Councillors Rod Blyth, Mark Alcock and Howard Sykes.
Also Parish Councillors Aspinall, Farrell, Duffy, Hall, Stephens, Dodd, Robinson, Murphy and Wood will also attend.
7.30pm – 8.30pm, Lifelong Learning Centre, High Street, Shaw, OL2 8TB.
Thursday: January: 8, 15, 22, 29
NO APPOINTMENT REQUIRED
The Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Howard Sykes, has written to the Community Shop with an invite to come to Oldham to open a branch of their innovative social enterprise.
Cllr Sykes said in his letter to Sarah Dunwell, Director of Community Affairs, how impressed he was by news of the recent opening of the Community Shop’s second outlet in West Norwood, London on Monday.
The shop is a social enterprise that helps benefit claimants by providing them with the opportunity to purchase heavily-discounted ‘surplus’ food sourced from commercial supermarkets and the support they need to get back into employment.
Other than the prices, to all intents and purposes, the shop looks just like a regular supermarket with all food in date and fit to eat; it is cheaper because this is surplus food discarded by other retailers because it is misshapen or it has damaged packaging.
Describing the Community Shop concept as “worthy and practical”, Cllr Sykes also describes his impressions of the merits of the project:
“Not only are you reducing food waste by selling ‘surplus food’ supplied by commercial retail supermarkets at discounted prices to local people on a low income, but you are also addressing the waste of human potential and talent by engaging your co-operative members in productive training and activity that will lead them into employment.
“I believe that your project provides participants with dignity, because they are able to purchase a range of quality goods at low prices, rather than receiving donations; with continuity, because they are able to access such food purchases on an ongoing basis as required; and with hope, because alongside this retail offer they are able to access support to move into work”.
When the first Community Shop store was opened in Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire, a year ago, it was announced that the project had ambitious targets to expand to a network of twenty one.
The enterprise is seeking partners across the country with a potential site in which to establish new stores.
Cllr Sykes has contacted Ms Dunwell because he believes “Oldham has that potential” and offers his services “as a facilitator to open a dialogue with the Council and our local food retail businesses”.
Copy of letter below:
OLDHAM COUNCIL
Councillor Howard Sykes
Leader of the Opposition, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group Oldham Council, Member for Shaw Ward, Member for East Ward Shaw & Crompton Parish Council.
5 Ballard Way
Shaw
Oldham
OL2 8DU
Please address all correspondence to:
Room 343, Level 3
Civic Centre
West Street
Oldham
OL1 1UL
E: howard.sykes@oldham.gov.uk
W: www.howardsykes.co.uk
Twitter: @Howard_Sykes
Ms Sarah Dunwell
Director of Social Affairs
Community Shop
Wentworth Way
Wentworth Industrial Estate
Tankersley
Barnsley
S75 3DH
T: 0161 770 4016
F: 0161 770 4026
Our ref: HDS/sb/148/2635
Date: 18 December 2014
Dear Ms Dunwell
Re: Oldham – a potential location
Congratulations on the opening of your second outlet in West Norwood, London on Monday.
Having read the positive coverage in yesterday’s quality press and visited your website, I am immediately impressed by how worthy and practical the Community Shop concept is.
Not only are you reducing food waste by selling ‘surplus food’ supplied by commercial retail supermarkets at discounted prices to local people on a low income, but you are also addressing the waste of human potential and talent by engaging your co-operative members in productive training and activity that will lead them into employment.
I believe that your project provides participants with dignity, because they are able to purchase a range of quality goods at low prices, rather than receiving donations; with continuity, because they are able to access such food purchases on an on-going basis as required; and with hope, because alongside this retail offer they are able to access support to move into work.
On your website, you ask anyone with a potential site to contact you.
I am contacting you because I believe that Oldham has that potential, and I would like to offer my assistance as a facilitator to open a dialogue with the Council and our local food retail businesses.
In Oldham, you will find not only a need for a project such as yours, but a local authority that has strategic goals which compliment yours; namely to become a co-operative borough and to get Oldham Working. We also have a voluntary and business sector with whom we work hard to address poverty and worklessness.
I look forward to hearing from you and to starting our partnership to bring the Community Shop concept to Oldham.
Yours Sincerely
Howard Sykes
1 – Learning Lessons from the Coffey Report:
The Leader will doubtless be aware of the recent publication of the findings of the Inquiry, chaired by the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children, Stockport MP Ann Coffey.
The Inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester followed the failure of statutory agencies to safeguard vulnerable children and young people in Rochdale and Rotherham.
Chair Ann Coffey spoke of “the failure of police and partner agencies to listen properly to young victims and their families and to adequately respond to them…
It is clear that victims in Rochdale and elsewhere were not identified or taken seriously because of negative and discriminatory attitudes of the police and other partner agencies towards them.
Their behaviour was seen as a life style choice and because of that they were not seen as vulnerable children and were not given the protection they should have expected from organisations with a responsibility to safeguard them”.
This sounds identical to the tenor of Professor Jay’s Report on Rotherham.
However this Report, titled ‘Real Voices’, is more shocking because it features the voices of vulnerable children and young people from our own communities across Greater Manchester – they could very well be the sons and daughters of our friends and neighbours.
Can the Leader please tell me how this Council will be responding to the findings of this Report to ensure that the children and young people of our Borough will be protected from such exploitation in the future?
2. Supporting Candidates and Councillors with Disabilities:
The Leader may be aware that the period from 22nd November to 22nd December is designated Disability History Month.
During this month we are asked celebrate the lives and achievements of disabled people and encouraged to hold awareness raising activities about disability.
It will soon be apparent to Members opposite that disability issues will be a major focus for the Liberal Democrat Group at tonight’s Council.
I am sure that the Leader will agree with me that it is proper that this Council reflects the make-up of the borough’s population. It is important therefore that this Chamber includes Councillors with disabilities and that the Council’s workforce is inclusive of disabled employees.
Not only is this the right thing to do, but it is also practical – for how otherwise will we as Councillors or Council Officers be aware of the needs and aspirations of disabled people and so be able to provide appropriate services and opportunities?
For my second question, I want to focus on the support provided to electors with disabilities who wish to become Councillors.
The Leader will be aware that the Local Government Association is working with the Government’s Equalities Office on a pilot programme to encourage more disabled people to become Councillors.
This builds on the LGA’s ‘Be a Councillor’ programme which encourages people from all walks of life to consider becoming a Councillor and this Government’s excellent ‘Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund’, which provides financial support to disabled people seeking elected office or when carrying out their duties once elected.
I am also conscious that this Council Chamber will eventually be refurbished to make it ‘fit for purpose’ for the 21st Century. I hope that this refurbishment will be undertaken with the needs of people with disabilities in mind.
Can the Leader please tell me what this Council is doing to encourage disabled people to come forward as candidates for election in 2015 and beyond, what support will be available to those candidates if elected, and what steps are being taken to ensure that this Chamber when refurbished will meet the needs of Councillors with disabilities?
3 – Laughing Gas is Latest Legal High
Nitrous Oxide, or laughing gas, is the latest in a long line of ‘legal highs’ that can be purchased from corner shops and street vendors.
Commonly used as an anaesthetic in dentistry and in surgical procedures, it is now estimated that some 200,000 people use laughing gas ‘recreationally’ across the UK.
It can give users a feeling of euphoria, but it can also lead to lower blood pressure, anaemia, fainting, heart attacks and poisoning of the nervous system.
That is of course why in medical environments its use is limited to pain relief and supervised by trained personnel.
Last month, Manchester University banned students from using ‘laughing gas’ on university property and Manchester City Council has also voted to toughen its stance on the sale of such gas, with money from the public health budget is being used to raise public awareness of the dangers of its use.
And in Taunton, Somerset, Council business tenants are to be banned from selling “legal highs” over the counter.
Can the Leader please tell me tonight whether this Council is prepared to follow the lead shown by Manchester and Taunton?
And how is this Council working with the Police and other partners to combat other ‘legal highs’?
Howard Sykes
17 December 2014
Councillors Rod Blyth, Mark Alcock and Howard Sykes.
Also Parish Councillors Aspinall, Farrell, Duffy, Hall, Stephens, Dodd, Robinson, Murphy and Wood will also attend.
7.30pm – 8.30pm, Lifelong Learning Centre, High Street, Shaw, OL2 8TB.
Thursday: December: 4, 11, 18
NO APPOINTMENT REQUIRED
Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Howard Sykes, is keen to encourage the residents of our Borough to do something positive in National Tree Week to mark the importance of trees in our lives.
First started in 1975, National Tree Week marks the start of the winter tree planting season. National Tree Week this year is from 29th November to 7th December 2014.
Each year, partner organisations, such as local authorities, schools and community groups, work with the National Tree Council and its network of 8,000 Tree Wardens organise events that inspire up to a quarter of a million people to plant around a million trees.
Cllr Sykes said: “Not only do trees provide the oxygen that we breathe; the wood we use for construction and to heat our homes; and some of the food that we eat, but woodlands are great habitats for wildlife and great places for us to enjoy, whether it be for a romantic walk, a family picnic or for children to play hide-and-seek.
“Earlier this year I wrote to my Liberal Democrat colleague, Forestry Minister, Dan Rogerson MP, seeking a Forestry Bill to provide for the care of this nation’s forestry estate and to provide greater legal protection for Britain’s ancient forests.
“Under Dan’s stewardship, this Government has planted one million new trees and I am pleased that the Lib Dems at its last conference pledged to plant one new tree for every baby born in this country.
“Everyone can do their bit during National Tree Week – you can go out and plant a native British tree in your garden; if you are a school governor you can pledge to take action to plant trees your schools grounds and to ensure that it becomes a Forest School; and for those of you who are active in Friends of Parks groups you can look online to find out how you can become one of the National Tree Council’s trained tree wardens, who do so much work to help preserve the health of our woodlands”.
Further information about National Tree Week can be found on the website of the National Tree Council – http://www.treecouncil.org.uk/
Earlier this week Council Officers have visited site and subsequently spoken by telephone with Cuncannon the appointed contractors requesting an update on the removal of the scaffold.
They have informed them that the scaffold, skip and debris will be removed and cleared from site no later than close of business on Wednesday 12th November.
Although, this is slightly later than anticipated the contractors have been asked by the property owner to provided roller shutters (for security) to all windows and doors and the delay has been the delivery of the shutters.
The Council has informed the contractor that they intend to open the Highway on the Thursday 13th November.
Councillors Rod Blyth, Mark Alcock and Howard Sykes.
Also Parish Councillors Aspinall, Farrell, Duffy, Hall, Stephens, Dodd, Robinson, Murphy and Wood will also attend.
7.30pm – 8.30pm, Lifelong Learning Centre, High Street, Shaw, OL2 8TB.
Thursday: November: 6, 13, 20
NO APPOINTMENT REQUIRED
Elizabeth Truss, the Environment Secretary, has today (Tuesday 4th November) launched a National Pollinator Strategy that every gardener should read.
Speaking to the Policy Exchange think tank, Ms Truss said that pollinator species such as bees, butterflies, moths and wasps are ‘indispensable’ to our food production and that establishing a ‘flower-rich habitat’ will help increase their numbers.
Many thousands of Britons have already created pollinator-friendly havens in their gardens and backyards.
This is very commendable.
I am glad that Ms Truss has finally published the long-promised plan as the latest guidance offers advice on how we can all contribute to saving Britain’s bees.
The plan was certainly a long time in coming. In April of this year, I wrote to Ms Truss’s predecessor, Lord de Mauley, urging him to publish a plan as a matter of urgency.
Lobby groups, such as Friends of the Earth, were also campaigning hard on this issue.
For those readers that wish to help save Britain’s bees and other pollinators, the plan they can found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-strategy-to-support-bees-needs
Cllr Howard Sykes gives Guarded Welcome to ‘Devo Manc’ Agreement
The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Cllr Howard Sykes MBE, has given a guarded welcome to this week’s news of the agreement between the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the 10 Council Leaders in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
Cllr Sykes said: “Much of what has been agreed is to be welcomed. The Oldham Liberal Democrat Group certainly wish to see more power and more revenue being devolved from Whitehall to local town halls so this is a big step in the right direction.
“At the last Council meeting in October, I expressed my support for devolution and offered my full support to the Council Leader in achieving it.
“The plan will devolve real powers to a new Greater Manchester Authority, led by an elected Mayor, allowing significant improvements to our infrastructure, the creation of more efficient and joined up public transport network and thousands of new homes to be built, whilst creating many more, much needed businesses and local jobs.
“There is no doubt this will all have a positive impact on Oldham’s economy as one of the ten beneficiary authorities.
“Another spin-off benefit will be amalgamation of the powers and responsibilities of the Police and Crime Commissioner, a post that has never been popular and the loss of which will not be lamented.
“However the new Mayor will only be elected in 2017, after a delay of almost two and a half years and after a General Election, with all the uncertainties that this brings for the future. In the interim an appointed Mayor will take charge of a vast budget.
“It is of course early days, but I am concerned that as yet there appears to be no concrete proposals in place to scrutinise the actions of the appointed Mayor or of the ten local authority Leaders who will sit in judgement on her or him.
“There have been major past concerns about the accountability of the Police and Crime Commissioner to the public. I would certainly want the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to look at how the Mayor and new authority will be properly accountable to both elected members and the wider electorate.
“The Oldham Liberal Democrats will be looking to ensure that once worked up future governance arrangements balance operational efficiency with public transparency”.
1: Devolution
My first question to the Leader tonight concerns the all-important issue of Devolution.
The enthusiasm of the people of Scotland in campaigning in the Referendum and in casting their ballot on 18 September provides a model for participatory democracy that we should hope to emulate in this Borough.
Particularly noteworthy, when related to the business brought before this Council by the Youth Council is that young voters in Scotland, especially those voters aged 16 and 17, became fully engaged in the Democratic Process.
The Leader is, I know, well aware that the Scottish Referendum has led to increased discussion on the Devolution of further powers and revenue not only to Scotland, but from Central Government in Westminster and Whitehall to Town Halls throughout England.
The desire amongst elected Members and voters in England for Devolution is also great.
For too long now, Central Government has been seen to be just that – central and remote from the lives of people in their own localities. With powers and monies flowing downwards from the centre and sometimes grudgingly given.
Yet elected Members and local people know what is best for their own towns and communities. And Councils have well-established partnership arrangements to enable them to work effectively with key local players in the statutory, voluntary, faith and business sectors.
These two factors mean that Councils could deliver a greater range of Devolved Services more efficiently and responsively.
I am sure that every elected Member in this Chamber would welcome more authority to do things that benefit the people of this Borough and to keep more of the revenue raised locally in order to do so.
The Liberal Democrat Group would certainly welcome the chance to work with this Administration to secure for Oldham the powers and finance to build a successful and prosperous future for our Borough and its people.
Can the Leader tell me how the Liberal Democrat Group can work with Labour to press the case for Devolution?
And can he please tell us what progress has so far been made by the Leaders in the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities in making the case to Government?
And what the proposal for ‘an Eleventh Leader’ of the Combined Greater Manchester Authority actually means in practice?
2: Tooth Decay
My second question relates to Public Health.
I want to highlight two Public Health issues.
First a success story; this Borough has recently recorded one of the biggest falls in teenage pregnancies in the Country.
The Office for National Statistics has recently confirmed that the Teenage Conception Rate has dropped by almost two thirds since 1998; the largest reduction anywhere outside of London and Darlington.
This is all down to the outstanding work of the Oldham Teenage Pregnancy Partnership to whom I want to place on record my congratulations and thanks for a job well done.
However I now want to highlight a health issue in which Oldham is far from the leader.
In recently released Public Health England data, that compared all Local Authorities in England, more than one-quarter of three-year-olds in Oldham were found to be suffering from tooth decay.
We are not the worst – in Leicester it is tragically 34 per cent of three-year-olds – but we are far from the best.
The high level of tooth decay is in large part due to the fact that parents are giving infants too much fruit juice and squash.
Tooth decay is no small matter.
Quite apart from the discomfort and pain that is suffered, it has been shown that small children struggle to feed nutritiously and it has an impact on social skills and vocalisation.
So there is much work to be done in this area, yet it is estimated that this year there will be a significant underspend in Public Health funding.
I should very much look forward to the day on which I can rise in this Chamber to congratulate our Public Health Team on being number 1 on this issue also.
So can the Leader please tell me what has been done so far to educate parents on this issue?
And can he tell me how much of the under-spend from the Public Health Budget he will use to re-double our efforts to educate parents about tooth decay in young children?
3: Geothermic Heat
My final question concerns geothermic heat; that is heat sourced from below ground to heat homes and other buildings.
Let us be clear from the outset – I am not referring to fracking.
The Times reported recently that a 350-million year old volcano located deep beneath Stoke-on-Trent could help to heat more than a thousand homes.
On reading this article I naturally checked the facts as my first thought was that this must be a late-running April Fools’ Day joke.
But no; Stoke-on-Trent City Council has prepared a business case to drill a 2.5km borehole to an aquifer in which the water is heated naturally to at least 85C (185F in old money).
This heat would be transferred to the surface to heat homes and the Government has pledged £20million to fund it.
This got me thinking.
It is unlikely that Oldham sits on an ancient volcano, but we do have a rich coal mining heritage (as those amongst you who have seen the 19th Century photographic panorama of the Town Centre in Gallery Oldham will know).
So I wondered do former coal mines give off residual ground-source heat which we could possibly utilise as part of the borough’s renewable energy strategy.
And guess what they DO….
The Herald in Scotland reported in November 2013 that:
“As much as a third of the heat needed to keep Scotland warm could be provided by tapping geothermal energy from old coal mines across the central belt, a major new study for the Scottish Government has concluded.
“Warm water piped up from abandoned mine shafts between Glasgow and Edinburgh and in Ayrshire and Fife could help heat many thousands of homes and other buildings for decades, Researchers said. They are urging Ministers to embark on an ambitious attempt to make geothermal energy a major new source of clean, renewable power within a few years.”
As Oldham is far from unique in historically sourcing power from coal, would the Leader be agreeable to looking to commission with the other Leaders of the Greater Manchester Authorities a study of the potential of this power source across our county?
Howard Sykes
22 October 2014