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The Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes, MBE, has questioned the value of Oldham Council spending more than £10,000 + VAT to send two Council officers to the French Riviera resort of Cannes at a time when Council services have been cut to the bone.
The two officers were representing Oldham Council at the three day Marché International des Professionnels d’Immobilier (MIPIM) property conference earlier this month. Oldham Council was one of at least nine around the UK that the national press reported were sending representatives at public expense.
Commenting Councillor Sykes stated: “The attendance by these Council officers at this conference at this time; at such expense sends; out all of the totally wrong signals when the Council is cutting services to the bone or just stopping them because of swingeing cuts in central government funding.”
He added: “I am not suggesting that this simply amounted to three days of sunshine and champagne. I am sure these officers were also meeting with potential investors in Oldham, but many residents in our Borough; who are struggling to pay their Council Tax bills; will rightly ask why this money could not have been spent on fixing potholes on our crumbling roads or providing care for our vulnerable children or elderly citizens rather than on jet travel and hotel bills for staff going to the French Riviera.”
Councillor Sykes is also still investigating whether this £10,000 bill represents the full cost to the Council, and he has an outstanding enquiry with officers in the Chief Executive’s team.
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:
Council further notes that:
Thursday March – 8, 15, 22, 29
All at Shaw Lifelong Learning Centre, High Street, Shaw
From 7:30pm to 8:30pm
Councillors: Gloster, Sykes, Williamson, Murphy and Turner
NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY
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.
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.
So, Mr Mayor, in summary our proposals will deliver:
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.
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.
The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Shaw Ward Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has expressed his disappointment; but not surprise; that agents acting for the Casey Group Limited are once more seeking a three year deferment (again) on the condition attached to a planning application first granted in 1994 that they create a golf course ‘to a playable standard’ on the Beal Valley tipping site.
Councillor Sykes said: “The Beal Valley is a long-standing broken promise by Labour to people living in Shaw, Crompton, Royton South, St James’ Wards and elsewhere in the Borough.”
“When planning permission was first granted to permit dumping of waste on the site, the then Labour Administration saw the pound signs over many years from the fees that this activity would bring the Council,” stated Councillor Sykes. “Now almost a quarter century later the people of Oldham and the four wards around the site have seen their hopes that tipping would end and the site would made good dashed time and again.”
Councillor Sykes said: “This 24 year saga seems to have been beset by a series of unfortunate disappointments and setbacks, and I do hope that if this deferment is granted that Casey’s will finally be able to carry out the work as promised. But I will not be holding my breath and will predict now there will be no so called golf course there in three years’ time!”
“We always said it was a tip when Labour claimed it was necessary ‘landscaping and re-shaping’ to provide a golf course, he added. “Time has proved us right and we were also right that nobody wanted a golf course otherwise it would have opened years ago!”
The Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council will propose that in this year’s budget more money is invested on improving highways, tackling fly tipping and litter, and addressing anti-social behaviour and crime to make the Borough’s streets better and cleaner and our communities safer by finding further savings in Civic Centre bureaucracy.
The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, said:
“Local government finance has been massively, and disproportionately, hit by this Conservative Government’s so called continued adherence to austerity. Over many years, Oldham has really felt the pain. This year has been no different. The Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement announced in December contained no surprises, it was simply more of the same, no additional funding, do more with less and more cuts.”
“Unfortunately, a rise in Council Tax will be a further burden for struggling households to bear. I am only glad that there is 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.”
Whilst the Oldham Liberal Democrats recognise that cuts are necessary, in their Budget Amendment proposals they have identified further savings which cut money from the Council’s bureaucracy rather than taking money from services. Some of the money released through these savings they propose to reinvest to make real improvements to the Borough’s roads and communities to make them better, cleaner and safer.
Councillor Sykes commented: “The Liberal Democrats believe that we should be waging a ‘War on Waste’ by constantly identify savings in bureaucracy to free up money to support the services that are most valued by our ratepayers. This year, we have identified over £420,000 in further savings from the so called back office that can be put back into front-line services.”
The Liberal Democrats have identified a further £423,000 in savings each year 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, and scrapping Borough Life.
The Liberal Democrats also propose investment on enforcement so fines can be applied against drivers who selfishly and illegally use bus lanes; whilst this will cost money in the short term, over time this will be revenue raising with no impact on the responsible drivers. This cash will then be used to fix our crumbling roads.
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 be significant.”
“We are proposing to spend £400,000 this year to restore the cuts Labour propose to our youth services, so helping to address the anti-social behaviour that can result from young people having nothing to do, and to invest in tackling the fly-tipping that blights our communities and in the alley-gating and CCTV schemes that help keep people safe in their homes and streets.”
“Next year, we would spend £422,000 to fund an additional £5 million investment on much needed improvements to our roads and infrastructure, and to sustain our work in public safety. This is a practical set of common sense proposals that takes money wasted on bureaucracy and invests it in the services that matter to people.”
“The Labour Administration has recently announced a £6.2 million investment in road improvements, including £5 million this year. Whilst this is a welcome announcement, it is disingenuous of them to claim that this was their idea as in each of our last two annual Budget Amendments we have proposed a £5 million investment; these were investments that Labour failed to support. If it is suddenly right to do this now, why was it not right to do it then? How much better would our road already be if we have invested in them as we suggest two years ago?”
“The Liberal Democrats however want to go one better as, through the savings we have identified, we can fund an additional £5 million in highway and infrastructure improvements in 2019/20, sustaining the level of investment for one more year making more of our roads smoother and safer.”
Councillor Sykes also spoke about his Group’s continued commitment to funding youth services:
“The Liberal Democrats are concerned that the £100,000 in cuts that Labour are proposing to 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.”
“We would restore the funding but on one condition – that a new Service Level Agreement be drawn up to ensure that 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 are equally committed to crime prevention and public safety.
Councillor Sykes added: “Our proposals include making £650,000 available over two years for tackling environmental crime, such as the cowboy van-and-man fly-tippers who take money from householders ostensibly to responsibly dispose of their bulky waste items and then criminally dump them by the side of our highways and in our beauty spots, and to consider applications for alley-gating schemes and for the installation of Closed Circuit Television cameras. In wards, such as my own in Shaw, we have seen that such schemes reduce burglaries and street crime and help people feel safe in their homes and communities.”
Long-term, the Liberal Democrats have still more ambitious proposals to save money. In their Budget Amendment, they have once again called for a reduction in Councillors from 60 to 40, and for two elections every four years instead of three, to realise an estimated annual saving of £190,000. They also want to see the temporary reduction in the Council staff training budget of £150,000 made permanent, and have suggested Spend-to-Save measures, such as investing in replacing conventional street lamps with LED bulbs which use significantly less electricity, and generating money from highways advertising.
Full details of the proposals can be seen by following the link below:
https://committees.oldham.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=182&MId=6912&Ver=4
