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

Council finance has been hammered by Conservative Government cuts.  Some local services are now in real danger of collapse.  The eight Liberal Democrat Councillors have spoken out against the cuts; the Conservatives and UKIP stayed silent.

We are the only opposition to Labour’s 44 councillors (out of 60), challenging decisions that hurt our Borough’s residents, and proposing practical solutions instead.  UKIP and the Conservatives say nothing, do nothing and often vote with Labour.

We want Oldham Council to get the basics right – clean streets; potholes filled; and an end to fly-tipping and crime.

We declared ‘war’ on Civic Centre waste to free up over £650,000 for highways improvements, youth services, tackling fly tipping, and public safety measures to help make our streets cleaner and safer.  Labour voted against our proposals, UKIP and the Conservatives did not even bother to turn up to the meeting!

The Liberal Democrats put 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 deliver the services you expect whilst squeezing much better value from your Council Tax.

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

Polls are open 7:00am – 10:00pm on Thursday 3 May – you DO NOT need your poll card in order to vote.

The Women’s Concessionary Travel Scheme pass

If you are female, born between 6 October 1953 and 5 November 1954 and are a permanent resident in Greater Manchester then you will qualify for a Women’s Concessionary Travel pass from Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) from the date that you would have reached pensionable age before the 2011 Pensions Act came into effect. With this pass, you can travel free on buses, trains and trams in Greater Manchester during off-peak hours:

  • from 9.30am to midnight, Monday to Friday
  • all day at weekends and on public holidays

If you travel outside of these times you must pay the full adult fare.

Do you qualify?

To get this concessionary pass from TfGM you must:

  • be female
  • live in Greater Manchester and
  • be born between 6 October 1953 and 5 November 1954

If you meet the criteria above, you can apply for the pass up to 21 days before the date that you would have reached pensionable age before the 2011 Pensions Act came into effect. As this differs depending on your date of birth you will need to check using the information below to find out if you can apply.

Cost and benefits

There is a £10 administration charge for your pass. Your pass will expire when you reach your pensionable age at which point you will receive an English National Concessionary Travel pass.

It gives you free travel on:

All local buses, Metrolink trams and on (scheduled) trains within Greater Manchester between 9.30am and midnight Monday to Friday, and all day at weekends and on public holidays.

If you travel outside of these times you must pay the full adult fare.

Two boundary maps are available that show you where you can travel within Greater Manchester, one for buses (2MB) and the other for trains and trams (635KB).

Apply for a pass

You can download an application form or pick one up from your nearest TfGM Travelshop.

If you are eligible, complete the relevant application form and attach the following supporting materials:

  • A passport sized colour photograph of yourself
  • Proof of age – a copy of either your birth certificate, medical card, passport or driving licence
  • Proof of your address – a copy of either a utility bill, local council tax bill or a Department for Work and Pensions letter from within the last 12 months

Please do not send original documents

You can post your form and supporting documents to the address on the application form or take it to a Travelshop where staff can check your documents.

Your pass will be sent in the post to you, please allow 10 working days for your pass to be processed.

How to use your pass

By bus

If you are travelling by bus you must either touch your pass to the smart reader when boarding or, if there isn’t a smart reader present, show it to the driver.

By tram

You must touch your pass to the smart reader before boarding a Metrolink tram in order to validate your entitlement to free travel. You must also touch your pass to the smart reader when you finish your journey. You must do this whenever you are entitled to travel free of charge. Metrolink readers are at every stop on the network.

You need to present your card when requested to any Transport for Greater Manchester or transport operator official during your journey.

By train

If you are travelling by train, you will need to present your pass to a train ticket inspector or conductor to travel.

What to do if you lose your pass

It is important that you take care of your pass as there is a £10 charge for the replacement of lost, stolen, or damaged passes.

If you have registered your card with the get me there website, you are able to request a replacement pass directly from the site.

Alternatively, Call TfGM on 0161 244 1000 (7am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 8pm at weekend and public holidays) or visit your nearest Travelshop to order your replacement card.

Change of address

If you change your address, it is your responsibility to inform TfGM as there may be a £10 charge for the replacement of a pass that is sent to an old address.

What happens when your pass is due to expire?

At least two weeks before your pass expires, we will issue you with your English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) pass meaning that you do not need to take any action.

Terms and Conditions

Full Terms and Conditions are available for the Women’s Concessionary Travel Scheme pass.

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 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