Liberal Democrat Leader cries ‘Foul’ over reduced action on irresponsible dog owners

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has expressed his disappointment and frustration over figures revealed through a recent Freedom of Information Act request which show that Oldham Council have massively reduced action on irresponsible dog owners who fail to clean up after their pets.  The figures show that in 2017 only one dog owner was prosecuted and the offender received only a £40 fine.

Councillor Sykes said: “This inaction sends out completely the wrong signal to irresponsible and inconsiderate dog owners.  The vast majority of dog owners accept that as part of the responsibility of pet ownership they must clean up after their dog in the interests of public health and to help keep our streets and public parks clean, but regrettably a few do not.  The fine of £40 is also derisory when the consequences, particularly for children, of coming into contact with dog faeces, such as blindness, can be so grave.”

Councillor Sykes added: “According to these figures the number of public complaints received went down from 425 in 2013 to 40 in 2017.  This doesn’t add up – councillors constantly receive complaints about dog fouling; it is one of our biggest causes of complaint.  This leads me to believe that people are not reporting this, because they can see that no action is taken and offenders are simply not prosecuted.  We need to see more action from Council on this now that is what the public wants to see!”

The Freedom of Information Act request follows is below:

13 April 2018

Freedom of Information request regarding Dog Fouling-11820

In response to your Freedom of Information Request regarding dog fouling, Oldham Council is happy to provide the following information;

Year Complaints received FPNs served Prosecutions
2013 425 13 5
2014 147 21 2
2015 84 17 0
2016 77 5 0
2017 40 3 1

2013

£100 fine £200 costs

12 month conditional discharge £60 costs

£200 fine £400 costs

12 month conditional discharge £100 costs

£65 fine £100 costs

2014

£80 fine £100 costs

£80 fine £250 costs

2017

£40 fine £50 costs

Milne Street car park improvements , Shaw Town Centre

Councillor Howard Sykes and Chris Gloster are pleased to report they have secured funding to improve the well-used Milne Street car park, off Eastway – rear of Market Street.

Work to resurface and improve Milne Street car park will commence on 23rd April, hopefully finishing on the 27th April 2018 (weather permitting).

Apologies for any disruption this may cause you, but I hope like me you look forward to a much improved and usable car park.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Liberal Democrats welcome crackdown on fly-tippers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copy of Councillor Sykes Email and officer’s reply

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

Dear Howard,

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

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

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

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

Re: Outplacement support.

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

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

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

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

Kind regards

Jon.

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

Just seen this announcement.

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

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

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

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

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE