Due to two vehicle breakdowns late this afternoon there is a very small pocket of refuse outstanding in the Mark Lane area – this will be collected tomorrow and an area of green waste collections in central Shaw ( Oak Street area through to Sumner Street area) around 1 hours work – this will be collected first thing Monday.

Just been informed this scheme has been delayed.  As soon as I am informed when it will happen I will let people know.

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Cllr Howard Sykes MBE, has condemned the cost of a mailshot to over 8,000 Council Staff and Councillors that cost rate-payers more than a whopping £4,600.

Information recently received by Cllr Sykes following a Freedom of Information Request (FOI) has revealed that the mailshot cost the equivalent of 55 pence per person in production and postage, and that does not include any hidden staff costs.

Commenting he said: “55p per person might not seem a lot and £4,600 may seem very little when compared to the Council’s overall budget, but this is an unnecessary expense at a time when the Council is obliged to save many millions from its budget. It is indicative of a corporate mind-set that has not adjusted to the new financial reality.”

“We simply cannot afford to continue spending money on old-fashioned postal mail-shots when it is so easy to communicate electronically and to distribute envelopes to elected members and staff via pigeon-holes and line managers.”

“Given our new financial reality, Labour is continuing to fail need to get a grip on basics such as this. The Council needs to think and act differently – we need to ask is this necessary and if so how can we do it most cost-effectively. That was clearly not the case with this matter. How many other times does this happen?”

Cllr Sykes first drew public attention to the mail-out in November of last year.

At that time, he expressed his disappointment that all sixty Councillors and thousands of Council staff had received by post details of the Council staff discount scheme operated by Vectis, as well as a membership card:

“Whilst offering discounts to staff at a time when pay restraint is in place is welcome, is it really the best use of ratepayers’ money to incur the cost of an all-out mailing when Councillors have their own postal pigeon-holes in the Civic Centre, where mail is regularly left for them and when line managers could distribute envelopes to staff in the workplace by hand?”

“Worse still, the mail-out was a blanket effort to every Councillor and every staff member. This failed to take into account those who have already signed up for the scheme.”

 FOI response below:

 Dear Councillor Sykes,

Please find below a response to your request to the Chief Executive for information on the Council staff discount mailing scheme.

The mailshot was produced as part of the staff benefit scheme’s promotion and went to 8,300 people (breakdown below). The cost of production and postage equated to 55p per person and totalled £4,615.93. This included the printing of the envelope, insertion of the letter, leaflet and card and distribution by second class mail. As this was undertaken by our benefits partner there was no staffing time spent by the Council.

The take up rates post mailshot are not available, however, this is something that we have asked our benefits partner to provide going forward.

Copy email about Sir Winston Churchill to the Leader and also the Chief Executive of Oldham Council

Dear Jim and Carolyn,

You may be aware that the 24th January 2015 represents the 50th anniversary of the death of former war-time Prime Minister, The Rt. Hon. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill.

You will of course be well aware that a young Winston Churchill started his political career as the Member of Parliament for Oldham, serving the constituency from 1900 to 1906.

Given Sir Winston’s historic connection with Oldham, and the fact that he was awarded the honour of Freeman of the Borough, might I suggest that this Council use this 50th anniversary of his death to announce its intention to erect a statue in his image, either in the new Parliament Square or on the steps of the restored Town Hall, where he first made a speech to the townspeople after his election?

I believe that such a statue should and could be funded, as many were in the past, by soliciting business sponsorships and a public subscription, rather than recourse to public funds.

I have sourced from The Churchill Trust a couple of quotes about Oldham from the great man himself that might feature on the plinth. He spoke of “the warm hearts and bright eyes of its people,” and wrote that “No one can come in close contact with the working folk of Lancashire without wishing them well.”

I look forward to hearing your views on this proposal and how we might take it forward.

Best wishes

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE

14 January 2015

Cllr Fida Hussain, Mayor
Oldham Metropolitan Borough
Mayor’s Office
Civic Centre, West St
Oldham OL1 1UJ

In light of the appalling acts carried out over the last few days in Paris, I would like to ask you as our Mayor to convey as a matter of urgency by email and in writing to the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, the horror and revulsion felt by the elected Members and citizens of the Borough of Oldham, and to assure the Mayor of Paris and the people of France that we stand shoulder to shoulder with her and with them in defending liberty, democracy and the right to free expression.

With thanks for your consideration in this regard.

Yours sincerely

Howard Sykes

cc: Carolyn Wilkins, Chief Executive
Cllr J McMahon, Leader

Once the property has been rendered this should mean that the external work is completed then the scaffold can be removed.

Hopefully, weather dependent, this will be in a couple of days or so.

I’ve had a reply from Dan Rogerson at DEFRA. You can download a copy below.

Download Dan’s letter here.

1) More Jobs Please

Get Oldham Working is now one year on – a cornerstone policy of this Council with the ambitious target to create 2,015 work-related opportunities by 2015.

I am pleased to say that Get Oldham Working is also seemingly an ambition of the Government too as over the past year a revitalised economy has led to unemployment dropping in Oldham by 3,375 people, or over 40% amongst Oldham residents aged over 25 and by a staggering 60% amongst those even younger.

The Oldham Liberal Democrats support both this Council’s initiative and that of the Government’s; we on this side of the chamber also want to see a prosperous and economically active borough with as many residents in work as is possible.
But I digress.
My question, which I ask with a sense of disappointment, relates to this Council’s Get Oldham Working initiative, not this Government’s.

Whilst some elements of Get Oldham Working are on track, one is most definitely not.

Within the targets for the initiative is one to create 1,100 new jobs over a three year period for the people of this borough, yet as of 28th February of this year only 90 residents had found work through Get Oldham Working against a project target at that point of 222 – around 40% of the target.

Does the Leader agree that this is a disappointing performance given the prominence and resources allocated to the initiative?

And, can he outline how he and his Cabinet colleagues intend to get this element – the most important one of this initiative – I would suggest – back on track, as we all want more jobs please?

2) Stopping Betting Shop Proliferation

Will the Leader join me in supporting a proposal to check the ever increasing number of betting shops?

The proliferation and concentration of betting shops is contributing to both the decline of our high streets and to social decline, being linked to gambling addiction and crime.

England’s poorest spend £13 billion a year on the gambling machines in these shops according to a study published by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling.

63 cross-party led local authorities have submitted a proposal under the provisions of the new Sustainable Communities Act for the Government to create a separate planning use class for betting shops so that councils have new powers to address the problem.

Creating a separate planning use class is also now, I am pleased to say, Liberal Democrat Party policy.

Will the Leader therefore join me in writing to the Secretary of State, Eric Pickles, requesting that he agrees to create a separate planning use class for betting shops?

3) Tackling Street Lighting Shortcomings

My final question relates to the continued unsatisfactory performance by EON of the PFI street lighting contract.

Colleagues from both sides of this Chamber have repeatedly lambasted the company for its failure to adhere to agreed contractual standards and operational procedures and the inadequacy of its consultation with residents and elected Members.

All too often I and my Shaw colleagues are placed in the position where we are obliged to assume some responsibility for delivering elements of the contract – particularly around resident consultation, satisfaction and complaints – that properly fall within the remit of EON.

This company has consistently failed to respond to correspondence within agreed timescales or attend on-site meetings at the agreed hour and has ridden roughshod over the property rights of homeowners – one resident recently complained to me about EON employees entering her property without permission in order to carry out work and as a consequence causing damage to her garden and property.

I am sure that we all want to see new street lighting columns and I recognise that this investment will over time bring better and more efficient illumination of our communities, footpaths and roadways, but the shortcomings of the primary contractor now need to be robustly addressed by this Council.

Will the Leader therefore agree to meet with me, the Leader of the Conservative Group and Senior Officers as a matter of urgency to agree a strategy to ensure that EON complies with its legal obligations and meets the requirements of this contract?

And if Eon continues fail to deliver can we give some very active consideration to termination – after all our citizens deserve better!