After the Labour run Oldham Council removed any mention of divestment from a motion calling for the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) to stop investing in fossil fuel companies, the managers of the fund have refused to come and meet with councillors to explain why they are against the change.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani proposed the motion, and following the amendments to it, accepted an offer from cabinet member Abdul Jabbar to have the GMPF explain their reasoning. However, GMPF then responded to say that they “have decided not accept such invitations for now.”

Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “This is not acceptable. Oldham Council is among many public bodies which has accepted that we are facing a climate crisis. Yet our money is going into the largest pension fund of its kind in the UK, which is continuing to invest in fossil fuel companies.

“GMPF claims that this is because it ‘aims to be an active voice in the calls for companies to lower their carbon emissions’.

“‘Aims’ is not good enough. We should be forcing companies to stop investing in fossil fuels, and if GMPF don’t agree, then they should be prepared to talk to the Councils who are part of their fund to defend that decision.”

Oldham Council is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2025, yet GMPF is only aiming for that by 2050. And GMPF’s investment in fossil fuel companies has actually been increasing – Fossil Free Greater Manchester (FFGM) analysed GMPF’s holdings at 31 March, 2020 versus 31 March 2019 and concluded that holdings in the oil and gas giants Shell and BP went up by 27.3% and 18.6% respectively and Glencore, a commodity trading and mining company whose operations include coal, increased by 42.3%.

Councillor Al-Hamdani continued: “There are extremely sound financial arguments for investing pension funds in sustainable investments. And there are extremely strong ethical ones for stopping investing in fossil fuels. At the very least, the people who are investing this money should be prepared to come and explain why they are refusing to do that.”

Two years on from the Oldham Liberal Democrats calling for the law to be changed to make illegal sexual contact between persons in ‘positions of trust’ and young adults in their care, Group Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE has written to the Deputy Prime Minister calling for long-overdue action.

In September 2019, the Liberal Democrats brought a motion before the Full Council in support the NSPCC ‘Closing the loophole’ campaign.  The children’s charity wants the Position of Trust law changed to cover all roles where an adult holds a position of power, care or responsibility over a 16-or 17-year old and to make it illegal for that adult to engage in sexual activity with that young person, even in circumstances where this activity is mutually-consensual.  The motion received cross-party support.

After almost 18 months of inactivity, in January of this year, Councillor Sykes asked Daisy Cooper MP, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Justice matters, to table a Parliamentary question about progress.  In his written response, Justice Minister Alex Chalk MP stated that the government was ‘considering next steps with both pace and care’ and that he hoped to be able to update Parliament shortly. 

Nine months on, there is still no news and Councillor Sykes has decided to take the matter higher.

“After all this time, the government’s pace on making the necessary changes to the law is pitiful; all the while our young people continue to be at risk from sexual predators in ‘positions of trust’,” said Councillor Sykes.  “Dominic Raab has been recently appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, and, in these capacities, I have written asking him to make one of his personal and departmental priorities securing a change in the law at the earliest possible time.”

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/support-us/campaigns/close-the-loophole/

For more details download the file above.

As the world heats up, Oldham Liberal Democrats want to encourage residents to recycle more cans and bottles to help our planet, make our borough cleaner and greener, and earn themselves some money through a local deposit return scheme.

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, has written to the Leader of Oldham Council suggesting we work to establish such a scheme for Oldham and across the Greater Manchester city-region.

Deposit return, or reversed vending machines are used by customers to return drink cans, glass bottles, and plastic containers for recycling and they are rewarded with a small payment or a voucher to use against shopping purchases.  In Europe, such schemes have been in place for decades, and it is routine for consumers to pay a deposit on recyclable containers that is reimbursed when that container is returned to the retailer.

“We desperately need the British Government to introduce such a scheme across the UK now, instead of recently postponing the start up in England, Wales and Northern Ireland yet again by one more year to 2024.  But this national failure of leadership does not mean that we cannot do anything in Oldham and across Greater Manchester,” said Councillor Sykes. 

“I believe that we can trail some pilot schemes in our city region, working in partnership with the supermarket chains.  The results would be less rubbish on the street, more recycling, more cash in people’s pockets, and we may well see a new cottage industry where enterprising individuals also go out and collect tins and bottles from our streets for the remuneration!”

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.  At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.”

War Memorial commencing at 10.55am. 

A procession will assemble at the Royal British Legion Club, Newtown Street, Shaw, at 10.30am proceeding to the War Memorial at 10.40am.

In advance of COP26 conference delegates agreeing to reverse deforestation, Liberal Democrat Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE has written to the Chief Executive and Leader of Oldham Council suggesting this borough do its bit by asking residents to make a voluntary payment to offset their own carbon footprint to use to plant more trees. 

Schemes to create so-called carbon offset woodlands already exist.  These allow individuals who wish to make a payment to offset the carbon emissions that their actions generate, particularly where those generated by airline flights. This usually pays for more tree planting.

Councillor Sykes said:  “Trees absorb carbon and planting more trees means more carbon absorbed.  More people are now choosing to make a small voluntary payment to offset the adverse impact of their actions on our environment, particularly when they fly.  If we can generate such an income from our residents and pay this into a dedicated fund to buy more trees then slowly, and steadily, our borough will not only become greener, but also carbon-neutral.”

Councillor Sykes also believes that new woodlands represent a win-win situation for communities.  He added:  “Tree planting is an activity that can bring communities together, and if the tree planting is done on land that is gifted to and managed by communities those communities can actually generate an income for their use by selling the carbon emissions that the trees absorb to the Government through the Woodland Carbon Guarantee.”

Shaw Liberal Democrat Councillor and Deputy Leader Chris Gloster has written to the Leader of Oldham Council asking for £50 fines levied on drivers for a minor bus lane infringement to be reversed.

In his letter, Councillor Gloster calls for this ‘cash cow’ to be stopped.

Bus lanes in and around Oldham help ensure public transport passengers get to their chosen location on time, encouraging more users to choose public transport rather than drive reducing congestion and helping to make Oldham greener.  Bus lanes are monitored by cameras which detect when private motorists use them at times when they are reserved for buses. Offenders are routinely issued a fine for infringements.

Councillor Gloster was however recently perturbed to learn from two of his constituents that on occasions the local authority is overkeen on enforcement.

Commenting he said:  “I received complaints on the same day from two individuals who, having driven in the correct lane at the side of the bus lane, subsequently received a £50 fine through the post for ‘driving in the bus lane’ when they have clipped the very end of the bus lane with their front near side wheel whilst manoeuvring back into the lane at the end of the restrictions.

“Both complainants were able to show me photographic evidence of their minor infraction which is simply a case of clipping the end of the bus lane with one wheel.  I’m certain that most if not all councillors would agree that this was never in the spirit of what councillors aimed to achieve when agreeing to the bus lanes, and additionally agreeing to camera enforcement.

“I have therefore written to the leader of the council, Cllr Arooj Shah who is also Cabinet Member for Transport to ask that this practice, which is just a cash cow exploiting a minor infringement of the bus lane regulations which is not in the spirit of what the aim of the bus lanes were installed to achieve, is stopped.”

Q1 – Marking Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee

Madam Mayor,

My first question tonight relates to the concerns the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year.

First and foremost, I hope all council will join me in wishing her majesty a full and speedy recovery from her recent spell of being under the weather.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will in 2022 have been our noble sovereign and Head of the Commonwealth for 70 years, and there are rightly calls from every quarter that this magnificent and unsurpassed achievement in public service be properly celebrated in every corner of our land.

In June, I wrote to Councillor Chadderton as Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, requesting that rose varieties named after Her Majesty the Queen and her late husband HRH Prince Phillip should be planted side-by-side in Oldham’s major public parks and gardens as a tribute to our Royal Family.

I also copied in Councillor Hulme as Council Tree Champion as I suggested that we get our borough’s residents involved in a tree planting programme to mark the Platinum Jubilee, with schools and community groups planting trees in our parks and gardens.

On 2 June 2022, the actual date of the anniversary, localities in the UK and across the Commonwealth are being invited to light beacons, to arrange for town criers to make proclamations, and at the setting of the sun local pipe bands will play a unique tune specially composed for the occasion.

We shall no doubt also receive many calls from our Borough’s residents for permission to hold street parties and other celebratory events.

So, can the Leader please tell me what is being done to prepare for this momentous event, and will she also consider appointing a senior member of her Administration as a Champion to co-ordinate the effort?

Q2 – Princes Gate turns Seven

Madam Mayor,

For my second question tonight, I want to return to a subject that has now become a fixture in the annual Council calendar.

No, I am not referring to the Oldham Big Bang which explodes once more tomorrow night.  Instead, it is that annual question that I as Opposition Leader ask about Prince’s Gate.

For once more this month we shall arrive at yet another anniversary of the announcement by a former Council Leader, now thrice removed, of the supposed ‘gamechanger’ that was to be Prince’s Gate.  And this year this farce turns seven.

I would have brought a birthday cake with candles to share, but we have yet to even see the birth.

For Princes’ Gate has had a gestation period over four times longer than an elephant. (That’s 18 to 22 months by the way).

On 19 November 2014, the BBC first reported Oldham Council’s announcement of the ‘game changer’ and the promise of a 150,000 square foot retail development, with 800 homes and 700 parking spaces.

This project has seen numerous false dawns.  It is now two years since the latest when in the Council’s Town Centre Vision this Administration promised work ‘due to start on site autumn 2019’.

The project has also been significantly scaled back.  The early withdrawal of “missing retail giant” Marks and Spencer meant we now have only the promise of a 28,500 square foot retail development – one fifth the size of the original proposal – and supporting acts Lidl and Travelodge, not original headliner M+S.

So, as we rapidly approach the seventh anniversary of inactivity, please can the Leader tell me if there is any possibility – whatsoever – of shovels in the ground any time soon?