Why vote Liberal Democrat in the Oldham Council elections on May 3?

Local government finance has been hit big time by Conservative Government cuts.

Some of our services are now in real danger of collapse.  The eight Liberal Democrat Councillors have spoken out against the cuts; the Conservatives and UKIP continue to stay silent.

We also provide the only opposition to Labour with their 44 councillors (out of 60), challenging decisions we feel are detrimental to the borough’s residents, and proposing practical solutions to the borough’s problems.  UKIP and the Conservatives say nothing, do nothing and often vote with Labour.

We also believe that Oldham Council must get the basics right.  People want clean streets; potholes filled; and an end to fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.

We proposed a ‘war on waste’ by cutting Civic Centre bureaucracy to free up over £650,000 to invest in highways improvements, youth services, tackling fly tipping and installing alley gates and CCTV cameras to help make streets across the Borough cleaner and safer.  Labour voted against our proposals; UKIP and the Conservatives could not even be bothered to turn up to the meeting!

The Liberal Democrats are a party that puts people and communities first.  Voting Liberal Democrat means opposing Labour’s land grab of our irreplaceable green belt, supporting sound finance and reliable public services, and electing councillors who will face the challenges in local government head on – delivering the services you expect whilst squeezing much better value from your Council Tax.

It also means you will elect a local councillor who will be your champion and always be on your side!

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Liberal Democrat and Opposition Leader, Oldham Council and Councillor for Shaw Ward.

Liberal Democrats welcome crackdown on fly-tippers

Your Shaw and Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillors have welcomed plans for people to be fined up to £400 if they fail to employ a licensed firm to take away their waste.

Fly-tipping is the bane of everyone’s lives and an issue that features highly in the complaints we receive.  It is a blight on our environment and costs Oldham Council – and you – millions to clear it up.  This is cash that could be better spent on looking after our elderly citizens or fixing our crumbling roads.

Please ask to see the licence of anyone you want to employ to take away your waste.  You can also check the Waste Carriers, Brokers and Dealers register held by the Environment Agency online at https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/index.

Liberal Democrats seek Council Support for Shaw Economy in Advance of Shop Direct Closure

Following yesterday’s shock announcement that Shop Direct will be closing its Shaw depot in 2020, the Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Shaw Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has contacted senior Oldham Council officers seeking reassurance that the Council will offer a full range of support services to local businesses who lose trade, as well as local employees who lose their jobs, as a result of the proposed closure.

Shaw and Crompton councillors were informed via email by Shop Direct of their intentions at 12.00 hours on Wednesday 11th April 2018.

Councillor Sykes; speaking on behalf of all the Liberal Democrat Councillors for Shaw and Crompton; said:  “This will have a serious impact on Oldham’s economy, particularly in Shaw and Crompton.  Shop Direct is estimated to employ, directly or through agencies, around 2,000 staff in the north-west region; many of these are our local constituents and other residents of our Borough working at the Shaw depot (and in Chadderton).

Most will have to accept redundancy when these jobs are relocated with the company to a new purpose-built plant in the East Midlands.  But in addition to the loss of these jobs, we need to recognise that many of our small businesses in Shaw – newsagents, sandwich shops, pubs and taxi firms – rely on these workers for much of their trade and that they will suffer a significant downturn when the closure takes place.  The risk is that some of these businesses will also cease trading with the loss of yet more jobs.”

Shaw Councillor Chris Gloster added:  “My worry is that if we do not start planning for the future now, with the involvement of the company and with the involvement of the Council’s Get Oldham Working team and other agencies, we could see not only many hundreds of workers thrown onto the dole without alternate employment, but the closure of a good number of our local businesses and Shaw Town Centre taking another big hit on its footfall.”

“Unfortunately we are not inexperienced at this sort of situation, having been through this pain with the closure of Warburton’s Bakery, and we will do our utmost to help people affected by this announcement,” stated Councillor Howard Sykes.

Councillor Chris Gloster added: “although Shop Direct are moving out of town, they are not taking the fulfilment site with them, and as internet shopping is on the rise, and looks like it can only grow bigger, hopefully another fulfilment company will want to take this readymade site over thereby securing employment in Shaw’.

Councillor Sykes concluded:  “Yesterday I contacted senior Council officers, including the Chief Executive, asking them for reassurance about the support we will offer to these workers and businesses so that we can make the best of this terrible situation.   We have also offered our services as a facilitator using the established contacts that I already have with Shop Direct to arrange talks with company bosses at the highest level and at the earliest opportunity.”

Copy of Councillor Sykes Email and officer’s reply

From: Jon Bloor
Sent: 11 April 2018 17:07
To: Howard Sykes; Tom Stannard
Cc: Elizabeth Fryman; Eve Edwards; Cllr C Gloster; Cllr D Murphy; Cllr D Williamson; Cllr J Turner; Carolyn Wilkins
Subject: RE: Re Shop Direct in Shaw to close

Dear Howard,

Apologies I rang you earlier but you are in London today.

We met with the Shaw team in November to discuss working with them via GOW about developing a long term arrangement. So this is a shock, especially as there has been no contact with Midas or ourselves in terms of local relocation options.

However, we need to develop an appropriate and supportive response as we did with Slumberland and Warburtons.

We are meeting with the Operations Manager next week to discuss what can be done between now and 2020/21.

Re: Outplacement support.

I have spoken with Job Centre Plus who will only really get involved in 2 years time when the bulk of the redundancies will be made, and as such we need to recognise that whilst it is a huge initial shock we have two years to work with the workers that are affected.

We believe the numbers quoted in the press release are higher than expected but we shall come back to you when we have a clearer picture.

We shall develop a plan and share this with you re: our offer of support but it will largely be around developing a redeployment offer, using the Career Advancement Staff – and working with local employers to develop clear pathways (For example DPD will be opening during the latter part of this year).

I will keep you updated and thank you for the kind offer of your links this could be really useful but we need to follow their protocol and meet with their national Operations Manager first.

Kind regards

Jon.

From: Howard Sykes
Sent: 11 April 2018 13:28
To: Jon Bloor, Tom Stannard
Cc: Howard Sykes ; Elizabeth Fryman ; Eve Edwards ; Cllr C Gloster  Cllr D Murphy; Cllr D Williamson; Cllr J Turner; Carolyn Wilkins
Subject: Re Shop Direct in Shaw to close

Just seen this announcement.

Are we gearing up to provide support and advice like we have done in the past when a major employer closes down.

Welcome some early re-assurance of what we can do to help.

This will have a mega impact on the Borough and especially Shaw and Crompton.

Myself and Liz have some good contacts at the Shaw site.

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE

My two allowed questions at tonight’s Council meeting 28 March – Tackling Child Poverty in Oldham and Primary Health Care

Oldham Council 28 March 2018 – Leader’s Questions – Councillor Howard Sykes

Q1 Tackling Child Poverty in Oldham

Mr Mayor, for my first question tonight I want to refer to the report published last month by the campaigning coalition End Child Poverty into child poverty across the UK.

Overall the report found that Oldham was the local authority area with the 7th worst estimated prevalence of poverty in the UK.  Most shockingly Coldhurst was identified as the electoral ward with the highest estimated level of child poverty in the country, with over six in ten children living in poverty.

Regrettably Werneth, St Mary’s and Alexandra also featured highly with over fifty percent of all children in poverty.

But child poverty is not simply confined to these areas – there are children living in poverty everywhere in our Borough.

Sadly, you also find pockets of economic deprivation in Shaw, Saddleworth, Chadderton and Royton – all are a criminal indictment of the indifference of policymakers and financiers in the affluent nation that is 21st century Britain.

Of course, much of the blame for the increase in poverty must be laid at the feet of a Conservative Government which continues to insist on austerity and has punished the poor with a benefit freeze.

Yet there were previously investments amounting to tens of millions directed at our most deprived neighbourhoods, Coldhurst, Glodwick, Derker, Fitton Hill, Hathershaw, Limeside, Werneth, and Westwood during previous  Government’s including Labour.  I will mention just four!

  • The Single Regeneration Budget
  • Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
  • The New Deal for Communities
  • Housing Market Renewal

Despite their high sounding titles, very little seems to have changed on the ground.

Mr Mayor, this Administration talks a lot about the ‘game changer’ that the redevelopment of our town centre will represent, but for the children of these neighbourhoods who are hungry or ill-shod a real ‘game changer’ would be having enough food to eat and decent shoes and clothes to wear right now.

My first question to the Leader tonight is this – does this Administration along with its partners have a practical strategy, a ‘game changer’, with real achievable, measurable targets to address the poverty, and therefore the life chances of these disadvantaged children?

This is one league table we need to get off the top of and better still Oldham needs relegated to a lower division.  At least 4 wards in the top flight for poverty is not where we need to be!

If there is not such a strategy, does she not think it is about time that we put one in place as a top priority and as a cross-party priority – for I can tell her now the Liberal Democrats stand ready to help or is another generation to be condemned to poverty?

Q2 Primary Health Care

Mr Mayor, I would now like to return to another very important issue for many residents in our Borough – access to modern primary care facilities in their locality.

The NHS Clinical Commissioning Group has recently consulted on proposals to create five local ‘clusters’, each to serve approximately 50,000 patients at which local GP practices will be concentrated, along with a range of high-quality primary care services that will be tailored to the especial needs of the host community.

I am confident that patients and carers in Chadderton, Saddleworth and Shaw and Crompton will be excited to hear this news as they are currently obliged to attend health centres that are well past their best to say the least.

In fact their facilities are so poor that I would suggest that if a patient presented in such a condition they would be immediately referred for emergency treatment by triage.  They are quite literally falling to bits.

Mr Mayor, if we do indeed have a National Health Service that provides everyone with access to equal treatment at their point of need, why do we not have a Local Health Service that does the same?

Certainly the hard working tax payers in Chadderton, Saddleworth and Shaw and Crompton are being seriously short-changed with their current provision.

We have been promised new health centres in these areas for years; it would nice to see this finally happen – and soon.

The recent appointment of our own Chief Executive Dr Carolyn Wilkins, to a key position and leading role in our local NHS gives me some hope that things may now finally move in the right direction.

With this in mind my second question to the Leader tonight is when can we expect to see new health centres in all areas of our Borough that are fit for the 21st Century?

Liberal Democrats proud of Oldham Connection with Trades Union History

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE is proposing an amendment to a Labour motion about the centenary of the Trades Union Congress that will be discussed at this week’s meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 28 March).  The amendment seeks recognition for the fact that an Oldham Trades Union Council was established one year before the TUC itself and that the Oldham connection to trades unionism history should be properly celebrated.

Councillor Sykes said: “We support the motion – the 150th anniversary of the TUC is worthy of commemoration.  Trades unionism has brought immense benefits to working people and their families, in terms of improving their pay and workplace conditions, but also in campaigning for improvements in safety.  However I was a little surprised that the Labour motion makes no mention of Oldham’s proud record in trades’ union history?  The Oldham Liberal Democrats are therefore pleased to be able to rectify this with our amendment.”

He added: “For the record, one year before the establishment of the TUC itself, the Oldham Trades Council was born, clearly demonstrating that unions in our Borough were already organising themselves to speak and act as one local voice in seeking improvements to pay and conditions in local mills and factories, and ultimately to secure political representation.  Not only that but Annie Kenney, the Springhead mill worker we are now celebrating as a pioneer in the fight for women’s suffrage, was also in fact the first elected female delegate to this body.”

The amendment is backed by Councillor Chris Gloster.  Councillor Gloster commented: “I am pleased to say that some crucial ephemera from the early years of the movement have survived. A banner from 1890 has been displayed at Gallery Oldham as part of the Oldham Stories exhibition, and a banner earlier than this, and mistakenly dated 1857, was restored by dedicated staff at the People’s History Museum.  In addition, early records from the Trades Council were saved when the former Oldham TUC Centre for the Unemployed closed in 1993 and these were transferred to the Working Class Movement Library for safe keeping.  Perhaps some of these items could be used as part of the celebrations?”

Councillor Sykes ended: “The Oldham Trades Union Council still exists so the organisation should be fully involved in this year’s celebrations.”