Liberal Democrat Leader’s Plea to help make Car Washes Slavery Free

On the eve of Anti-Slavery Day (18 October 2018), Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Leader of the Opposition, is urging local drivers, and their passengers, to be vigilant for the presence of modern slavery when they use local car washes.

Councillor Sykes said: “We have recently debated at the Council the existence of modern slavery in British society, and politicians of all parties are determined to see an end to it.  Slavery in all of its forms is totally abhorrent, but it still exists even in Britain and it is often occurring right under our noses.”

The National Crime Agency has indicated that they are thousands of people being exploited in this way in the UK, often working long hours for little or no pay, in the most atrocious conditions and with scant regard for health and safety legislation.  Some of these individuals are being coerced to work with the threat of violence.

Councillor Sykes added: “Although we may think that such exploitation may be limited to unscrupulous gang-masters herding their workers to carry out endless, menial tasks in agriculture, modern slavery is on our streets and one of the places it can be seen is amongst the many thousands of on-street hand car washes that have been established in our communities.”

The Church of England has launched a Safe Car Wash app that can be downloaded by the general public to their smart phones and devices to help the police tackle the problem.  Users are asked to open the app and complete a short survey about the working conditions for staff that they observe whilst using the car wash.  The data is anonymised and then shared with the National Crime Agency and the Labour Abuse Authority.

Councillor Sykes concurs: “Put simply, the Safe Car Wash app is one way that each of us as individuals can make a real difference.  I would urge everyone to use Anti-Slavery Day to resolve to download this app and to complete the questionnaire every time they use a car wash to help to bring the scourge of modern slavery to an end.”

The app can be found at https://www.theclewerinitiative.org/safecarwash/

SCRAPPING OF THE COUNCIL BORROWING CAP FOR HOUSING

Oldham Liberal Democrats have welcomed the Prime Minister’s recent announcement that the borrowing cap which has prevented them investing in much needed social and affordable housing is to be lifted.

“The Prime Minister has finally yielded to the many voices speaking common sense in urging her to abandon the borrowing cap to enable new affordable homes to meet increasing need and those lost through Right to Buy.  This decision reflects the position of the Liberal Democrats and the Local Government Association, who have been seeking an end to the cap for many years. In their hey-day, councils were building 4 in every 10 of the nation’s homes, and we now need to see a Council house building revival”, said Crompton Councillor Diane Williamson, Shadow Cabinet member for Policing, Community Safety and Housing on Oldham Borough Council.

“All Parties and councils, regardless of whether they were Liberal Democrat, Labour or Conservative, have been calling on the Government to lift the borrowing cap, so councils can once more help deal with the significant problems people face in getting a home of their home.  While, as always, we will need to wait to see the detail behind the Government’s announcement, this is a good news day for local councils and more especially for people waiting to get onto the housing ladder.”

Councillor Williamson added: “I shall look forward to seeing whether Oldham’s Labour Council will now quickly rise to the challenge and look to take advance of the change of rules by building new affordable homes in our borough as soon as possible.”

Liberal Democrats Suggest New Measures to Address Speeding

Saddleworth North Councillor Garth Harkness has written, on behalf of his colleagues in the Oldham Council Liberal Democrat Group, to the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Arooj Shah, with some suggestions to help tackle speeding in the Borough.

Councillor Harkness said:

“Many residents contact me about speeding concerns. In Saddleworth myself and Derek Heffernan have arranged for a number of surveys across some of the Saddleworth villages and it is clear in a number of places there is a problem

“Speeding is one of those issues that every ward councillor receives complaints about on a regular basis.  At the last Council, several members representing different parts of the Borough raised their concerns about speeding. Like them, I too receive complaints about speeding in Saddleworth North, and as this is a non-party political issue I wanted to make some practical suggestions to the Labour Administration to help tackle this blight. I hope that they will be taken up.”

Councillor Harkness has put forward a number of suggestions:

  1. To purchase and deploy mobile speed cameras to catch offenders.  Such a measure will, I believe, pay for itself very quickly and will help change driver behaviour and improve road safety.
  2. That we look to work with community and residents’ group to establish Community Speed Watch schemes in the Borough https://www.communityspeedwatch.org/
  3. Other local authorities are introducing ‘bus gates’ outside schools to limit vehicular through traffic to cycles and local buses at the start and end of the school day, with a fixed penalty for transgressors. This would reduce the likelihood of other traffic speeding past schools when pupils are entering or exiting schools.
  4. Increase Community Concern speed enforcement sites.

RESTORATION OF HEATHLAND SUNDAY 7TH OCTOBER 2018 MEET IN BRUSHES CLOUGH CAR PARK AT 10:30 AM

More details click on link: Removal of birch saplings in Spoil

The task will be to remove birch saplings, from within the heather, in the Brushes Clough spoil heap area.

For further information please contact:
Marian Herod – Secretary
Friends of Crompton Moor
Tel: 07792 156295
Email: cromptonmoor@gmail.com

DATE CHANGE TO 24 OCTOBER – Appeal of Planning  – Asda Supermarket, Greenfield Lane, Shaw, OL2 8QP (Application Number PA/339852/17) – Petrol filling station

Re: Appeal of Planning  – Asda Supermarket, Greenfield Lane, Shaw, OL2 8QP (Application Number PA/339852/17) – Petrol filling station 

  1. Change of use of land from car park to create a petrol filling station
  2. Erection of payment kiosk
  3. Associated works including CCTV

I wrote to local residents on the 18 April 2018 to advise you that an appeal has been logged by Asda following the refusal of the planning application described above.  I have now received confirmation the appeal will be considered at an informal hearing by an independent Planning Inspector and the date for this has now been set:

Appeal time: 10:00am
Appeal date: 24th October 2018
Venue: Lees Room A Tuesday, 23 October at 10.00am, Crompton Room A, Oldham Civic Centre

How to get to the venue

You can access the room from the Rochdale Road Entrance of the Civic Centre – follow the signs from the car park. (Please note, do not use the ‘One Stop Shop’ entrance on Cheapside). The room is fully wheelchair accessible.

Car parking, including disabled spaces, are available on the Civic Centre car park.  Alternatively the entrance is a short walk from Oldham Bus Station.  A map is available from the Council’s  website at www.oldham.gov.uk

What YOU can do on the day

You have a right to attend the Informal Hearing in person or appoint a representative to attend on your behalf.  If you wish to speak you must be in attendance at the opening of the appeal and this will also be at the discretion of the Inspector.

I would urge those that can to attend if only for part of the day – it can make a real difference.

Inspecting the appeal documents

A copy of the appellant’s (the person making the appeal) grounds of appeal along with their supporting documentation; and the Council’s questionnaire, plus supporting documentation, can be inspected at Civic Centre’s One Stop Shop on West Street, Oldham, by appointment.

Finding out about the appeal decision

If you wish to be notified of the outcome of the appeal, you must request a copy from the Planning Inspectorate from the following address:

The Planning Inspectorate, Room 304a, Temple Quay House, 2 The Square, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6PN.  Tel: 0303444 5301  Email: Teamp15@pins.gsi.gov.uk  Twitter: @PINSgov  http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/planninginspectorate

Alternatively, when decisions are approved they are available on the Oldham Council website.

Want to know more?

Further information on the appeal process is available from at www.oldham.gov.uk (see ‘Quick Links’ – Planning).  You can also find out about the appeal proceedings by following this link http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/pins/taking-part_planning-hearing.pdf

In view of the detrimental effect this development will have on local residents and the surrounding area I strongly advise you to challenge the appeal and raise your concerns to ensure the decision to refuse the planning application is not overturned.

Your three local councillors will be doing what we can but it really does help the case if local residents, like with the planning application itself, attend and make sure their voices are heard.

I do hope this information is of use to you and if I, or my Shaw Ward colleagues Councillor Chris Gloster or Councillor Hazel Gloster, can be of any assistance with this or any other matter in the future, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Oldham Liberal Democrats say food premises should be required to display hygiene certificates by law

Recent revelations from the Food Standards Agency show that eleven food premises in Oldham were given a 1 rating for hygiene, yet over half of food business in England do not even display their food hygiene ratings certificates on their premises or online.

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, who is the Leader of the Opposition and the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, is giving the backing of his Group to the campaign by the Food Standards Agency and the Local Government Association for the Government to change the law so that all food businesses are obliged to display their ratings.

Council environmental health officers award a score of zero to five to food outlets, based on factors such as kitchen cleanliness, cooking methods and food safety management. The ratings are intended to inform customers when they are choosing to purchase a meal about the hygiene practices in that business, but only 49 percent of businesses in England display their rating.

Councillor Sykes, who is also the Leader of the Liberal Democrat councillors’ group on the Local Government Association, said: “We have all heard the horror stories about unhygienic food outlets with kitchens over run with vermin, filthy work surfaces and dirty cooking implements.  Sometimes inspectors are forced to immediately close food premises because their practices are so bad and in Oldham we are active in prosecuting offenders.  Customers need reassurances that any premises are safe for them to purchase food from.”

The Local Government Association is calling for the Government to change the law so that the display of hygiene ratings becomes mandatory on premises or on on-line apps, as it is in Wales and Northern Ireland, with offenders who fail to do so being prosecuted.

Councillor Sykes added: “Food hygiene inspections clearly help drive up standards and protect people from being served unsafe food.  Isn’t it common sense then to have the ratings that result from these inspections on display?  It is only right that customers can see these ratings as they enter a premises or order food online in order that they can make informed choices.  I would ask customers to question why a food business does not have its rating on display – I would never purchase food from an outlet which fails to do so.”

NOTES

According to the 2018 Food Standards Agency report, ‘Display of food hygiene ratings in England, Northern Ireland and Wales’, the rating is visible outside 49 per cent of premises in England, compared to 84 per cent in Wales and 82 per cent in Northern Ireland.

Under the food hygiene rating scheme, a business is given one of the six hygiene ratings from 0-5 as follows: 5 (very good); 4 (good); 3 (generally satisfactory); 2 (improvement necessary); 1 (major improvement necessary); 0 (urgent improvement necessary).

Mandatory display of food hygiene ratings is supported by The Food Standards Agency, consumer organisation Which? and the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health.

Environmental health officers can serve enforcement notices, prosecute and close food establishments where conditions are found to be poor.

Oldham Liberal Democrats call for End to Bailiff Action against Poorest Council Tax Debtors

The Deputy Leader of the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group, and Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Chris Gloster, has today written to the Council Deputy Leader, Councillor Abdul Jabbar, asking the Council to sign up to best practice standards in debt collection identified by the Citizens’ Advice Bureaux and Money Advice Trust. These include ending the use of bailiffs and enforcement agents to collect debts from the poorest Council Tax payers.

Councillor Gloster explained: “on the 6th September 2018 the National Audit Office published a report highlighting the fact that the debt collection practices in local and central government fall in many instances well behind the standards applied in the commercial lending sector. I want to see Oldham Council become a standard bearer for good practice in this field, especially as many of our residents are amongst the poorest in the country, being forced to live on a very limited income day-by-day whilst facing multiple debt problems.”

He added: “We all want to ensure that the Council’s Council Tax revenue is collected, but aggressive Council Tax collection practices have a cost to local authorities and to the individuals concerned. The use of bailiffs and collection agents rapidly add costs to debts and debtors are then likely to experience a decline in their mental or physical health, which in turn means they are more likely to call upon local authority or public health services. They are also increasingly likely to resort to more risky behaviours to settle the debt, for example, by taking out costly payday or door step loans.”

Councillor Gloster is asking Oldham Council to sign up to Citizen Advice Bureaux’s and LGA’s Council Tax Protocol to reduce the use of bailiffs and improve collection practices, and also to the ‘six steps for local authorities’ outlined in the Stop the Knock campaign of the Money Advice Trust.

Councillor Gloster has also asked Councillor Jabbar to look specifically at the example of best practice set by Lambeth Council when dealing with the debts of its poorest residents.

“In 2015/16, Lambeth chose not to use bailiffs or enforcement agents where debtors were in receipt of Council Tax Support.  In 2016, a report from the Child Poverty Action Group found that Lambeth’s collection rate for Council Tax Support claimants went up by 13%, taking Lambeth from being a borough with one of the lowest collection rates to one of the highest!”

Small cash grants for local groups and people

The grants have been made available through the Thriving Communities programme which focuses on building on the strengths, people and groups that already exist within our communities. It highlights how by using our community resources we can tackle problems earlier, rather than dealing with the symptoms later. It helps residents make better choices about their health and wellbeing by linking them to community groups and networks at a grass roots level.

Fast grants enable access to smaller amounts of funding for good ideas without the red tape.

Amounts available range from £50 – £500 and can be spent on:

  • Improving a local area
  • Running activities such as stay and play groups, and arts and craft groups
  • Developing local talent and skills
  • Encouraging the community to be fit and healthy

Fast Grants Flyer 2018 V7 NCM

These grants are designed to bring communities together and anyone with an idea which will have a benefit for Oldham residents can apply.

Applicants can apply for a Fast Grant by visiting www.oldhamcares.com/fast-grants or by emailing thriving.communities@oldhamcares.com

Countryside Volunteer Rangers Crompton Moor 29 September 18

Meet in the car park as normal and take a short walk to the top quarry perimeter fence for some much needed maintenance – I hope you can join me for a couple of hours.

The weather forecast for Sunday is a light cloud and a gentle breeze, likely high / low of 14º/7º and 6 mph winds so ensure you have your favourite hot & or cold liquids, the appropriate clothing, footwear and a packed lunch if you are up for the day.

Meantime, if you have any issues that you may wish to discuss prior to Sunday, please do not hesitate to email (on either address) or text / phone me on 07961107860.

For those of you that have not already done so, please could you let me know if you intend to join us on the day, so that I can make the appropriate plan of work, and to ensure the correct material and or tools are available on the day.

I look forward to seeing you in the Crompton Moor Car Park ~ 10.30 on Sunday. Thank you.

Kindest Regards – Edward John Fulton (aka Ed / Eddie). Countryside Volunteer Ranger, (Mob) 07961 107860 [Calls may be recorded], (Text) 07961 107860, (Fax)  01706 661813, (E)  edward@edwardjohnfulton.uk , (E) edward.fulton@btinternet.uk