Bins and recycling calendars covering the next 12 months until Nov 19 – Shaw and Crompton

I have had a number of people contact me who have not received the above calendars and the old ones ran out at the end of November 18.

Personally I have not had one and have had reports from other people who have not received them on Milnrow Road and Salts Street.

In order to see if these are just blips or part of a wider problem please let me know if you have NOT had a new bins calendar.

If you have not had a new calendar please email me details (howard.sykes@oldham.gov.uk) of your street and will chase up.

Please email me directly do not comment on this post – thanks.

Liberal Democrats call for Proper Funding for Public Health Services

At the next full meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 12 December), the Liberal Democrats will be proposing a motion calling on the Conservative Government to restore disastrous cuts made to public health.

The motion will be proposed by Councillor Chris Gloster and seconded by Councillor Garth Harkness.

In the 2015 Budget, the Chancellor announced a £200 million in-year cut to the Public Health Grant, followed by a further real-terms cut averaging 3.9% each year (until 2020/21) in the 2015 Spending Review.

These cuts are having a significant impact on public health services and functions. By way of example, research conducted by Action on Smoking and Health and Cancer Research UK shows that, following reductions to the Public Health Grant in 2015, 2016, and 2017, stop smoking services were cut in 39%, 59% and 50% of local authorities respectively year-on-year.  Now, 4 in 10 local authorities are not able to offer a stop smoking service for all smokers in their area.

Commenting Councillor Gloster said: “Oldham is a borough with a high incidence of poor health.  Many of our residents suffer from long-term health conditions and many others are at risk of developing such diseases as cardiovascular disease, liver disease, diabetes, CPD and cancer, often because of a poor diet or poor life style choices.  Taking funds away from prevention services that prevent ill health is a false economy. Smoking, obesity and alcohol account for 80,000, 30,000 and 7,000 early deaths each year respectively; and smoking remains the single biggest cause of preventable cancer.”

The Liberal Democrats want to see increased and sustained Government funding for public health to address health inequalities in deprived boroughs like Oldham, but the present Government is instead proposing to cut existing funding and make Councils rely on business rates

Councillor Gloster added: “The Government is looking to phase out the Public Health Grant by 2020/21 and to replace this with funding via business rates retention. This might work in a local authority area with low rates of long-term ill-health and a very vibrant local economy, but in an economically-deprived borough like Oldham it is unlikely to stack up and this will mean that poorly people will suffer as they will no longer have access to the vital health services that they need. We want to see Oldham Council support the Cancer Research UK campaign for the Public Health Grant to be restored.”

Sustainable Public Health Funding

Council notes that:

  • Around four in ten cancers are preventable, largely through avoidable risk factors, such as stopping smoking, keeping a healthy weight and cutting back on alcohol.

Smoking accounts for 80,000 early deaths every year and remains the largest preventable cause of cancer in the world. Additionally, obesity and alcohol account for 30,000 and 7,000 early deaths each year respectively. All three increase the risk of: cancer, diabetes, lung and heart conditions, poor mental health and create a subsequent burden on health and social care.

  • The public health grant funds vital services and functions largely delivered by local authorities to prevent ill health and reduce the burden placed upon the NHS and local authorities; for example, social care for smoking-related illnesses is estimated to cost local authorities £760 million per annum.
  • In 2018/19 and 2019/20 every local authority will have less to spend on public health than the year before.
  • The Government is looking to phase out the Public Health Grant by 2020/21 and to replace this with funding via business rates retention.

Council believes that:

  • The impact of cuts to public health on our communities is becoming difficult to ignore.
  • It is vital that local authorities have enough funding to deliver the functions and services they need to provide. Deprived areas, like Oldham, suffer the worst health outcomes, so it is also vital that areas with the greatest need receive sufficient funding to meet their local challenges.
  • Taking funds away from prevention is a false economy. Without proper investment in public health services, people suffer, demand on local health services increases and the economy suffers. Poor public health costs local businesses heavily through sick days and lost productivity.
  • We must restore public health funding or our health and care system will remain locked in a ‘treatment’ approach, which is neither economically viable nor protects the health of residents.

Council resolves to:

  • Continue to support and fund public health initiatives to the best of our abilities – to prevent ill-health, reduce inequalities and support a health and social care system that is fit for the future.
  • Ask the Chief Executive to write to:
  • Cancer Research UK setting out this Council’s support for their call for increased and sustainable public health funding.
  • The Secretary of State for Health calling on the Government to deliver increased investment in public health and to support a sustainable health and social care system by taking a ‘prevention first’ approach.

Proposed by Councillor Chris Gloster. Seconded by Councillor Garth Harkness.

Liberal Democrat Leader seeks Establishment of Greater Manchester Business Forum to encourage Trade with Palestine

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has today written to Councillor Sir Richard Leese, Deputy Mayor for the Economy in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Leader of Oldham Council asking them to organise high-level events in Greater Manchester and in Oldham to enable the Palestinian Trade Representative in the UK to meet local business people to discuss British – Palestinian trade.

The date is especially auspicious as 29 November is in fact the United Nations Day for International Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

Councillor Sykes is backing the ‘1% initiative’ launched by the UK Government and the Palestinian Authority earlier this year. This seeks to promote Palestinian information technology businesses as prospective partners to UK businesses needing their services; it is hoped that 1% of UK business will be awarded to Palestinian firms.  This will help the Palestinian economy to flourish, meaning the new nation will be less dependent on aid and will help create jobs for Palestinians in their home country.

Commenting, Councillor Sykes said: “Whenever we see news about Palestine, it is usually concerned with the ongoing dispute between the Palestinian people and their Jewish neighbours and the scenes are invariably violent.  I am sure that many people have been shocked by the appalling plight of the Palestinian people, particularly in Gaza.  However there is another unreported side to Palestine in which, despite the adverse circumstances, the Palestinian people are seeking through their own industry and intellect to develop their economy and nation.”

Councillor Sykes added: “It is little known that Palestine has the potential to meet the IT outsourcing needs of many UK businesses and at a very competitive cost.  The Palestinian ICT sector currently employs 6,000 people and it constitutes over 7% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, and there are over 3,000 new IT graduates leaving Palestinian universities every year, all keen to find employment.  I think we should give them a helping hand by hosting some events to which our local businesses can be invited.  Hopefully this will lead to some bi-lateral trade deals.”

Palestine has expertise in software development and testing, network management and maintenance, business process outsourcing, web development, mobile applications, quality assurance and other technical areas. Graduates speak English to a good standard, and the Arabic accent is clear and easy to understand. Furthermore there is only a two hour difference between UK and Middle Eastern time.

In July 2018, the Minister of State for the Middle East Alastair Burt MP announced that the UK Government will provide up to £38 million in aid over the next five years to Palestine, in part to aid economic development. One of the objectives of the aid package is to ‘connect Palestinian IT firms and UK businesses to create jobs for Palestinians.’

Dunwood Park Cafe

McGrother Building, Dunwood Park, Shaw

Following a tender process, Pure Innovations have been selected to operate the café within the McGrother Building, Dunwood Park.

They will provide a community focused café.  Heads of terms have been agreed with the proposed operator and the Council’s Legal Dept has been instructed complete the new lease.

Currently the building only has temporary planning permission to operate a café and this had expired.  Pure Innovations have submitted a planning application for a permanent change of use to a café and the decision should be confirmed by the Planning Dept towards the end of the year.

Also as required an application has been made to the Heritage Lottery Fund for their consent to this new letting and café operator.

It is hoped that the new café will be open early in the New Year and Pure Innovations are looking forward to working with all the local groups and communities to promote the use of Dunwood Park and encourage further visitors to the park.

Liberal Democrat Leader says a good start but more needs to be done to promote free Bulky Bobs Collections for the infirm and others

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Leader of the Opposition on Oldham Council, has welcomed the news that there have been more free Bulky Bobs collections in the first ten months of 2018 than in the same period in 2017.

This improvement has been the result from Councillor Sykes raising his concerns with the former Council Leader Councillor that the fact that Bulky Bobs still offers one annual free collection to certain residents was not being promoted by the Council.

Bulky Bobs was reappointed contractor for the service at the start of this year and it was promised there would be more promotion of the free service as part of this.

Councillor Sykes said: “This important free service was not being publicised by Oldham Council to those that were eligible for it; it was one of the best free deals that no one could see.  I only came across it by chance.  Eligible residents include those who qualify for an assisted bin collection, or who have a physical disability, are infirm because of their age, or are pregnant.”

Numbers obtained by Councillor Sykes show that there were 84 free collections between January and October 2017, but 148 between January and October 2018, nearly doubling.

However the request for a free collection can only be booked by telephone, Councillor Sykes is disappointed that there seems to be no on-line service.

Councillor Sykes added: “I am glad that the promotion is starting to work.  We need to continue to get the message out to those who are eligible to take up the free service.  However, I cannot understand why in this day and age when increasingly people access all kinds of services on-line, including more and more council services, that there is no dedicated email address/web form to which a request a collection from Bulky Bobs.”

“This is hardly a major channel shift,” stated Councillor Sykes.  “I would urge Bulky Bobs and Oldham Council to get with the 21st Century and advertise at least a dedicated email address for booking, and for now I can only urge anyone who is eligible for a free collection of bulk items to please ring 0161 770 6644.”

UPDATE SMALLBROOK ROAD, SHAW CLOSED MONDAY 19 NOVEMBER FOR 5 DAYS (9:30AM – 3:30PM) FOR RE-SURFACING

This was originally planned for the w/c 22 October.

The Oldham Borough Council hereby gives Notice that no person shall cause any vehicle to proceed in that part of Smallbrook Road, Shaw from its junction with Milnrow Road to its junction with St Joseph’s Close.

The restrictions are required to facilitate carriageway resurfacing and will be in force between the hours of 9.30 am and 3.30 pm for a period of 5 days from the date of this notice or until the works are completed, whichever is the lesser period

The alternative route for vehicles affected by the restriction shall be via Smallbrook Road, Duchess Street, Fraser Street, Rochdale Road, Crompton Way and Milnrow Road, in both directions.

Bus stop information see link: Bus stop info Smallbrook Road closurer

For further information please contact Matt McGreal on 0161 770 1955

My two allowed questions at tonight’s Oldham Council meeting – 7 November 2018 – Tommyfield Market and challenge to build some council houses

Q1 Leaders Question – Giving Certainty to Tommyfield Traders

Mr Mayor my first question tonight concerns people living with great uncertainty; they are nervous about their future; or indeed if they have a future; and a Leader who is promising a plan that will deliver a ‘New Jerusalem’…

But in this case I am not talking about the people of the United Kingdom, Theresa May and Brexit, but rather the traders of Tommyfield Market, our new Council Leader, and the revised (yet again) Oldham Town Centre Masterplan.

We all know that the Leader tore up the old £350 million masterplan – not good enough said he; it ‘falls far short of what is required to give a compelling vision for Oldham.’

I am sure the traders at Tommyfield were at that time grateful that he described the market as ‘much-loved’ and ‘a significant feature of Oldham town centre…in need of investment.’

It must have filled them with hope for the future.

But since that time the same traders have been living with more uncertainty, made worse by the fact that the new revised, better-than-the-old-one masterplan is now not scheduled to be unveiled until at least March 2020.

Yes not March 2019, but March 2020 – in at least 18 months-time. 

Most citizens of this Borough will wonder why it will take so long and why urgency is not put into the process!

With our recent experience of town centre regeneration projects falling behind schedule or just failing to happen; think Hotel Futures and Princes Gate.

Traders are right to ask questions and they deserve some answers.

At present traders report that when their leases are up for renewal they are being offered new agreements in which they could be given as little as three months’ notice to quit.

Many of these traders have been in the market for decades, with a loyal customer base to match, and one – Levers – has its own blue plaque celebrating Oldham as being the historic home of fish and chips!

So how can it be right that they can be out on their ear in only 12 weeks?  I ask you is this any way to treat traders who were recently described as ‘much loved’!

Giving them so little notice means they have no incentive to invest in their business or premises.  Some say that in any case a three month notice period makes their business now practically worthless.

It causes difficulties with recruiting and keeping staff and impacts on the well-being of the owners and their families let alone their pockets!

So I would like to ask the Leader tonight if he will rethink the Council’s offer to the traders.

Will he do the right thing and agree to requests that they be at least granted five-year automatically renewable leases as a way to guarantee them some future for their businesses and staff?

Will he promise traders that they will be consulted regularly as stakeholders as plans for the new market hall (or not) develop and be offered spaces in or around the new market hall which meet their needs and on terms that are affordable to them?

Q2 Leaders Questions – Can We Build It?  Yes We Can!

Mr Mayor, for my second question to the Leader tonight I would like to look at another important issue – the shortage of social and rented housing in our Borough.

In Oldham, we have a huge housing waiting list.  We have a particular shortage of larger houses, as these are the homes most frequently lost due to sales under the misguided policy of Right to Buy.

We are also desperately short of homes that are built to meet the needs of disabled people or future proofed for an ageing population.

I know that the Leader will join me in welcoming the announcement by the Prime Minister that, for once, represents good news for this Borough – the lifting of the borrowing cap which has prevented Councils from investing in much needed social and affordable housing.

Following pressure from many voices speaking common sense, including those of myself and my fellow group leaders in the cross-party Local Government Association, the cap on the Housing Revenue Account is finally being abolished.

In their hey-day, councils were building four in every 10 of the nation’s homes – we will now need to see a Council house building revival to build affordable and social housing if we are to meet the shortfall in new homes that we will need in the future.

Decent homes improve health and well-being, educational performance and many, many other factors other than just a decent roof over people’s head.

We need to get on with it now – with more haste than it took this Administration to recently adopt the idea of establishing an arms-length housing development company that the Liberal Democrat Group first suggested three years ago.

The children’s TV character, Bob the Builder, famously said: ‘Can we build it?  Yes we can!’

Mr Mayor, I would like to ask the Leader tonight if he is going to adopt Bob’s mantra by ensuring the Council works with our social housing partners and supportive housing developers to quickly rise to this challenge and build the affordable homes that we so desperately need as soon as possible.

In short, have we got a plan in place, have we got sites ready to build on and will we see diggers on the ground very soon?

Liberal Democrats seek renewed action on pot-hole danger roads

The Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council have tabled a motion for discussion at the next full meeting (7 November 18) of the Council calling for greater action in tackling damaged road surfaces that represent a danger to motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.  This is part of an ongoing Liberal Democrat campaign to raise the dangers of poor road surfaces with the current Labour Administration and to call for a change in policy so damage can be repaired if it is dangerous.

The Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Chris Gloster, is proposing the motion: “This issue is of great concern to Liberal Democrat Councillors on Oldham Council.  My Shaw colleague, Group Leader Councillor Howard Sykes, has written to the Council Deputy Leader about this and my Crompton colleague, Councillor Dave Murphy, raised it as a question at last Council.  We are just not satisfied by the lack of action so have decided to bring our proposals for proper debate at full Council.  Put simply, we want the Council to be able to repair any road surface that is dangerous, not just those roads where surface erosion is at least forty millimetres deep.  At the moment the Council just says no if the holes are less than 40mm.”

Government guidance issued to all local authorities in November 2016 states that Councils must ‘investigate’ instances where road surfaces have been eroded by at least 40mm, but there is no legal requirement placed upon Councils even then to repair them promptly.  In Oldham, the current Labour Administration policy is to only consider potholes deeper than 40mm to be eligible for repair.  By way of constant, the threshold for the repair of pavements is lower at 25mm.

Councillor Gloster explained why this is problematic: “One practical issue is that many roads in my own district of Shaw and Crompton do not even have a top surface that is 40mm thick; they can be worn away to the cobbles and present a real danger to cyclists and motorists, but as the ‘threshold’ can never be reached no action is taken.  This cannot be fair or right.”

The Liberal Democrats want the Council to ensure that any road surface that becomes hazardous can be repaired.  Councillor Gloster added:  “I fully appreciate roads will still have to be prioritised and not all will be able to be repaired with the resources the council has, but we should look to address the danger that any worn road surface represents to the public, and not simply operate to some arbitrary ‘threshold’.”

The motion is being seconded by Councillor Gloster’s colleague, Saddleworth Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness, who said: “Another issue addressed in our motion is the lack of real finance made available to local government from central government for road repairs.  This present government talks a lot about the additional resources given from time-to-time to local authorities to tackle the backlog, but this is never enough and it is always too late.”

“The Local Government Association, which represents Councils of all political persuasions across the country, has estimated that there is a £9 billion backlog of repairs on Britain’s roads.  We want the government to give local authorities some of the Road Fuel Duty that is raised so we can get on with the job of making our roads fit-for-purpose.”

Notes motion reads: Oldham Council 7 November 2018 – Notice of Opposition Business – Motion 2 – Tackling Dangerous Potholes

This Council notes that:

  • Residents are greatly concerned by the unsatisfactory state of highways and the prevalence of dangerous potholes in our Borough
  • Elected members are aware of these are high-level public concerns because of the many complaints they receive from their constituents on these matters.
  • Poor road surfaces and footpaths also harm the reputation of Oldham Council and the Borough, and can lessen the appeal of coming into the borough by these routes.
  • The guidance issued to all local authorities by the Department of Transport in October 2016 required Councils to ‘investigate’ any potholes or instances of road surface erosion of at least 40mm depth, but did not necessarily require them to repair it.
  • The threshold fails to take account of circumstances in which the top surface of a road is less than 40mm in the first instance, which can lead to this surface becoming completely eroded and dangerous to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, yet ineligible for repair by a local authority under the Department of Transport guidance.
  • The threshold for the repair of public footpaths is much lower at 25mm.
  • The Local Government Association has estimated that there is a £9 billion national backlog of repairs to potholes and damaged road surfaces.

This Council reaffirms its commitment to:

  • Ensure that any pothole or eroded surface, whatever the level of damage, which poses a danger to pedestrians, cyclists and motorists is repaired as quickly as possible
  • Fight for greater resources from Government to tackle the road repair backlog.

Council therefore resolves to:

  • Repair any pothole or eroded road surface within the Borough that represents a danger to members of the public, regardless of whether the arbitrary threshold of 40mm is met
  • Ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Transport:
  • Supporting the call of the Local Government Association that a significant portion of the Road Fuel Duty raised by the UK Government be allocated to local authorities to enable them to tackle the estimated £9 billion backlog
  • Requesting the guidance issued to local authorities be revised to place an emphasis upon the prompt repair of any pothole or road surface representing a danger to the public.