Oldham’s Labour Administration has been criticised for “failing to stand up for Oldham” after they stood by controversial plans to build housing on local Green Belt sites, despite more than 55 other Council’s deciding to drop or review housing targets according to the local government press.

Responding to the disappointing news, the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Opposition Group Councillor Howard Sykes MBE said: “The government have removed the mandatory housing targets that the Greater Manchester-wide housing strategy was based on.  Labour have always said they didn’t want to build on the Green Belt and green spaces, but they were forced to by the government Yet now they are given a free hand, they have chosen not to change their policy.  Time and time again, I have called on Oldham’s Labour leaders to do precisely what more than 55 other councils are doing and rethink their housing strategy.”

“In March, Liberal Democrats called for Oldham to withdraw from these deeply unpopular, Greater Manchester-wide plans but Labour councillors refused to stand up to their bosses.  They refused to stand up for Oldham.”

Labour members voted against a Liberal Democrat motion which would have removed Oldham Borough from ‘Places for Everyone’, the scheme initiated by the Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, which allocates Green Belt and green spaces for housing and industrial development. 

Councillor Sykes said, “Time and time again, it is the Liberal Democrats fighting for the interests of the people of Oldham.  We would tackle the housing crisis by building affordable housing on Oldham’s many brownfield and ex-industrial sites, and by bringing empty homes back into use.  Not by building expensive luxury housing on green spaces, which only helps boosts the profits of greedy developers.” 

NOTES

Liberal Democrats call for Oldham to withdraw from Places for Everyone
Liberal Democrats to push for Oldham Council to withdraw from Places for Everyone in bid to save local green spaces  – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)

Sykes calls on Oldham Council to drop top-down housing targets (Dec 9, 2022)
Sykes says Oldham must break free of ‘artificial housing targets’ after government U-turn and save our green spaces – Howard Sykes (mycouncillor.org.uk)

Road is closed at the Milnrow Road Junction end.

See details below.

Shocking Home Office figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats reveal that more than 9,200 burglaries in Great Manchester were unsolved in the first nine months of 2022. Out of more than 12,000 burglaries reported in that time period, only 514 resulted in a charge or summons.  9,211 investigations were closed without even identifying a suspect – meaning that more than 70% of burglaries went unsolved.

Leader of Oldham Liberal Democrats councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “These are damning figures.  The collapse of frontline neighbourhood policing means that our communities feel and are less safe.  Criminals feel like they can act without consequence.”

The Liberal Democrat Leader – who represents Shaw ward – also hit out at Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who has responsibility for policing across the region. 

“These figures will have been available to Mayor Burnham right before Greater Manchester Police were taken out of special measures in October last year.  Does he really believe that this is good enough?  He then took the decision to put taxes up across Greater Manchester during a cost-of-living crisis, specifically to pay for GMP.” 

“Why does Andy Burnham think the people of Greater Manchester should foot the bill so that he can reward failure?”   

The Liberal Democrats have also uncovered shocking figures on police attendance at burglaries. Nationally, almost four in ten burglaries in the country did not result in a visit to the scene by a police officer. The figures were based on data provided by 19 police forces in England.  Greater Manchester Police did not provide the data. 

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new “Burglary Response Guarantee,” which would guarantee that all domestic burglaries are attended by the police and properly investigated. 

Councillor Sykes said, “This will require a return to proper community policing – where officers are visible, trusted, and have the time and resources needed to focus on solving crime.  Time and time again, Labour and the Conservatives fail to deliver this for Greater Manchester.”

NOTES

Full data on police attendance available here. Of the 19 police forces that responded to the FOI, a total of 119,190 burglaries were reported in 2022.
Police only arrived at the scene for 73,957 of these, accounting for 62% of cases. 89,337 cases were closed without a suspect being identified – equivalent to 75% of all cases. 
The Liberal Democrats are calling for a new statutory guarantee that all domestic burglaries must be attended by the police and properly investigated. 
To implement this guarantee, we are calling on the Government to: Return to proper community policing, where officers have the time and resources, they need to focus on preventing and solving crime; Urgently draw up a strategy to tackle the shortage of detectives; and set up a new national Online Crime Agency, to better protect people from online crime while freeing up local forces’ time to tackle burglars. 
An HMICFRS report from last year said that most burglary victims “aren’t getting the justice they deserve

Oldham Liberal Democrats have called for a return to proper local health services, after new figures revealed an 18% fall in the number of GPs in Oldham while patient numbers rise.

The analysis shows that there are now an eye-watering 2,774 patients for every GP in Oldham.  This is up by 28% since 2016.

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “At the last election, the Conservative party promised to recruit more GPs.  However, today’s figures show there are now fewer fully qualified GPs in Oldham compared to 2016.  The number of GPs has fallen in Oldham, but the number of patients has soared.”

Figures show that there are over 600 more patients across Oldham but 21 fewer doctors to treat them. 

Councillor Sykes said, “We need a return to proper local health services.  People in Oldham just want strong local health services, but years of Government neglect has caused a GP shortage crisis, leaving people unable to see their local doctor when they need to. 

“Liberal Democrats would guarantee people a right to a GP appointment within one week so people can get the care they deserve.  Boosting GP numbers would not only help people get appointments, it would reduce pressure on our hospitals and paramedics, saving crucial time and money elsewhere in the NHS.

“This local election is a golden opportunity to send the Government a message they cannot ignore and elect strong local champions who will stand up for our health services.”

NOTES

Full analysis from the Liberal Democrats is available here.

The number of active GP surgeries has fallen by 547 in England since January 2019. Official Government data shows the number of ‘Open Active GP Surgeries’, the reason for closures is not given. Some of this data may include “mergers”, however other recent studies have also proven hundreds of GP practices closing across the country in recent years. 

Number of Practices Source: NHS Digital – Appointments in General Practice – 2023 – Tab 3a

Number of Practices Source: NHS Digital – Appointments in General Practice – 2019 – Tab 3a

Registered Patients at GP Practices – NHS Digital

A decision taken by the Scottish government ‘household waste from entering landfills’, could lead to the rubbish being sent to England for landfill instead. 

When questioned by the Liberal Democrats last year, Scottish minister Lorna Slater said that “export (to England) is one of the short-term options for the treatment of residual waste” and refused to rule out the use of this ‘option’.   

Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “Scots send far more household waste to landfill every year than we do in England.  The Scottish Government says it wants to ban this rubbish from reaching landfill but doesn’t mind if the landfills are across the border in England.  This is complete hypocrisy and its very worrying for our environment.”

In 2021, Scots sent 27.2% of their waste to landfill.  The figure was just 7.8% in England for the same year.  The Scottish ban on landfill use is due to come into effect in 2025.  

Councillor Sykes said, “Exporting tonnes of waste across the border to England is even worse for the environment than landfilling because of the emissions involved in the transportation.  English local authorities must say no to this.  It’s not right that landfills in England should be used to clean up the Scottish governments mess.” 

NOTES

Scottish and English landfill use
Scottish councils begin shift away from landfill – letsrecycle.com

Liberal Democrats challenge Scottish government on use of English Landfills
Meeting of the Parliament: 16/06/2022 | Scottish Parliament Website