Poowatch progress report requested

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Recent press cutting from LGA First : First Magazine – LGA

Mrs Helen Lockwood, Executive Director Economy, Skills & Neighbourhoods, Mrs Carol Brown, Assistant Executive Director – Environment

Dear Mrs Lockwood & Mrs Brown,

I am sure you will recall that I wrote to you in December 2015 about Poowatch, a free web app for smartphones, tablets and personal computers.

Poo Watch was launched in November 2015 in Worcester to help clean up the city’s streets and to shame irresponsible dog-owners to clear up after their pets. There has recently been further positive publicity in the local government press – attached – and I still believe this technology could be of great use in helping Oldham Council tackle this blight in our borough, particularly in hot spots such as Dunwood Park in my own ward.

To reiterate the contents of my first letter, through the Poowatch app, Worcester residents can record any dog litter they spot in the city. The information they provide will help identify dog litter hotspots so action can be targeted in areas of greatest need.

The good thing with this approach is that the public can be the Council’s eyes and ears in the community, and they are reporting real incidents in real time to enable prompt action to be taken. This app gives residents the ability to help change the behaviour of irresponsible dog owners and to contribute to both a more co-operative and a cleaner borough.

The new web app has been jointly developed by the Safer Worcester Partnership, the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust (DWT) and Worcester City Council with funding from West Mercia’s Police and Crime Commissioner. It is free to access and uses GPS locaters to provide a simple and easy way for people to report dog mess and will help create an interactive map of the city showing the worst affected areas. It also shows the nearest poo bin to the location of the person accessing the app.

As this is free there is no deterrent to residents who are tech savvy from accessing it and using it. As you will know from complaints relayed to you, Councillors are constantly approached by constituents who are enraged by seeing dog poo on our pavements and who demand real action now. Poowatch allows them to be part of that action and make a difference rather than simply registering a complaint.

I would therefore like to ask you for an update as to where this authority is at in terms of introducing Poowatch to the Oldham Borough.

I have enclosed a recent article from First Magazine from the LGA.

I shall look forward to receiving your reply.

Yours sincerely

Howard Sykes

CC Cllr Fida Hussain

Explore Options to Save Link Centre, says Liberal Democrat Leader

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The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Opposition Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has written to the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Abdul Jabbar and the Cabinet Member for Social Services, Councillor Jenny Harrison, asking them to work with him to explore ways to save the Link Centre from being a budget cut.

Councillor Sykes said: “I was saddened to read that as part of the current round of public consultation over proposed budget cuts, that consideration is being given to the closure of the Link Centre – Philip Harrison House.  I recognise that in the current financial climate real savings have to be made, but the Link Centre delivers unique person-centred services to a particularly deserving client group and these services may be impossible to replicate and so may be lost forever.”

“With people living longer more of us will live with disabilities and long-term health conditions will increase, more of us will also become carers to loved ones, so it is inconceivable that the demand for these services will not rise.”

Councillor Sykes has asked the two Councillors to work with him to explore whether the Link Centre could be developed into an independent living centre, based on the model of the Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living.

He added: “I recall private conversations with the late Councillor Philip Harrison, who impressed upon me his vision that the Link Centre should become a centre of disabled people for disabled people.  This is empowering and would represent our vision that a Co-operative Council should be an enabler to help our residents help themselves.”

“Yes budget cuts are a huge threat to services but they also present us with opportunities to do things differently.  The Glasgow model of service delivery is one that I think we should explore for Oldham on a cross-party basis with our officers and with the groups and individuals who also use the Link Centre, and those who in the future may wish to do so.” 

Copy letter attached: Link Centre….

 The Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living http://www.gcil.org.uk/

Letter re Implications of the EU referendum for Oldham Borough

_88328563_euThe Rt Hon Teresa May PM, 10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA

Dear Prime Minister

Re:  Implications of the EU referendum

Oldham Council considered reports on the implications of the EU referendum on this borough and Greater Manchester at its July 2016 meeting.  This was in the context of the referendum result and consideration of the potential impacts of a “leave” vote by the GM Combined Authority in March of this year.

Regarding the referendum, we respect the right of the British people to decide on the country’s future relationship with the EU via this mechanism, but naturally we are concerned about the impact on business and consumer confidence, the various sources of funding the UK benefits from due to its relationship with Europe, and on community cohesion and community relations issues.

Business confidence is currently fragile as a consequence of the referendum, and requires urgent and co-ordinated local and national action to return it to its pre-referendum levels.   We are working in concert with GM colleagues and local/regional chambers of commerce to this effect, but would welcome a dialogue with you about sustaining business and investor confidence in Oldham in a new and uncertain climate.

The recent Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic review sets out the scale of this challenge and opportunity, and we fully support the Greater Manchester case for continuing investment in the Northern Powerhouse project to make this a tangible gesture of confidence in the business community in the North of England.

Greater Manchester and Oldham benefit from significant structural fund schemes impacting directly on skills, employment and business support mechanisms which are essential to supporting our local economy.

We would encourage you to give urgent certainty to the Government’s position on non-contracted ESIF funds as part of the renegotiation strategy, and to the contingency plans the Government intends to put in place to secure equivalent levels of investment should these funds reduce or disappear as a consequence of EU withdrawal.

Local businesses and training providers are looking for such certainty.  We fully support the Local Government Association’s call for local authorities to be involved in the renegotiation planning with such schemes in mind.

We note and welcome subsequent announcements from the new Government – your own in respect of continuing commitment to the “Northern Powerhouse” concept, and those of the Treasury in respect of European Structural Funds.  Dialogue on both is ongoing between Greater Manchester and Government as you will know.

Finally we remain concerned about the negative focus on immigration matters and the consequences for community relations and cohesion in highly diverse urban areas of the North of England.  We are vigilant on these matters, and wish to unequivocally support and nurture the benefits a diverse, tolerant and multi-cultural society brings to our economic growth and development.  We would encourage you to give this matter the highest priority and to not give in to political pressures that risk disrupting many years of stable community relations in Oldham and similar areas of the north by giving any message to the contrary.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Jean Stretton – Leader of the Council

Cllr Howard Sykes – Leader of the Opposition

Shaw and Crompton Parish Council Grant – response to Oldham Council’s proposals to cut the £20K grant

Shaw and Crompton logo red and blk

Further to your letter of 1st August 2016 regarding the possible reduction or withdrawal of the Council Tax Support Grant to the Parish Council with effect from 1st April 2017, please note the following response from Shaw & Crompton Parish Council in terms of potential impact –

Shaw & Crompton Parish Council relies on the Grant to support local community priorities within its annual plan, namely environmental maintenance and improvements, community events,  grant funding and the Citizens Advice Bureau advisory service. Although the Parish Council strives to make improvements and efficiencies, a reduction or withdrawal of the Grant would seriously compromise the Parish Council’s ability to continue to deliver sustainable activities for the benefit of local residents. The key priorities are outlined as follows:-

Environmental maintenance and improvements

The Parish Council has an annual contractual agreement with Groundwork Oldham and Rochdale covering a range of operations (litter removal, footpath maintenance, landscaping ) which keeps the visual appearance of areas within the Parish at a high standard and meets with local public satisfaction. In addition, The Parish Council also undertakes the treatment of public footpaths over and above the footpath maintenance programme carried out by the Borough Council. As such, any reduction in the Grant would put more pressure on Oldham Council’s resources in order to absorb this extra work. It should also be noted that the arrangement with Groundwork also adds value through involvement of local people in the Princes Trust work experience programme.

Community events

For the past 25 years, the Parish Council has organised a Family Fun Weekend and Vehicle Rally, which attracts upwards of 3,000 visitors. Incorporating the Chairman’s Charity Market, this is a key event in the diary and brings communities together to enjoy two days of fun and entertainment.  The Parish Council also arranges one Spring and one Winter Charity Market each year as well as a schools Christmas music festival. Next year (2017) marks the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Parish Council and a special, high profile celebratory event is already in the planning stage.  This is the largest community event in the Parish and special efforts are made to ensure all parts of the community are touched by the event especially the old and young.

Grant funding

Each year, the Council awards minor grants to support local church and voluntary groups and causes within Shaw & Crompton, ranging from Christmas meals for elderly residents to junior sports clubs, all run by volunteers who give something back to our community.  Some of these grants also act as match funding by levering in additional resources especially for our social inclusion projects and those with young people.

Citizens Advice Bureau

Oldham CAB is an established part of the town having delivered advice services from Crompton Library through partnership funding from Shaw & Crompton Parish Council for many years. Last year, the CAB provided advice to approximately 300 (of the more vulnerable) local people on matters relating to welfare benefits, debt, employment and housing issues. The Parish Council continues to fund this valuable service, which means that residents can receive advice locally on a weekly basis, which has resulted in tangible benefits to the most vulnerable people in the local neighbourhood.

In conclusion, the Parish Council seeks to continue the development of a pattern of civic life to benefit the whole community by fostering different types of activity. It does not have the resources to organise and run all varied and inclusive events and projects which make Shaw & Crompton into a thriving and cohesive community but is naturally grateful for the financial support it has received from the Council Tax Support Grant, which if withdrawn or reduced would mean that the Parish Council would have to consider its position in relation to the activities listed above, which we believe engender a sense of identity, aid community cohesion and promote a general feeling of well being resulting in a financial benefit to Oldham Council.

If Oldham Council is minded to remove this Grant, we would request that it is at least implemented in a phased manner so the Parish can plan and cope with the reduction in resources and re-profile its services in a measured and effective way, remaining cost effective and ensuring value for money, which is surely what Oldham Council would wish with the cuts it is suffering from Central Government.