Questions to the Leader of Oldham Council – From Cllr Howard Sykes – Oldham Council Meeting 16 July 14

Questions to the Leader of Oldham Council – from Cllr Howard Sykes – Oldham Council Meeting 16 July 14

Q1. Closure of Crompton Pool

I would like to ask my first question about Crompton Pool, known to local people as Shaw Baths.

After the “temporary” closure of the baths in May, there were many weeks with no public announcements or updates for local elected Members or service users.

It was only earlier this month that the bombshell was dropped when the Cabinet Member suddenly announced that the pool will not re-open.

Does the Leader not fully appreciate the depth of anger and frustration felt by local people when they finally heard that this popular facility will now remain permanently closed because this Council will not find £50,000 to carry out the necessary repairs to a boiler to re-open it?

For the sake of only £50,000, many hundreds of local swimmers, members of a local swimming club and the pupils of local schools have been denied the use of a much loved and valued facility in their hometown.

This decision, taken behind closed doors and without a scintilla of public consultation, amounts to a total betrayal by this Labour Administration of the promise made to the people of Shaw and Crompton that the baths would remain open until the new facility at Royton opens in 2016.

Would the Leader concur that this action is not conducive to community cohesion as the people of Shaw and Crompton, who have also seen their local tip closed and plans to redevelop the health centre come to naught, feel more like the ‘have nots’ in this borough?

The people of Shaw and Crompton deserve to be treated better.

Q2. The Manchester Street and Union St West Footbridges

My second question concerns the employment of a rather larger figure than £50,000 – this time to demolish a white elephant rather than preserve a much needed local facility like Shaw Baths.

The Manchester Street footbridge cost £800,000 to build in 1993/94 or about £1.5M at today’s prices.

It has always been a source of problems from the day it eventually opened – later than planned I might add.

It has been subjected to repeated vandalism, it was described as “difficult to use” especially by older people and for those pushing prams, and it was used as an informal ‘youth centre’ and a vantage point for those intent on attacking and robbing passers-by.

All these issues were predicated by the then Lib Dem Opposition who fought the proposals to build this white elephant tooth and nail, calling the structure a totally unnecessarily crystal palace in the sky!

Now there is a proposal to demolish the footbridge with the work starting in August.

Can the Leader confirm that the cost of demolition is expected to be at least £500,000?

So at today’s prices that is £2M for this folly!

Now that £2M would make a substantial contribution not just to fix Crompton Pool but to replace it?

But that is not the end of this sorry story. It gets better – on top of the £2M, at a later date will be the cost of providing some alternative crossing provision at this or near to this location.

Now if we want to spend money on bridges lets do something about the Union Street West footbridge near the Sixth Form College.

This was built in 2000 at a cost of £900,000 or £1.3M in today’s prices. This bridge has always been plagued with vandalism, broken glass panels and structural problems.

In October 2009, cabinet member Councillor Shoab Akhtar was quoted in the local media: “Hundreds of people use this bridge every day and they are growing concerned and feel vulnerable especially with longer nights approaching.

There is nothing allocated to the bridge in this year’s Capital Budget but I urge the council to find the money to get this fixed as soon as possible.”

Will the Leader tell me whether, if five years on, Cllr Akhtar will see his wish granted?

Q3. Camera Cars

The Leader will doubtless recall that at October’s Council an Administration Motion attacking proposals by Conservative Ministers in the Department of Communities and Local Government to ban the use of CCTV camera cars received cross-party support.

Following the resolution, our then Chief Executive at the request of council wrote to the department outlining our objections.

Minister Brandon Lewis in his response invited the Council to respond to a forthcoming consultation on parking. This ran from December to 14th February 2014; hardly an end date we would have picked as the proposal was so unloved.

On 21st June, the department published the findings of the consultation.

In this it is reported that local authorities, cycling groups, disability groups, schools and transport groups were almost all universally opposed to this proposal, and that even groups representing motorists had mixed feelings.
I do hope that, given the depth of feeling in this chamber, that Oldham Council also submitted its comments in opposition to the proposal.

Despite this Conservative Government Ministers want to press ahead with their proposal for a ban by amending the Deregulation Bill now before Parliament.

Can I invite the Leader and Conservative and UKIP Group Leaders to join me in writing a letter to the co-sponsors of the Deregulation Bill, Oliver Letwin MP and Lord Wallace of Saltaire, asking them to resist the inclusion of clauses aimed at introducing the ban, and to also write to our three local MPs asking them to support the Council’s position?

Howard Sykes
16 July 2014

Dog fouling

Dog_Fouling_sign

Dear Sir or Madam
RE:DOG CONTROL ORDER: CLEAN NEIGHBOURHOODS AND ENVIRONMENT ACT 2005
We receive numerous complaints annually concerning dog owners who allow their dogs to foul in public places; in order for the Neighbourhood Enforcement team to fully investigate a complaint please provide me with the following information

* The times when the owner takes their dog out
* The location where the fouling has occurred
* A description of the dog
* A description of the owner
* If the dog owner is using a car, the registration number

Dog owners who do not clean up after their dogs face an immediate £80 fixed penalty fine or face prosecution by the Local Authority which can result in a fine of up to £1000.

Should you have any queries or require any further advice, please contact the Enforcement Officer on the above telephone number or email below.

Tel: 0161 770 2244
Email: environmentalhealth@oldham.gov.uk

Shaw parking boost for Metrolink

shaw tram

Cllr Howard Sykes pleased by Metrolink Car Parking Boost

Liberal Democrat Shaw Councillor Howard Sykes has welcomed the announcement that more car parking spaces will be created at the Shaw and Crompton Metrolink station to serve local commuters.

Cllr Sykes, a Shaw Councillor since 1987, now represents Oldham Council on the Transport for General Manchester (TfGM) committee. He was pleased to hear that Oldham Council has negotiated the purchase of a new site for car-parking off Beal Lane and that plans are in-hand by TfGM to create a further 45 car-parking spaces.

Commenting on the plans, Cllr Sykes said:

“For many years now, in fact from well before the closure of the Oldham – Rochdale railway line in 2009, Shaw and Crompton Liberal Democrat Councillors have been campaigning for more parking at the Shaw and Crompton Station.

“Shaw and Crompton was always the busiest station on the old railway line and this has not changed with the opening of Metro-link.

“Existing car-parking is always full well before 8 am. If we are serious about making Metrolink an attractive and green option for commuters, we need to provide sufficient parking spaces for them to ‘park and ride’.

“The latest plans provide for 45 more spaces, doubling existing provision. Until now, commuters have had to drive the extra distance to Derker Station, an option that is unreasonable and not environmentally friendly.

“The proposal for the new ‘Park and Ride’ spaces will be reported at a meeting of Transport for General Manchester this coming Friday.

“Now that the purchase of the land is in place, I would urge the officers responsible at Oldham Council and at TfGM to make every effort to carry out the necessary works to bring these new spaces into operation as a priority, so we can all feel the benefits as soon as possible.

Lib Dems concerned about Sanctions and Delay in Publishing Review

Lib Dems concerned about Sanctions and Delay in Publishing Review

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Cllr Howard Sykes MBE, has written on behalf of the Group to the Tory Secretary of State for Employment, Tory MP, Ian Duncan Smith, with his concerns about the operation of the benefits sanction regime and delays in the publication of an independent review commissioned by the Minister.

The Government appointed Matthew Oakley, a member of the Social Security Advisory Committee, to undertake an independent review of the operation of the benefit sanctions regime as per the requirements of the Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act 2013.

Mr Oakley invited benefit claimants and campaign groups to submit evidence to a consultation which closed six months ago on 10th January 2014. There was an expectation that Mr Oakley would present his report to the Secretary of State after the 26 March 2014, and that this would be laid before Parliament and the public shortly thereafter.

In his letter, Cllr Sykes states: “The results will be of tremendous interest to both benefit claimants and to opinion formers, so why the delay?”

Sanctions were first introduced by the last Labour Government to promote greater compliance by jobseekers with the requirements to be “available for and actively seeking work” (so called conditionality), but the regime was revised following the introduction by the Secretary of State of the 2012 Welfare Reform Act.

Benefit claimants can now be sanctioned and lose their entitlement to unemployment benefits for periods of between 4 weeks and 3 years.

The cross-party Parliamentary Work and Pensions Select Committee stated in a recent report that whilst it recognised that “conditionality is a necessary part of the benefits system and that sanctioning, if used appropriately, can be a useful tool for encouraging engagement with employment support”, sanctions should only be used as a “last resort”.

Cllr Sykes agrees: “We need to establish a conditionality and sanctions regime that strikes the right balance between placing robust expectations on claimants to find work, giving them the chance to make the necessary behaviour changes to meet these expectations, and providing them with appropriate and timely information and support from Job Centre staff to do so.

And we should also of course always be mindful that the regime is fair to Britain’s taxpayers who ultimately fund it”.

Cllr Sykes also has real concerns about the operation of the sanctions regime:

“Claimants are still not always told what is expected of them to find work, and, where they fail to do so, can find a sanction applied before they are given the opportunity to effect the necessary behaviour changes to be compliant with the conditionality requirements.

Claimants are also not always told about their right to apply for a Hardship Payment or about the need to ensure they make a fresh claim to housing benefit and local Council Tax Support to avoid the accumulation of arrears (on the basis of Nil Income).
They are also not always fully informed about their rights to seek a review of the decision or of their right to appeal the decision”.

In a final appeal for natural justice to the Tory Minister, Cllr Sykes states:

“This means claimants lose out, both financial and in knowledge. This can then lead to a downward spiral where the claimants has to resort to ‘loan sharks’ and food banks to survive, whilst remaining at risk of further sanctions because they remain non-compliant with the conditionality requirements.

This surely cannot be right.

Sanctions should be a “last resort” with the errant claimant being offered the information, opportunity and support to make the necessary behaviour changes first (a warning if you will) before they lose their income”.

Cllr Sykes ends with his hopes that the report will soon be published and that the Minister will address the concerns of the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group.

He said:

“The application of sanctions in Oldham has led to several headline horror stories in our local press.

“I am sure that the report will be very informative. I look forward with my colleagues to subjecting it to a rigorous examination after which we shall not hesitate to make our views known to Ministers if we continue to be unhappy with it.

“The Oldham Liberal Democrats have been forthright in our support for the poorest and most disadvantaged residents of our borough. As a party we believe in a fairer society.

“Our actions speak as loudly as our words.

“Last year, we proposed a 12-point plan to support disabled people affected by welfare reform and we called for improvements to the local Council Tax Support Scheme and for further support for social tenants impacted by housing benefit changes to housing benefits (the so-called Bedroom Tax).

“Very recently I wrote to the Secretary of the Select Committee on Work and Pensions opposing the plan of the Tory Secretary of State to deny claimants their benefits for the first seven days of their claim and this week we will be discussing a Lib Dem motion condemning Tory Ministers in Government for proposing to abolish Local Welfare Provision.”

Rochdale Road/Fraser Street/Chamber Road Junction

traffic-lights-signAs you are probably aware the off licence at the junction of Fraser Street and Rochdale Road was hit by a vehicle over the weekend and the building will need demolishing. Emergency traffic management was introduced when the incident occurred (i.e. heras fencing and barriers) but this is not suitable for any length of time as Rochdale Road traffic is having to travel on the wrong side of the road and pedestrians are left vulnerable due to the footway being closed..

Arrangements have therefore been made for four way lights to be introduced which will allow pedestrian provision to be created and traffic to confidently travel on the wrong side of the road.

At present it is not possible to advise how long the lights will be in operation.

Lib Dems announce: Your pension to be protected by law

g7cs1s1aLib Dems announce: Your pension to be protected by law

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes, has welcomed the recent announcement that the Liberal Democrats are committed to protect pensions by law.

Lib Dem Pensions Minister Steve Webb has confirmed that pensioners would be guaranteed to earn at least an extra £790 per year by the end of the next Parliament under the party’s manifesto plans.

These changes mean the state pension will be worth at least £131-a-week by 2020, up from just £97.65 four years ago.

On hearing the news, Cllr Sykes said:

“Thanks to the Triple Lock guarantee that has been introduced by the Liberal Democrats in government, the basic state pension has been raised each year of this Parliament in line with average earnings, prices or 2.5%; whichever has been higher. The triple lock was a key demand from the Liberal Democrats in Coalition negotiations.

“The means the state pension is £440 higher per year in 2014-15 than if it had increased in line with earnings from the start of this Parliament, and worth over £800 a year more in total.

“Only the Liberal Democrats are committed to write this guarantee into law, giving pensioners more certainty that their pension will continue to rise in future”.

Announcing the plan, Lib Dem Pensions Minister Steve Webb said:

“A decent income in retirement for pensioners is central to the Liberal Democrat vision of a fair society.

“For decades, successive Labour and Conservative governments allowed the state pension to decline after Mrs. Thatcher broke the ‘earnings link’ in 1980. Our manifesto promise of a ‘triple lock’ has been implemented every year since 2010 and means that the state pension is already a higher share of the national average wage than at any time since the early 1990s.

“But if we are serious about having a decent state pension we need to go further. That is why the Liberal Democrats will guarantee in law that in each year pensions will rise by the highest of wages, prices or 2.5%.”

The Liberal Democrat plans are in stark contrast to the Labour years, which on one occasion saw Gordon Brown increase the state pension by just 75p-a-week.

The triple lock guarantee would ensure an increase in the value of the state pension of at least £790 per year by the end of the next Parliament.

Youth grant application

For an application form email Jodie Barber – details at bottom of this post.

This year there are changes to the process so please read through the application carefully.

The grants are available for Young people’s activities within Oldham for young people aged 11 – 19 (up to 25 for young people with disabilities)

The maximum that can be applied for is £1000.

The applications can be completed by an adult but MUST be accompanied with a supporting statement from young people who will benefit from the activity.

Application interviews are not being held anymore so please make sure you put as much detail into the application as possible so that the panel of young people can make well informed decisions.

The grants are only for activities that can demonstrate that they will contribute to the 3 priority outcomes identified by the Youth Council, these are:
• Improving the emotional well being and mental health of Young people.
• Promoting and providing young people with quality volunteering opportunities.
• Ensuring Young people lead healthy lifestyles.
The deadline for applications is Friday 8 August 5pm – Applications will not be received after this time.

Applications can be sent electronically via email – or you can print out the form and complete by hand – returning it to the address below
If you have any queries or would like further information please do not hesitate in contacting Jodie Barber.

Jodie Barber
Senior Youth Work Manager, Integrated Youth Services – Central team
Rock Street Resource Centre
Rock Street
Oldham
OL1 3UJ
0161 770 3117
Jodie.barber@oldham.gov.uk

Rochdale Road/Fraser Street

WP_000242
At around 2pm this morning a car went through the front of a shop at the junction of Rochdale Road and Fraser Street in Shaw causing extensive damage (see photograph).

It is believed that the driver was under the influence of alcohol.

This is the same shop which was hit by a car a few months ago.

Building Control officers went out and assessed the site.

The car has been removed from the building, and contractors were called who have undertaken work to make the site as safe as possible and secured it.

Highways have closed the road. Insurance assessors will be coming out to assess the building on Monday.

Crompton Pool 1st July

001456_Swimming-Pool

After being fobbed off for weeks since it’s closure in early May the council finally get round to issuing a press release saying it will not re- open.

The people of Shaw deserve better than to be treated like this.

Just £50k could have kept the Pool open for the hundreds of users, the swimming club and schools plus others.

Most people would regard that as good value and if this was elsewhere in Oldham Borough the cash would have been spent and the facility kept open.

However this is Shaw and Crompton and our Labour Council (and that is who have made this decision in secret) appear to not give two hoots about Shaw and Crompton and have just proved that again.