Oldham Liberal Democrats call for Ban on New Hot Food Takeaways near Schools to help curb Childhood Obesity

Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillor Diane Williamson will be proposing a motion to the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 28 March) calling for Oldham Council to prohibit new hot food takeaways within 400 metres of schools and is appealing to the Borough’s schools to apply a ‘stay-on-site’ policy at lunchtimes and ban takeaway deliveries to school gates.

In October 2017, the medical journal, The Lancet, reported that one in every ten young people, aged 5 to 19, in the UK was classed as obese. In Oldham, the situation is even worse. The Public Health England profile for the Borough, published July 2017, reported that one in five, 21.9%, of children at Year 6 were classed as obese.

Commenting, Councillor Williamson said: “Childhood obesity has risen to epic proportions and, if it is not addressed, it will mean future generations will be faced with massive health problems. Obesity into adulthood leads to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, strokes and certain cancers. The national picture is bad, but the Oldham one is worse; the Government needs to take urgent action, but as a Council we also need to take action as well.”

“Takeaway food is usually junk food; it may often be tasty but it is also unhealthy. It piles on the calories and is a major contributor to childhood obesity. The Oldham Liberal Democrats are therefore suggesting that the Council looks at imposing a ban on granting planning permission to any new takeaways within 400 metres of a school. At least twenty two other Councils have done the same.”

The motion is being seconded by fellow Liberal Democrat Crompton Councillor Julia Turner: “Deliveries on takeaway foods to schools are also an unacknowledged problem. In June 2016, the Royal Society for Public Health called for a ban on these deliveries after it found in a survey with young people that half had ordered fast food on their smartphone and a quarter had paid for these deliveries at the school gates.”

“The School Meals Service in Oldham is outstanding and produces delicious and nutritious meals every day that I hope every child would want to eat. The Oldham Liberal Democrats are calling upon every one of our Borough’s schools to help us combat child obesity by banning school gate deliveries and by enforcing a ‘stay-on-site’ policy on pupils at lunchtimes.”

Council 28 March 2018 – Notice of Opposition Business – Motion 3 – Restricting New Hot Food Takeaways near Schools

 This Council notes that:

  • Childhood obesity has risen to epic proportions. In October 2017, the medical journal, The Lancet, reported one in every ten young people, aged 5 to 19, in the UK are classed as obese;
  • In Oldham, sadly the situation is even worse. The Public Health England profile for the Borough, published July 2017, reported that 21.9% of children at Year 6 (660 in total) were classed as obese;
  • Obese children are more likely to become obese adults, putting them at risk of developing serious health conditions (such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain types of cancer);
  • Takeaway food, where it is unhealthy, so called junk food, is undoubtedly a contributing factor in the increase;
  • Although the Oldham School Meals Service is a Gold standard provider, regrettably some pupils chose to eat at or from takeaways;
  • In June 2016, The Royal Society for Public Health called for a ban on the delivery of takeaway meals to school gates. A survey conducted by the RSPH amongst young people  found half had ordered takeaways on their smart phones and a quarter had paid for fast food to be delivered to the school gates;
  • At least 22 local authorities have adopted Supplementary Planning Documents and Local Plans that include a prohibition on new fast food takeaways within 400 metres of local schools (a buffer zone);
  • In July 2012, Oldham Council adopted a Supplementary Planning Document which placed restrictions on the density of hot food takeaways, but which did not include any restriction on new takeaways within a specified buffer zone;

Council resolves to ask the Planning Committee to investigate the desirability and practicality of:

  • Introducing a prohibition on new takeaways within a 400 metre buffer zone as part of the Local Plan;

Council shall also contact all schools within the Borough to seek reassurances they:

  • Enforce a ‘stay on-site’ policy at lunchtimes;
  • Ban the delivery of takeaways to the school gates for collection by pupils;

And to ask them to do so; if they do not.

Tax Land to Pay for Council Services, say Oldham Liberal Democrats

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Saddleworth South Councillor John McCann, will be proposing at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 28 March) that the Council back calls for the introduction of Land Value Taxation to help pay for public services.

Councillor McCann said: “Land Value Taxes work successfully in over 30 countries across the world.  Landowners are charged an amount every year based upon the rental value of their land.  This amount is based upon the unimproved value of the land, in other words the amount is not increased if the land is developed upon with buildings or other infrastructure.  Two advantages to a Land Value Tax is that it is very cheap to collect and very difficult to evade.”

“Land Value Taxes can be revenue-neutral, by this we mean that they could replace other local taxation raised through the Council Tax and Business Rates,” stated Councillor McCann.  “This would reduce the financial burden placed upon our residents, particularly our lower-income households, and our small businesses in paying for Council services.”

Shaw Liberal Democrat Councillor Chris Gloster is seconding the motion. Commenting he said: “A Land Value Tax also has other benefits.  It would discourage land-banking, where owners simply hold onto vacant land in the hope that they can make more profit in the future if its value rises, and instead encourages them to develop them with homes or businesses more quickly, once planning permission is granted, to generate an income to help pay the charge.  This would provide more homes and jobs for people in our Borough, and, as many of these homes would be on brown-field sites, it will give us a greater chance to spare more of our precious and irreplaceable Green Belt from unwanted development.”

Council 28 March 2018 – Notice of Opposition Business –

Motion 2 – Land Value Taxation

This Council believes that Land Value Taxation (LVT) offers a credible means for local authorities to raise public revenue to fund local public services by making an annual charge upon landowners, based on the rental value of their land. This is typically levied against the unimproved value of that land, not taking into account any buildings, services or on-site infrastructure.

Council notes that:

  • LVT could be revenue-neutral; that is the revenue raised could replace taxation levied through Council Tax and Business Rates. This would lift some of the burden of meeting the cost of Council services from our Borough’s low-income households and small businesses;
  • LVT would encourage owners of vacant sites, particularly brown-field sites, to develop them for business or residential use more quickly, where planning permission has been granted, so as to generate an income rather than paying an annual charge on the unused land;
  • This would discourage developers from land-banking and lead to more house building and the creation of more businesses and jobs, meaning a more vibrant Borough and less pressure to build new homes on our irreplaceable green belt;
  • LVT is cheap to collect and very difficult to evade.

Council further notes that:

  • Some form of LVT is already successfully in operation in over 30 countries (including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and several US states);
  • The International Monetary Fund, the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development have all come out in favour of the tax;
  • A Private Members Bill was introduced in Parliament by Caroline Lucas MP supporting LVT, and the proposal has cross-party support in principle;
  • The Scottish and Welsh Governments are currently investigating the options for implementing such a tax;
  • The Parliamentary Communities and Local Government Committee have just conducted an enquiry into the efficacy of various taxation methods to ‘capture’ increases in land value;
  • The Government has appointed a panel of experts, chaired by Sir Oliver Letwin, charged with carrying out a review to ‘explain the gap between the number of planning permissions being granted (for houses) against those built in areas of high-demand.’

Liberal Democrats call for Oldham to become a Plastic-Free Borough

Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Member for Housing, Transport and Planning Councillor Dave Murphy will be proposing a motion at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 28 March) calling for Oldham to become a single use plastic-free Borough.

Councillor Murphy said: “300 million tons of new plastic is made across the world every year, around half of this is turned into billions of items, such as drinking straws, cups and utensils that are used once and discarded.  Much of this waste goes to landfill, more sadly still some of it ends up in our oceans.”

“I think all of us will have been shocked by the recent images on our televisions and on social media of the world’s oceans being smothered by discarded plastic and sea birds and mammals choking on this detritus,” added Councillor Murphy.

“In 2016, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimated that by weight there could be more plastic in our oceans than fish.  Columbia University has estimated that these plastics stay in our environment for up to 600 million years.  Imagine that an item you might use for six minutes polluting our environment for six hundred million years.  And it doesn’t lie dormant – plastic contaminates the food chain.  Plastic is consumed by fish and fish is consumed by us,” he stated.

“As human beings, let us use our supposedly higher intelligence to take collective responsibility for the stewardship of this planet and the plants and animals which inhabit it.  The Liberal Democrats believe passionately that one single thing that we can all do as part of this shared responsibility is to choose not to use and discard single-use plastic items, such as plastic drinking straws or picnic utensils, in our daily lives,” claimed Councillor Murphy.

The motion is being seconded by Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness.  He commented:

“I am proud that the Oldham Liberal Democrats are sponsoring this motion.  We have a long track record of championing many environmental concerns in the Council Chamber, including calling for the establishment of tree wardens and a woodland strategy, seeking protection for bees and pollinators, and calling for an end to the use of non-recyclable coffee cups.”

“Many other local authorities have chosen to ban the use of single-use plastic items in their workplaces and public buildings; the Liberal Democrats want Oldham Council to be part of that pack,” stated Councillor Harkness.  “If in adopting this policy, we can influence our social and business partners and the citizens of this Borough to also say No to single-use plastic then together we can make Oldham a single-use plastic free Borough by the end of the year.”

The Motion reads as follows:

Motion 1 – Making Oldham a ‘Single Use Plastic-Free’ Local Authority

Council notes that:

  • The introduction of the 5p bag charge has already seen use of single-use plastic bags drop by 85%.
  • However, most families still throw away about 40kg of plastic per year, which could otherwise be recycled.
  • The amount of plastic waste generated annually in the UK is estimated to be nearly 5 million tonnes, which has a catastrophic effect on our environment, particularly our marine environment

Council welcomes the commitment of some major businesses to reduce their use of plastic packaging and encourages all local businesses to respond positively to the

Government’s recent call for evidence on reducing plastic waste.

However, Council recognises that it is only in eliminating single-use plastic materials that we can achieve a significant reduction in plastic waste.

Council therefore resolves to ask the Cabinet to:

  • Develop a robust strategy to make Oldham a ‘single-use plastic-free’ authority by the end of 2018 and encourage the Borough’s institutions, businesses and citizens to adopt similar measures;
  • End the sale and provision of single use plastic products such as bottles, cups, cutlery and drinking straws in council buildings, or council supported venues, wherever possible; promoting the use of non-plastic recyclable alternatives e.g. paper straws to ensure our venues remain accessible to those with additional needs.
  • Encourage traders across the Borough to sell re-usable containers and invite customers to bring their own.
  • Consider the merits and practicalities of introducing a ‘window sticker’ scheme to accredit local businesses that are committed to reducing plastic waste through, for example, offering free water bottle refills.
  • Investigate the possibility of requiring pop-up food and drink vendors at council supported events to avoid single use plastics as a condition of their contract; with a view to phasing out all single use plastics at markets and events in the Borough by the end of 2018.
  • Work with tenants in commercial properties owned by Oldham Council to encourage them to phase out single use plastic cups, bottles, cutlery and straws.

Free pre-retirement workshop funded by Ambition for Ageing

If you’re thinking about your next steps and wondering what ‘retirement’ might mean for you this is a fantastic opportunity.  If you live or work in the Alexandra, Crompton or Failsworth West areas of Oldham, come along to this free workshop, run by Kingswood Age Confident, to find out more about your options for ‘retirement’ and later life:

Saturday 24th March, 9am – 1pm, at George Street Chapel, with lunch provided

Booking is essential!  Please contact Martin Morris for more details or to book your place on 0161 339 2345 or email martin.morris@actiontogether.org.uk

Liberal Democrat Leader continues to backs Fairtrade

The Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes, MBE, is urging local residents to show their support for Fairtrade Fortnight 2018 (26 February to 11 March) to help support farmers and growers living in poor communities around the world.

Councillor Sykes said: “Lack of food security is one of the world’s most critical issues. Despite millions of farmers and workers in developing countries working hard to grow the food we eat every day, many do not earn enough to afford an adequate and nutritious diet.”

Research shows that half of the world’s hungry people, nearly 400 million, are estimated to live on small farms.[i]

Cuncillor Sykes added: “The Liberal Democrats strongly support the Fairtrade movement which guarantees the world’s poorest farmers and workers a decent and stable income for the products that they grow or make and bring to market.”

“I am proud that during my Administration when the Liberal Democrats ran the Council, the local authority committed to purchasing and promoting Fairtrade products.  I am now asking as many people in our Borough as possible to get involved in this Fairtrade Fortnight by purchasing products displaying the Fairtrade symbol.  This helps ensure a decent income for the poorest working families from around the world.”

Fairtrade Fortnight is an annual campaign held to get shoppers, campaigners and businesses in the UK talking, thinking about and buying Fairtrade.  You can find out more about Fairtrade Fortnight and the Fairtrade Foundation at https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/Get-Involved/Current-campaigns/Fairtrade-Fortnight

[i] About 795 million people are undernourished globally (FAO, IFAD and WFP, 2015); Half of the world’s hungriest people are smallholder farmers themselves (Powering Up Smallholder Farmers to make food fair, Fairtrade Foundation Report 2013)

Oldham’s two Conservativies fail to show at Oldham Budget Council meeting last night

Liberal Democrat Councillor John McCann was surprised to find that he was the only Councillor from the three in Saddleworth South Ward on Oldham Council who bothered to turn up for Wednesday’s important Budget Council meeting (28 February 2018).

He explained: “I was disappointed that Conservative Councillors, John Hudson and Graham Sheldon, sent their apologies and failed to show.  I know it was not good weather wise, but I felt it was my duty to make it, whatever the weather.  I think the public expect us to be there and I have to travel a similar distance to get here as they do.  If anything they could be closer to the civic centre than I am!”

Councillor John McCann proposed a Liberal Democrat amendment to the Labour budget that would have cut waste and bureaucracy to find over £400,000 in extra money for investments 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.  This includes in Saddleworth South, regrettably, the Labour Administration, which runs the Council, voted against it and the proposal was defeated.

“But at least they turned up!” stated Councillor McCann.  “The Conservatives the minority opposition group never propose any amendments to the Budget, and they usually vote with Labour.  But, just not turning up at the most important meeting of the year beggar’s belief.”

“It would however have been some consolation if they had been there to support the common-sense and costed proposals of the Liberal Democrat Group that would have helped the residents of Saddleworth South,” he added.

Alternative Liberal Democrat Oldham Budget Council Speech – Councillor Howard Sykes 28 February 2018

Mr Mayor, I rise tonight to second the amendment to the Administration’s Budget proposed by the Opposition Liberal Democrat Group.

Local government continues to be butchered disproportionately – hit by the Conservative Government’s continued adherence to so called austerity.

The Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement announced in December did not bring us an early Christmas present; it simply represented yet more pain for us to absorb.

The Liberal Democrat Group recognises that in our financial situation the Labour Administration has once more had to reduce overall spending whilst, regrettably, increasing Council Tax by a further 3.99%.

Through necessity, we will support the rise to pay for improvements to adult social care and services.

This is albeit reluctantly because we know that many residents in our Borough have not seen any increase in their take home pay for several years whilst facing a constant rise in the cost of basic necessities.

I am only glad that there has been cross-party support to maintain the Council Tax Support Scheme at its current level to help those on the lowest incomes to reduce their bills.

I now want to turn to our amendment.

Councillor McCann in his speech highlighted the additional savings in Civic Centre bureaucracy that the Liberal Democrat team has identified.

I want now to explain how we intend to invest those savings to improve highways; tackle fly tipping; and address anti-social behaviour and crime; to make our Borough’s streets better and cleaner; and our communities safer.

We are proposing to spend £400,000 of our savings this year to  invest more in our highways; to restore the cuts to our youth services; to tackle the fly-tipping that blights our communities; and for public safety measures, such as alley-gating and CCTV schemes.

I will look at each of these proposals in turn.

The Labour Administration recently announced a £6.2 million investment in road improvements, including proposing an investment of £5 million this year.

Although welcome, this is not the first time we have heard such a proposal in this chamber.

We made the same proposal in each of our last two Budget Amendments.  These were investments that Labour and others failed to support. 

If it is suddenly right to do this now, why was it not right to do it then, especially as in the last two years our road surfaces have been steadily getting worse?

But in 2018 the Liberal Democrats are more ambitious.

In our proposals, we can afford to fund AN ADDITIONAL £5 million in highway and infrastructure improvements in 2019/20.

Thus sustaining the level of investment for one more year making more of our roads smoother and safer. 

So our proposals represent welcome news indeed to our motorists, users of public transport and pedestrians.

The Liberal Democrats are concerned that the £100,000 reduction in funding for our youth services will lead to more instances of anti-social behaviour and increased pressure on our already over-burdened Children’s Social Care Services and on the Police.

A false economy if there ever was one.

Through our savings, we would find the money to restore the funding.

We also want a proper Service Level Agreement to be drawn up to ensure that some funding is focused on providing youth services within EACH of the Districts, not simply at Mahdlo, which is a town centre venue that many young people are unable, or reluctant, to travel too.

The Liberal Democrats want to see some of our youth services delivered locally as they should be.

We also want to make £650,000 available over two years to tackle environmental crime and for public safety.

  • Money to apprehend the cowboy fly-tippers who criminally dump bulky waste items by the side of our highways and in our beauty spots. 
  • Money to establish a fund to support applications for alley-gates and CCTV cameras to reduce burglaries and street crime. 
  • Money to help people to feel safe in their homes and communities.  

So, Mr Mayor, in summary our proposals will deliver:

  • Better roads
  • Better and more local youth services
  • Less anti-social behaviour and safer communities
  • Less fly-tipping and cleaner streets

All priorities for the residents of Oldham Borough and all this for less than half a million pounds!

Mr Mayor, these investments will have a real positive impact on the quality of life of our residents.

This is about getting the basics right and spending less on back-office bureaucracy in the Civic Centre!

I do hope that tonight Councillors from all sides of the chamber will choose to support this very sensible amendment.

Liberal Democrat Leader calls for Oldham Council to ‘do right’ by our most vulnerable and disadvantaged young people

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has written to senior Councillors asking them to take a look at a report by The Children’s Society which identifies recommendations to improve the circumstances of Oldham Borough’s poorest and most vulnerable young people.

Councillor Sykes explained:  “A report from The Children’s Society (Children’s Lives in Oldham) recently landed on my desk that provided thought-provoking reading.  The Children’s Society estimate that almost 19,500 children live with poverty and disadvantage in Oldham.  The report outlines many practical ideas for improving their lives now and for helping them secure a better future.  I believe those ideas are worth an examination – we owe a duty of care to all of our children to give them the best start in life and to help them make a successful transition into adulthood.”

This is not the only disturbing report about child poverty that Councillor Sykes has read recently.  He stated:  “The Children’s Society report was soon followed by a statistical analysis by the End Child Poverty campaigning coalition which revealed that Coldhurst ward has the highest percent of children living in extreme poverty in the UK – over six in ten, and that regrettably several more wards, Alexandra, St. Mary’s and Werneth, follow close behind.”

“Regrettably child poverty is everywhere around us; in my view, it is important, we do not lose sight of the fact that poor and disadvantaged children live in every ward in our Borough – they certain do in parts of my own ward of Shaw,” he added.  “Their circumstances have been made worse by Conservative Government dogma in adhering to austerity and applying a benefit freeze upon the poorest households.

However all of them deserve our best endeavours in helping them breaking out of the cycle of deprivation and to enjoy a happy and fulfilling future.”

“These reports represent a wakeup call for action.  I have written to the Chair of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Board, Councillor Colin McLaren, and the Acting Chair of the Council’s Health and Well-being Board, Councillor Eddie Moores asking them to find time in their work programmes at the earliest opportunity to identify which of the recommendations we can take forward as a Council,” said Councillor Sykes.  “This report provides some practical answers to help make things better, let’s do the right thing by them and implement them.”

Copy of the report: Childrens Lives in Oldham

Liberal Democrats to cut waste and invest in services

At next Wednesday’s Oldham Budget Council meeting (28 February), the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council will propose an amendment to the Labour budget to find a further £423,000 in savings at the Civic Centre to provide more money to fix our pot hole ridden roads, provide more youth services, and tackle crime and fly-tipping.

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, said:  “The Labour Administration is once more being forced to make savings and raise Council Tax by a further 3.99% as a result of another cut to Oldham Council’s grant by a miserly Conservative Government wedded to austerity.”

“With regret, we will vote to support most of the Administration’s proposals and the Council Tax rise – but we believe that the pain will be reduced if the Council agrees to the further back-office savings identified in our Amendment. This will free up over £400,000 to invest on fixing our roads and other basic services that are valued my local residents,” he added.

The Liberal Democrats have identified a further £423,000 in annual savings by improving disciplinary procedures, tackling absenteeism, reducing staff car allowances for low-mileage users, cutting spending on agency staff and consultants, significantly reducing expenditure on communications and marketing, scrapping Borough Life, and making Council meetings paperless.  They would also invest in bus lane enforcement to fine selfish drivers who illegally use them.

The Liberal Democrats would use this money to service a £5 million loan to invest in improving our Borough’s highways in 2019/2020, doubling the investment proposed by Labour; to reversing the £100,000 cut in youth services proposed by Labour; and to invest £650,000 over two years in further measures to tackle fly-tipping and install alley-gates, CCTV cameras and other crime busting measures to make communities cleaner and safer.

Councillor Sykes said:  “We recognise that our savings represent only a relatively small amount compared to the many millions that this Council has been forced to save, but this modest amount would nonetheless make a real difference to local citizens”

“Once again we are the only group to present an alternative to Labour’s proposals.  The Conservatives and others talk hot air but fail to offer any alternative and if I was a betting man I would bet they will vote with Labour as they usually do,” said Councillor Sykes.