25 November was White Ribbon Day, and at long last Oldham Council has committed to working to end men’s violence against women by becoming White Ribbon Accredited.
This is something the Liberal Democrats have been calling for over many years.
As an Accredited organisation, they will have to develop a comprehensive action plan to change the cultures that lead to abuse and violence, and promote gender equality.
Some of the actions that have been taken already include organising training sessions on domestic abuse, misogyny and sexual harassment.
To the people of the city and county palatine of Lancaster
Greetings!
Know ye that this day, November 27th in the year of our Lord Two Thousand and Twenty Two, the 1st year of the reign of His Majesty King Charles III, Duke of Lancaster, is
Lancashire Day
Know ye also, and rejoice, that by virtue of His Majesty’s County Palatine of Lancaster, the citizens of the Hundreds of Lonsdale, North and South of the Sands, Amounderness, Leyland, Blackburn, Salford and West Derby are forever entitled to style themselves Lancastrians.
Throughout the County Palatine, from the Furness Fells to the River Mersey, from the Irish Sea to the Pennines, this day shall ever mark the people’s pleasure in that excellent distinction – true Lancastrians, proud of the Red Rose and loyal to our Sovereign Duke.
GOD BLESS LANCASHIRE AND GOD SAVE THE KING, DUKE OF LANCASTER.
We’re all hoping England can win the World Cup in Qatar.
To get everyone up for the cup Gallery Oldham is launching a new exhibition to celebrate the life and achievements of the first manager of the England men’s football team – Oldham’s very own Sir Walter Winterbottom.
Born in Werneth, he was just 34 when he was appointed as the first national team manager. He took the team to four World Cups ― Brazil, Switzerland, Sweden and Chile, laying the foundations for England’s victory in 1966.
Sir Walter remains England’s first, youngest, and longest serving manager. He was knighted for his services to sport in 1978.
The exhibition, which opened on November 15, brings together a collection of memorabilia and images from the family archive.
It includes personal items such as the congratulatory telegram Walter received from Royton Amateurs FC after he first played for Manchester United.
‘Sir Walter Winterbottom: The Father of Modern English Football’ will be on display in the Gallery Oldham foyer until 17 December.
The Council has left Oldham town centre filled with new bins which cannot be used by wheelchair-bound residents, after it failed to carry out any Equality Impact Assessment for their purchase.
After local Lib Dem Councillor Louie Hamblett met with the head of the council’s environmental services team to demonstrate the issues, two of the old bins have been reinstated, but Councillor Hamblett has written to Council Leader Amanda Chadderton to ask why no assessment was carried out, and to ask what the Council plans to do about the rest of the bins.
At the site meeting, Councillor Hamblett asked local resident Shona Farnworth – who has multiple disabilities – to demonstrate the impossibility of using the bin from her wheelchair, which clearly showed the difficulties. The bins can only be operated by either a footplate which cannot be reached by most in a wheelchair, or by a pull-down door which is impossible to reach over from a sitting position.
Councillor Hamblett said: “If the council were as resident focused as they say they are, then an equality impact assessment should have been carried out. Everyone should be able to use the bins easily. That no-one realised that they were inaccessible until after they had been installed says everything about the failure of the Council to do its job properly.”
The Council have now ensured that two bins without the footplate or pull-down door have been installed in the town centre, but Councillor Hamblett still wants universal accessibility, and to know why the Equality Impact Assessment was missed in the first place.
He continued: “I am grateful to the officer who immediately put forward a practical solution to improve the situation. However, it should not be the case that most of the bins remain unusable for people in wheelchairs.
“The Council continually fail to include Equality Impact Assessments in their reports despite it being raised on numerous occasions. This is what happens if you fail to do this – thousands of pounds spent on bins that residents can’t use.”
Jeremy Hunt has today paved the way for massive increases in Council Tax over the next five years, raising the ceiling on increases to five per cent.
Local Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “Local authorities are facing crippling increases in social care costs, especially in Oldham. It is absolutely crucial that we pay for social care to keep vulnerable adults and children safe, and this is the reason why bills go up year on year.
“Instead of funding social care properly, Jeremy Hunt has again piled the cost of this on to the local authorities who can least afford it.
“In four months’ time, when Oldham’s annual budget comes around, local Conservatives will – as they do every year – complain about the increase which their Conservative Government has demanded.
“It is hypocrisy of the highest order. You either care for people or you abandon them. The Conservatives don’t care about people, and this is just making sure that they can point the finger at someone else.
“When the cost of living is going through the roof, the Government should be doing everything it can to ensure that the burden is being shared fairly. Instead it is dishing out tax rises to pay for the catastrophic Conservative crisis that was Liz Truss.
“The only thing it is interested in sharing is the blame.”
Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has backed a campaign for affordable food for all. A petition has been started by campaign group ‘Which?’, who say that “as food prices continue to increase – and inflation shows no sign of slowing down – it is crucial people get the support they need.”
Councillor Sykes said, “More and more people across Oldham Borough are simply unable to cope with the rising cost of food. Food bank usage is skyrocketing and we’re even seeing schools making cuts to school meal budgets. This is shameful in a developed country and the government is refusing to offer meaningful support.”
Which?’s latest research shows that over eight in ten people in the UK are making an adjustment to save money on food because of the cost-of-living crisis. The most common changes are looking out for food on promotion or trading down to cheaper alternatives. Alarming, among those who said they are struggling the most financially, half said that their household was skipping meals.
The company have set out ten ‘action points’ it says that leading supermarkets can implement to help people with the cost-of-living crisis.
Councillor Sykes said, “Big supermarkets can and must do more to ensure the availability of healthy and affordable food, with clear pricing to help people budget and more offers to help those most in need.”
Make unit pricing prominent, legible and consistent in-store and online so price comparisons are easy across different brands and sizes of packaging.
Provide clear unit pricing for promotional offers in-store and online so that people can work out whether they really are the best deal.
Provide a basic range of essential budget lines for affordable as well as healthy everyday choices that are available across stores, but particularly in locations where people most need support.
Consider adapting minimum spend requirements and other ways that online deliveries can be more cost-effective to increase options for households in areas with poor supermarket access.
Tailor marketing budgets and promotions, including through loyalty cards, vouchers and other offers, to support people where they are most likely to be struggling.
Promote the uptake of the Healthy Start and Best Start foods scheme, with a particular focus on the priority local areas where there is a low level of uptake.
Provide additional support or ‘top ups’ where people are able to be identified as in particular need – for example linking them to the healthy start or best start foods schemes and other targeted promotions.
Offer straightforward price reductions rather than multi-buy offers that require a bigger initial spend, may lead to more food waste and can make it more difficult to eat healthily.
Make available more promotions for healthy and sustainable foods, including fruit and vegetables, building on evidence of where promotions drive effective outcomes (eg. 60p fruit and vegetables).
Underpin these actions by promotions, recipes and advice that make lower priced, healthy and sustainable foods tasty and appealing to the breadth of communities that are served.
Great honour to lay a wreath on behalf of the Mayor of Oldham at the service in Shaw last Sunday. Also got the chance to say a few words to thank all those who make this event to take place and run smoothly, and how we need to be mindful of who the poppy appeal supports 365 days a year.
It was an excellent turn out at the Memorial and the warmest Remembrance Sunday I can remember. WELL DONE again to all who make this event happen!
