For real time information: https://oldham.roadworks.org/

Very sad.

Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Councillors are backing a union appeal to Boris Johnson urging the Prime Minister to ensure that ‘No child should be hungry’.  The National Education Union, which represents teaching staff, has called on councillors from all political parties, and none, to endorse a collective letter to the PM asking for immediate action.

Liberal Democrat Councillors in Oldham have long been campaigning for the extension of free school meals to all children in need.  They recently brought a motion to the November 2020 meeting of Oldham Council supporting the excellent work being done by footballer Marcus Rashford and calling on the government to provide free school meals to the children of all families in receipt of Universal Credit. 

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, was the first of his group to sign the letter:  “This appeal strikes at the heart of everything local Liberal Democrats have been saying for years.  It is shameful and totally unacceptable that in the UK, which is one of the world’s largest economies, we still have children going hungry.”

“Countless studies show that the education of hungry children suffers as they are too focused on their empty stomachs to learn.  The reality is that there are now many more breadwinners who have been furloughed or lost their jobs as a result of the Covid pandemic and are finding it a struggle to feed their families on a lower wage or Universal Credit.”

The Liberal Democrats would also like to see more government money for breakfast clubs to be established in all schools attended by an above-average number of pupils from poorer families, so that they can access a nutritious breakfast before the start of the school day, but they recognise that the NEU appeal is a start.

Councillor Sykes added: “With Boris Johnson’s promise that children will be able to return to their classrooms from March, there is now an urgent need for the government to make this aspiration a reality.   Extending the provision of free school meals will ensure that our most disadvantaged children can access at least one nutritious meal a day, so they focus on their lessons and not on their tummy.”

As people may be aware, regular Coronavirus testing for people who work with the public and who are not showing symptoms has begun in Oldham at four sites. These are:

? Shaw Life Long Learning Centre

? Failsworth Town Hall

? Oldham Leisure Centre

? Uppermill Civic Hall

Can I encourage eligible people to consider having a test at least once a week. No booking is required, the tests are free, and results are back in under an hour.

For more detail go to the website here: https://www.oldham.gov.uk/keyworkertesting

Shaw Liberal Democrat Councillors were pleased to hear today (29 January) that a planning application to convert the former Weavers Answer public house on Milnrow Road, Shaw into an 18-room temporary homeless hostel has been refused.

Liberal Democrat Councillor for the Shaw Ward, Howard Sykes MBE, and his ward colleagues had asked for the application to be considered by the full Planning Committee and urged members of the public to comment.  Shaw and Crompton Parish Council, on which Councillor Sykes also serves, registered its objections as a statutory consultee as did over one hundred residents.

Today, a Planning Officer has published the decision to refuse the application on planning grounds without the need for a committee hearing.  In the notice issued today to the applicant and his representative, the grounds for refusal are specified:

‘The proposed roof alterations, by virtue of the hip to gable extension and extensive dormer sizes would create over-dominant and incongruous features which would cause significant, adverse harm on the character and appearance of the building and street scene.  The proposed development is therefore contrary to Policies 9 and 20 of the Oldham Local Plan’.

Commenting on the latest news, Councillor Sykes said:  “The applicant now has a legal right to appeal the decision, and even if this is unsuccessful he may choose to resubmit the application in a modified form or to repurpose the building in some other way, so this is one to watch.  In any case, the planning decision makes clear that any application involving the creation of a hostel or a multi-bedroomed property must become licensed with the local authority as an HMO, or House in Multiple Occupation, which will present a further hurdle.”

Councillor Sykes added:  “All Councillors recognise that there is a need for accommodation of this type in Oldham, but this is not the right location for it, and that its why local Councillors, the Parish Council and residents objected so strongly”.

The planning application is number FUL/345796/20 and can be found at:

https://www.oldham.gov.uk/info/200351/planning/1866/search_for_an_application

The decision notice and officer report can be found in the Documents section.

Or you can download the documents here:

For real time information: https://oldham.roadworks.org/

Shaw and Crompton Parish Council have recommended refusal of the planning application to convert the former Weavers Answer public house on Milnrow Road Shaw to an 18 bedroom hostel.

The Parish Council heard from several members of the public who expressed concerns that the development was inappropriate for the area.

The council voted in favour of refusal on the grounds of: design, scale and massing, loss of privacy, visual amenity, potential for noise and disturbance and layout density.

The application will now be considered by the Oldham Borough Council planning committee prior to a decision, at the request of your Liberal Democrat Councillors for Shaw.

The Home Office’s new Tackling Child Sex Abuse Strategy could help put the UK ahead of the world in tackling abuse, but a Government which is big on promises and poor on delivery must not miss this opportunity, says Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani.

He raised concerns that much of the strategy can only be delivered with spending decisions that have been put off by the current Conservative Government, as well as new legislation which has been repeatedly delayed.

The 91-page strategy details the extent to which the police, social care, intelligence agencies and government must work together to make an impact on abuse, and bring offenders to justice. It specifically targets online spaces, and focuses on providing adequate safeguarding for children and young people, as well as support for victims.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “This report is an important step in changing the national response to child sex abuse. It is vital that local teams and approaches work and have a single agreed approach which fits with national strategies and funding. The Home Office-sponsored Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse is reporting on a series of areas which will feed into this response, and I am glad that Oldham Council has backed our demand to implement any of the relevant recommendations from those reports that are necessary in our Borough.”

However, the strategy also delegates spending decisions to the next spending review, which will mainly be about – understandably – the UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. The strategy itself highlights a number of issues, such as skills gaps among practitioners, and delays in the criminal justice system, which cannot be improved without dedicated funding increases.

Councillor Al-Hamdani continued: “This Government has repeatedly said that it is going to deliver ‘world-beating’ services. I judge them on their actions, not their words.

“The Strategy calls for better coordination between international policing agencies – the Government has failed to get an agreement in place to allow us to work with European police. It has failed to bring forward the Online Harms Bill – although at least that is now expected later this year.”

The Liberal Democrats in Oldham have repeatedly highlighted loopholes in the UK’s current legislation, and put forward an agenda for change, including recent successful motions on a domestic abuse register, on the NSPCC’s Closing the Loophole campaign, and on street harassment.

Councillor Al-Hamdani concluded: “There are many good things in this report that we need to see rolled out across the UK, and in Oldham itself. We cannot let improvements in services that strive to keep our children safe be derailed by further delays in legislation, a lack of dedicated funding, or by a Government that seems to believe in words, not deeds.”

Conservative changes to planning targets will force Greater Manchester to build an extra 35% more houses than had been planned, which seems likely increase the pressure on green spaces in and around Oldham and Saddleworth.

Following the withdrawal of Stockport from the Greater Manchester development plan, the remaining nine authorities are redrawing the plan, and there is no indication that the other boroughs will be able to avoid taking a share of the additional housing demand.

Liberal Democrat shadow cabinet member for Housing and Homelessness Sam Al-Hamdani said: “The targets being set are completely unrealistic. There need to either be significant changes to fund the regeneration of previously used land, or local authorities need the powers to insist developers cannot build on green spaces while brownfield sites remain.

“The previous version of the Greater Manchester framework was unable to deliver the housing targets without building on the green belt. If central Government increases the figures like this, they are forcing more development on green space. They will then blame it on local authorities, rather than accepting responsibility for their own decisions.”

The next version of the Greater Manchester plan is not expected to be released until after the elections for the Greater Manchester Mayor, so any resulting increases in development on green space are not expected to be announced while they can impact on the election results.

Councillor Al-Hamdani continued: “There are no easy solutions to this. We need more houses, and we have green spaces that we want to protect. It requires honesty in decision making, and responsibility from the people making those decisions. Sadly, I do not see this Conservative Government standing up for either of those values.”