My two allowed questions at tonight’s council meeting – Illegal Dumping in Maple Mill and the Future of the University Technical College Building

Q1 Leaders Question – Illegal Dumping in Maple Mill

Mr Mayor, my first question tonight to the Leader relates to the recent fire at the Maple Mill in Hathershaw.

My understanding is that the firefighters on attending the fire, found that the building was a huge repository for the illegal dumping of waste and that the combustible nature of these materials contributed to the longevity and severity of the blaze?

Not only did this situation further jeopardise the lives of firefighters and other emergency service workers, as well as some of our own officers and staff from First Choice Homes Oldham, all courageously attending the incident, but there was the potential of toxic air pollution impacting on the lives and health of residents in the surrounding area.

My understanding is that the dumping of rubbish in Maple Mill was not a one-off and that there are reports of similar activity at many of the redundant industrial premises and old mills in our Borough.

Can the Leader please tell me what she knows about the extent of this problem and what is being done by our officers and those of other public agencies to stop it?

And would she like to tell Council how members of the public – as our eyes and ears in our communities – can help this effort?

And can she also give me any estimate as to the potential cost to this local authority, or to the emergency services, from clear-up operations and attending to further incidents of this nature involving this blight?

I would have thought the bill could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds if this illegal practice is a wide spread as I believe it could be.

Q2 Leaders Question – Future of the University Technical College Building

My next question, Mr Mayor, concerns the future of the Greater Manchester University Technical College building, which is on Middleton Road next to Oldham College.

Members will be aware of the recent fiasco that was the wholesale academic under-performance at this expensive white elephant.

Millions spent on a purpose built building and equipment and nothing to show for it, as not one of the initial cohort of forty six students achieved a Grade C in both English and Mathematics and the College is now scheduled for closure.

This is such a waste – such a waste of public money and such a waste of the promise and potential that these young students had – but with the College’s closure there must also be an opportunity.

For Oldham College sits right next door to this soon abandoned building and Oldham College is crying out for more new quality buildings in which to deliver tuition.

So can I tonight through you, Mr Mayor, make a plea to the Leader and to the Cabinet Member for Education that they make urgent representations to the key decision-makers in the Department for Education asking them to transfer this publically-funded asset to Oldham College?

This must be common-sense?  For at least then we will see something come out from this mess that will be of long-term benefit for the students of this Borough and a small vindication of the spending over £9 million pounds.

Traffic Lights Four Lane Ends – Beal Lane, Rochdale Road, Market Street and Milnrow Road

Following a recent request of mine I can now confirm that an order is to be placed with Transport for Greater Manchester for audible signals to be introduced at the above junction.

Hopefully this will make life easier for the blind or partially sighted members of our community.

It has been possible to fund the installation along with other cycle improvements proposed for the junction and the Council is currently working with Transport for Greater Manchester to establish a timescale for completing the work.

The cycle improvement works at the junction include the provision of advanced cycle stop lines and ‘trixi’ mirrors attached to the signal heads, which will enable HGV drivers to see cyclists’ waiting at the junction.

The advanced stop lines and mirrors will make the routes safer for cyclists where there are significant HGV movements.

Oldham Liberal Democrats call to abandon plans to build on Green Belt and pull out of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF)

The Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Shaw Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, will propose a motion to the next meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 22 March) calling on the Council to withdraw from the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) and to instead develop a local plan for housing and commercial development in the Borough.

The motion is similar to those submitted by Liberal Democrat Councillors in Bury and Stockport.

Councillor Sykes explained: “This twenty year plan requires 13,700 new homes to be built and almost 700,000 square metres of land to be made available for new factories and warehouses in the Oldham Borough.  Of the 13,700 new homes, almost a quarter – almost 3,000 – will be located in sites in Shaw and Crompton, this is in addition to other vast tracts of land that are designated for industrial development.”

“We believe this is madness.  To Liberal Democrat Councillors representing Shaw and Crompton, this plan represents a massive and inequitable land grab in our area with the loss of our much-loved Green Belt and OPOL (Other Protected Open Land).  Our constituents are up-in-arms about it, they have marched to save their Green Belt and they rightly expect their elected representatives to stand by them on this vital issue. We will not let them down; the Liberal Democrat Group intends to fight these proposals tooth and nail!”

“I know that Labour colleagues representing Royton and Chadderton are also upset at plans to devastate Green Belt in their areas so we hope that they will support this motion.”

Within the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework it is proposed that new properties will be built at Cowlishaw, in the Beal Valley, at Rushcroft, on the Whitfield Farm site across to Newhey and around Gravel Hole and Low Crompton.

Adjacent sites at Broadbent Moss (Oldham), Hanging Chadder (Oldham) and land East and West of the A627M (Rochdale and Oldham) if developed would also see a significant removal of the Green Belt land in the so called “Northern Gateway”.

Councillor Sykes added: “It is the view of the Liberal Democrat Group that there is no justification for the construction of a large number of properties (or indeed any properties) on Green Belt or OPOL land before new homes are first built on Brownfield sites, on sites where planning permission for housing development has already been granted and upon the many derelict and the unloved sites in our town centres and districts.”

“We also believe that every empty mill and factory should be converted and used for housing and that the large number of empty homes in our Borough should be brought back into use.”

“We are calling on Oldham Council to abandon their involvement with the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework and to instead meet our legal obligations by creating a fifteen year local plan, which apportions housing and commercial development across the Borough rather than in a few areas; meet our local requirements rather than those of others; and which emphasises development on Brownfield sites first.”

The Liberal Democrats have also objected to the GMSF plans as they believe that Shaw and Crompton simply does not have the necessary infrastructure in place to meet the needs of the residents of 3,000 new homes.

Seconding the motion will be Crompton Councillor Dave Murphy.  Commenting, Councillor Murphy said: “We have primary schools that are already overcrowded and full; a secondary school that is falling apart; a dilapidated Health Centre that is near cardiac arrest; no swimming facilities or dry leisure provision; precious few youth facilities and no municipal tip.”

“Under the proposals, 3,000 homes will be built in Shaw and Crompton for growing families.  These new residents will need more primary and secondary school places; more GPs and dentists; leisure and shopping facilities; and new highways and more buses and trams to get them there.”

“Oldham Council’s decision to close and not replace the Crompton Pool and Gym now looks a little short-sighted given the number of new young residents that will need to learn to swim and the number of adults that will want to keep fit.”

“A local plan would not overload any one part of the Borough with excessive development.  We can instead properly and fairly apportion new developments across the Borough and make our own plans to ensure the infrastructure needs of new residents are met in an effective and timely manner.”

A copy of the motion:

Council 22 March 2017 – Notice of Opposition Business

Motion 1 – Withdrawal from the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework

This Council notes that:

  • all councils are required by government to have a Local Plan which identifies land for housing, offices and industry;
  • the proposed Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) is one approach to fulfilling this requirement; however other local authorities have fulfilled this requirement by developing their own Local Plan;
  • the GMSF is a twenty year plan, requiring a third more housing land to be identified than would be required by typical fifteen year Local Plans produced by many other local authorities, and is based upon pre-Brexit growth assumptions over such a long period, which cannot be verified;
  • the GMSF proposals include significant releases of green-belt in the Borough of Oldham, particularly in Shaw, Crompton, Chadderton, Royton and Saddleworth;

Council further notes that:

  • these early proposals were developed without sufficient involvement of residents or ward members;
  • many residents and local politicians, particularly in Shaw, Crompton, Chadderton, Royton and Saddleworth, are strongly opposed to many of these proposals;

Council firmly believes that new housing development should first take place on brownfield or derelict sites, on sites with existing planning permission; and by converting long-term empty mills, shops and offices into homes; and that existing long-term empty homes should also be brought back into use, before any consideration is given to allocating green-belt or other protected open land for housing.

Consequently, Council condemns the current GMSF proposals as they fail to identify such sites that are available for development and are instead predicated upon developing new housing on green-belt land in the Borough of Oldham.

Council therefore resolves to:

  1. Formally withdraw from the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework process and make arrangements to ensure that the GMSF does not apply to the Borough of Oldham;
  1. Pursue Oldham’s own local plan. This should be a fifteen year Local Plan for the Borough which identifies that new housing development should first take place on brownfield or derelict sites, on sites with existing planning permission; and by converting long-term empty mills, shops and offices into homes; and that existing long-term empty homes should also be brought back into use, before any consideration is given to allocating green-belt or other protected open land for housing.
  1. Make arrangements to comply with the duty to cooperate with other planning authorities;
  1. Review existing development plan documents and build in a review process every five years.

Councillor Sykes calls for Council Tax Exemption for Young Care Leavers

The Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has called for an exemption on council tax payments for care leavers under 25.

Councillor Sykes has requested the exemption in a letter to the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Abdul Jabbar, and the Borough Treasurer, Anne Ryans.

Councillor Sykes said: “There are approximately 170 care-leavers in Oldham.  As a local authority we have a duty of care to care-leavers and as Councillors we have a responsibility to these vulnerable young people as ‘corporate parents’.  The Oldham Liberal Democrats are keen to ensure that all care-leavers are given the best start into adulthood that is possible.  In my view this should include protection from the damage of council tax debt.”

When care leavers move into independent accommodation they begin to manage their own budget fully for the first time.  In 2016, the Children’s Society’s ‘Wolf at the Door’ report found that care leavers can find this extremely challenging; they are suddenly living independently, managing a household whilst continuing education or seeking employment, as well as managing their personal finances, and paying bills. Often with no family to support them and insufficient financial education, care-leavers fall into debt and financial difficulty.  The report also found that council tax debt is an especial challenge for young care leavers.

Councillor Sykes explained: “What can start out for many of these young people as a situation in which they are falling slightly behind on their payments can very quickly and frighteningly escalate to a court summons and enforcement action being taken, all incurring significant additional costs that have to be met by the care-leaver.”

The Children’s Society is asking local authorities to adopt a policy of exempting care-leavers from council tax until they are 25 years of age. There are a number of Labour- and Conservative-led councils which have already adopted this low-cost policy, including Islington, Hammersmith & Fulham, Cheshire East, North Somerset and Birmingham.

In his letter, Councillor Sykes has stated his strong support for Oldham Council introducing a similar policy as a priority.   Councillor Sykes is very pleased to report Councillor Jabbar has already indicated he will be looking into this.

Council Tax – Alternative Budget Council Speech

Details: Liberal Democrat Opposition Budget Proposals 1 March 2017

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

With the support of diligent officers, the Liberal Democrat finance team of Councillors John McCann and Diane Williamson have come up with some innovative and fully-costed proposals to meet the public’s key demands for better roads, cleaner streets and to tackle the rising problem of anti-social behaviour.

It is interesting to note that once more the Conservative Group has not submitted any amendment.

This year the Administration is proposing a general increase in Council Tax of 1.99 percent and an additional two percent increase ring-fenced to spend on social care.

The Liberal Democrats fully support these proposals.  The reality is that we must do this.  Our essential services are being starved of cash by this Conservative Government and our social care system is in crisis.

And let’s be clear that 2% increase in Council Tax will nowhere near be enough to close the ever increasing gap there is in funding adult care.

Let us take a moment to look at our financial situation – and it is a sad and increasing desperate one.

Unlike Conservative controlled Surrey County Council, which appears to have secured more money from Government in a sweetheart deal, Oldham cannot anticipate a similar windfall.

Rather, we, like many similar local authorities, have now largely dispensed with the flesh and are starting to cut into the bone or dare I say, we are sawing off the limbs.

We may soon face a real danger that our funds will be so low that even those services that we are by law obliged to provide will be under grave threat.

This year the Administration has had to cut £15 million from our 2017-2018 budget.

Conservative Government strategy – though malice is rather a better description – is to cut the Revenue Support Grant, the money that we receive from central Government to support our local services, in stages from £30 million now to nil by the end of the 2020 – 2021 financial year.

That’s a £30 million shortfall that we are expected to meet.

That’s a big shortfall to make up with no certainty that we can do so.

This Government wants local authorities to self-finance our services, but this is a lot harder in a low wage, high demand Borough like Oldham than it is in affluent Surrey.

This Government’s approach of taking away with the one hand and then appearing to give with the other.

Take the Better Care Fund.  Cash is going up – good news, or so you might think, but other health-related revenue streams are being slashed, wiping out any increase and is in fact a cut!

And this at a time that £3 million of additional pressures are being built into our budget to meet the rising cost of social care – that’s £3 million additional in each and every year.

This year £5.5 million of our reserves are being deployed to meet the 2017 – 2018 budget gap.

This may be a temporary but necessary expedient, but it is like handing a drowning person an inflatable lift raft with a hole in it.

They frantically blow into the raft for as long as they are able but that cannot be forever.

Finally they expire and the waters close over them.  How long will it be before our reserves expire and the waters of austerity close over us?

So I do not envy Councillor Jabbar and his finance team.

Indeed I have to pay tribute to him and all the Council’s Officers for putting together a budget in the most trying of circumstances.

I would like to reiterate the point that I made last year that the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group is at one with the Labour Administration in resisting further central Government cuts.

And can I also say in fighting our corner to get Oldham’s fair share of a devolved budget for Greater Manchester, something I am far from convinced is happening!

It would be remiss of me not to mention how glad I am to see that the Link Centre has been given a stay of execution, and hopefully a bright and long future.

In September of last year I wrote to Councillor Harrison to suggest that we look to establish an independent trust to run the centre and I was pleased to see that this is a suggestion that this Administration has decided to adopt.

We must now hope that a new trust can attract sufficient external funding and the backing of the right parties to make the centre a future success.  Its’ services will be increasingly needed in times to come.

I turn now to our proposed amendment.

Mr Mayor, our amendment is of two parts – we have identified additional savings or more honestly, cuts that we are convinced can be made without impacting on essential services and we have identified investments in core services that are most valued by our ratepayers.

What matters to most people in this Borough are the issues they face every day in their communities – crumbling highways, dumped sofa beds, blocked gullies and feral youth engaged in all kinds of intimidating, anti-social and downright criminal behaviour!

These are the issues we seek to address tonight.  Are our proposals to tackle them new?  No they are not.  And I make no apologies for that!  We are consistent year on year in what we would do differently.

We have been making these same proposals, or ones very similar, at each of the last five Budget Councils and we will continue to ask for them because they represent common sense and they are what the public wants.

We would invest £472,000 to make our highways better and our streets cleaner and safer.  This may not sound much, but let me tell you what we as Liberal Democrats would do with this money.

We would use some of this money to enable us to borrow an extra £5 million over the coming year to invest in improving our Borough’s roads to make driving safer and more pleasant for road users.

We would use £170,000 of this money to employ an extra gully cleaning team and an extra vehicle to tackle more of the gullies in our Borough that are clogged with soil creating water on our highways that make driving dangerous and increase the possibility of flooding.

We would invest an extra £79,000 to restore a free Bulky Bobs waste collection service so that no-one will be unable to access a free-at-the-point-of-need service and helping to reduce the many instances of fly-tipping of bulky households that continue to blight our Borough.

And last but not least we would invest a further £60,000 in youth outreach workers.  All councillors of all parties of all areas will tell you of the problems of anti-social behaviour caused by the small minority.

This investment will provide more workers on our streets to engage youth in positive activity.

So,

  • Better roads
  • Clearer gullies
  • Cleaner streets and
  • Less anti-social behaviour

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

As the saying goes ‘it’s a no brainer really isn’t it’?

And how are we going to pay for this?

By reducing spending on publications, printing and advertising; tackling sickness; employing less agency staff and reducing the size of our marketing, communications and policy team.

And once more proposing to reduce spending on street lighting in the wee small hours and in rural areas where it is not needed – for as my colleague John McCann famously said last year ‘sheep cannot read’.  And I would add if they can they can, they can do it in the dark!

Mr Mayor, these are all common-sense savings targeted at bureaucracy and waste – bug-bears to our long-suffering rate payers – and they amount to almost £734,000 a year.

So not only would we be able to afford our investments to improve highways and tackle the blight of fly-tipping, dirty streets, blocked gullies, flooding and anti-social behaviour, but we can put over £260,000 back into the pot; year after year.

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 also feel that now is the time that we take a long hard look at our future financial position.  With the reduction in Revenue Support Grant of £30 million the reality is that our spending will be pared to the bone.

So we need a clear view of the services we are obliged by law as a local authority we are obliged to deliver in law and their delivering these services costs.  Surely then all that remains must be subject to further scrutiny and may be cut.

I hope that this review can be carried out on a cross-party basis and built on consensus.

One area where we as Liberal Democrats are clear a cut should be made is in the number of Councillors.

This is a sensible suggestion that we have made before and we will make again.

We are proposing a reduction by one-third in the number of our Councillors.  We feel that with a Cabinet system we could function with forty rather than sixty Councillors.

This has been an approach adopted by Labour-controlled Knowsley Council and it is one we also want to see here.

We estimate that this would save this authority at least £185,000 every year.

But the time to act is now as such a proposal needs the approval of the Boundary Commission.

We are also proposing an investment in LED lighting in our street lamps.  Not only will such a plan save us money in the long-term, but it will also reduce our carbon emissions and be good for our environment.

Mr Mayor, I should like to talk more but now my time is up so let me summarise – the Liberal Democrats proposal is for:

  • More savings on waste and bureaucracy;
  • Immediate investments to make our highways and streets safer;
  • Greener and cleaner Borough;
  • A long-term plan to ensure we meet our legal obligations to provide statutory services.

I therefore commend this amendment to this Chamber.

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Opposition, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group Oldham Council – 1 March 2017.

Liberal Democrats Call for Ofsted Inspection into ‘Trojan Horse’ allegations in Oldham school

Following media allegations of a so called ‘Trojan Horse’ style attempt to promote ‘Conservative Islamic Values’ within Clarksfield Primary School in Oldham, the Liberal Democrat Group on the Council is calling upon Council Leaders to formally request Ofsted conduct a fully independent investigation of the school to alleviate growing concerns amongst teachers, staff, parents, pupils and the wider community.

Serious allegations have been made that teaching, leadership and management at the school has been interfered with in order to promote ‘Conservative Islamic Values’ within this mainstream primary school in Oldham.  These have been compounded by additional allegations of threats to the Headteacher and members of staff

Commenting as Chairperson of the Group, Councillor Chris Gloster, himself a governor of two Oldham schools, said: “allegations of this type are damaging to everyone, most of all to the pupils of the school who should be free to learn and develop in a safe and caring environment.”

“We all have a duty to actively promote fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.  British Values have been actively taught in schools since at least 2014. Any external interference of this important area of the school curriculum is unacceptable and must and will not be tolerated.”

‘We also have a duty to protect staff and pupils and if these allegations have any truth behind them, they are abhorrent and there is no place for them in an inclusive society, which Oldham strives to be’.

‘I have today written to the Leader of Oldham Council, Councillor Jean Stretton, and the Chief Executive of Oldham Council, Dr Carolyn Wilkins OBE, asking that the school and Council formally request Ofsted carry out a full and independent inspection of the school at the earliest opportunity.  This way we can be satisfied as to how the school is being run and provide additional support if necessary to the school and its leaders’.

The email sent to Cllr Stretton and Dr Wilkins is shown below.

From: Cllr C Gloster
Sent: 27 February 2017 19:54
To: Carolyn Wilkins; Cllr J Stretton
Cc: Howard Sykes
Subject: Request for OFSTED Inspection re Clarksfield Primary School
Importance: High

Dear Cllr Stretton and Dr Wilkins,

I am writing to you as Chairman, on behalf of the Oldham Council Liberal Democrat Group, with regards to the current situation at Clarksfield Primary School.

As you are no doubt aware, there has been national media coverage about the school and an alleged ‘Trojan Horse’ plot to infiltrate the school in order to promote Conservative Islamic Values upon it, an idea which is totally unacceptable.

Additional allegations have been made concerning threats to the Headteacher and other staff who have fears for their safety. This again is totally unacceptable.

I must record my disappointment at this stage that the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Howard Sykes only learned of this matter in a telephone call on the Friday (17/02/17) evening (at 7.45pm) prior to the national press coverage that weekend.  I suspect we would still know nothing about this very important matter if there had been no press report!

I also understand that a ‘secret’ report was prepared in December and forwarded to the National Counter Terrorist Unit. If this is true, the Council have therefore had since December 2016 to, at a minimum, brief the Leader of the Opposition about this matter, which came as a total surprise to opposition party councillors, including the leader, who were unable to comment when questioned about the alleged incident, having had no input of any sort in relation to it.

I all too well understand the need for secrecy at times, however as we are all on the same team which is Oldham Council, I do not believe that merely a party-political divide is sufficient for issues of such seriousness not to be disclosed, even in redacted form if necessary, to appropriate senior elected members of the council.

It is clear that the allegations made in the press will do nothing but damage our efforts towards community cohesion. It is also clear that a stain has been left upon Clarksfield Primary School that will be hard to remove unless some form of independent and transparent investigation is carried out.

To this end, as Chairman of the Opposition Group, I am writing to ask that Oldham Council formally request the Department for Education to instigate a full Ofsted Inspection of the school at the earliest opportunity in order to alleviate the concerns of staff pupils and parents, as well as the wider community, and if necessary, identify areas that we as a Council will be able to assist the school with in maintaining its ‘good’ rating.

Yours sincerely

Chris Gloster, Councillor for Shaw Ward, Chairman Oldham Council Liberal Democrat Group

Crompton Moor Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO)

A formal OMBC consultation on a proposed Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) for Crompton Moor is to start today the 27th February 2017 and will run for 7 days.

The PSPO would help the police and council officers to address certain anti-social behaviour, and has been developed in response to concerns expressed by the public.

The consultation document and boundary map is available at Crompton Library, Farrow Street, Shaw, and is open to anyone who uses Crompton Moor or has an interest in it. A feedback form will be available for anyone to complete and will be available for the next 7 days.

PSPOs are intended to deal with nuisance or problems that are detrimental to the local community’s quality of life, by imposing conditions on the use of that area.

Myself and others have been trying to progress this for some time as with a PSPO some of the anti social activities that happen on the Moor from time to time will be able to be dealt with more effectively.

If you use/value the Moor, Brushes Clough and surrounding area please have your say.