18, 21 and 25.

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

This is now under a road closure so investigation and works can be undertaken.

Report by councillor Chris Gloster, Liberal Democrat finance spokesperson.

The majority of Oldham Borough residents will be horrified that council tax, however the percentages are segmented, will be rising by 3.99% this year after yet another underfunded settlement from a government that is clueless about Oldham and its people. 

2% for adult social care is double jeopardy. The prime minister appears intent upon pushing the 1% national insurance increase to fund adult social care, so as pay in the pocket decreases, costs are increasing, and spiralling out of control, with inflation currently sitting in excess of 5%.

Funding adult social care through council tax in the first place is a major problem. The government has failed, year on year, to create a settlement for social care, and have off-loaded responsibility on to local councils. That massively increases inequality, especially for an area like Oldham which has a low Council tax base and a high proportion of people needing adult social care. It’s just another way in which the pretence of “levelling up” is shown to be empty words and a failure to deliver for the country’s former industrial heartlands like Oldham.

This Tory government and Labour Council just does not get it. 

Council tax last year in Westminster was £827.56, for an equivalent banded property in Oldham it was £1672.92, and now we can expect 3.99% on top of that when all around we see daily increases in food, gas, electric, rent, travel and a whole host of other increases. The old adage of eat or heat is soon to be replaced with the phrase ‘survive’ because make no mistake, even hard working Oldham residents will struggle to survive, as prices outstrip pay.

Speaking to people in the doorstep, as we do all year round, not just at election time, the complaints are always similar, state of roads and footpaths, unclean streets, lack of services especially around environmental issues, and cost of council tax for which they can see only decreased services year on year, these are the priorities that matter most to Oldham people.

Despite these increasing costs, the council administration are determined to push on with major capital projects, which although partly grant funded, will have a significant demand upon council borrowing that is of great concern to the Liberal Democrat opposition. 

We have seen the failure of numerous vanity projects over the years and quite rightly challenge the administration with regards to the latest projects, Spindles, Eco Park, Tommyfield and more which if they exceed budget, as every other project has done, or failed to be delivered as described, the effect that this will have on the Borough will be catastrophic.

The 3.99% rise is fait accompli that will impact upon many Oldham homes, however the administration needs to understand that the Oldham public are now stretched beyond the limit in many cases.

Shaw and Crompton Councillors attended the annual Holocaust Memorial Day service Thursday 27 January 2022.

The service held at Crompton War Memorial was about “One Day”* and passages were read by Sade, (Farrowdale House Preparatory School pupil), Aizah (Crompton Primary School pupil) as well Crompton Councillor Dave Murphy.

“It was an absolute pleasure and delight to see so many young children taking part in the service.  We had three different schools in attendance, which also included Royton and Crompton EACT-Academy; this has been our vision from the very start – that school children attend and take back the understanding of the Holocaust and never forget,” said Councillor Diane Williamson.

After the service, stones were laid on Crompton War Memorial; The act of placing visitation stones is significant in Jewish bereavement practices. Small stones are placed by people who visit Jewish graves in an act of remembrance or respect for the deceased. The practice is a way of participating in the mitzvah of burial. It is customary to place the stone with the left hand.

“We hope to see the event grow bigger next year and to have more schools take part” said Councillor Diane Williamson who led the service.

*Survivors of the Holocaust and of genocide often talk about the One Day when everything changed, sometimes for the worse and sometimes for better.

The news that the CSE report into historic allegations of child sex exploitation in Oldham has been delayed again has been met with anger and concern by local councillors.

Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “It was only weeks ago that I was responding to an entirely predictable delay in the report, when time had not been allowed for the legal process. To be in the same position again just weeks later beggars belief.”

Leaks from the report last week showed heavy criticism of the Police and Oldham Council for their handling of a 2006 investigation, with Oldham Council issuing an apology to the victim.

The Liberal Democrat Councillor continued: “This report has been two years in the making, and while I am not happy that it has taken this long, I accepted at the start that this was an independent investigation, and that they would follow where the evidence led, and take enough time to investigate it properly.

“However, why have we been given deadline after deadline that simply haven’t taken account of all the steps needed for it to be completed? Last time it was because time hadn’t been allowed for the legal process, this time because time hasn’t been allowed for responses from those in the report.

“Imagine if you were a survivor; one of the people who has been interviewed by the independent investigation team. How would you feel if you had been given a dates, repeatedly, when the report was going to be released, and again, it wasn’t.

“One of the greatest issues facing survivors is the build-up of emotion caused by any time at which they might have to face talking or thinking about their experiences. Triggering that process, by giving a date that is then withdrawn, is careless and cruel.”

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I would like to introduce Crompton Circle – a Membership organisation for the over 50s who live in Crompton, Shaw & Royton – whose overall aim is to tackle social isolation and loneliness.

It re-launched in September, after a break due to Covid, and they are working hard to promote what they do to members of the community, so that they can get involved – meeting new people, visiting new places and trying new things – and you have the opportunity to shape the activities that are on offer for over 50s.

Each month they create a calendar of social events which includes events suggested by its Members, as well as others that we feel they would be interested in. These events include going for coffee in a local coffee shop, going for lunch, Ten Pin Bowling, cinema and theatre trips, walks, crafts, quizzes and more.

A copy of the latest newsletter is here if you click on the link:

As they grow and develop, they hope to add further services to the offer – just like we do in Heywood, Middleton & Rochdale. There, they have a Practical Helper Service which helps with those jobs you can’t get someone out to do (light gardening, DIY, getting things down from the loft etc); a Digital Support Service – helping Members to get online and get the most out of their digital technology; and a Volunteer Drivers Service – supporting people to get from A to B (including medical appointments as well as social activities). You can find out more about HMR Circle on their website www.hmrcircle.org.uk .

If you would like to know more or make a referral, please do not hesitate to contact Leanne Chorlton me on 0800 112 3440 or email leanne@hmrcircle.org.uk.