On Tuesday 27^th September the Parish Council’s Planning Committee approved for the new health centre to go ahead with earnest on the former bath site.

Shadow Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, Crompton Councillor Louie Hamblett spoke at a parish council planning committee to explain when works will go ahead the size of the site and how big roughly each consultation room will likely be.

Cllr Hamblett said: Because of NHS building regulations and tech has allowed them to be built smartly and taking into account patient uses of GP’s the buildings plan is to be box clever give each of the practices more space than they currently have.  The NHS’s aspiration is to bring together health and care services in a more integrated way.”

“The main priority is to get spades into the ground by March 2023 and as a community we need to get behind this as much as possible.

The submission of a planning application for our new health centre is great news for Shaw and Crompton and further evidence this is happening this time.

Access to modern healthcare facilities is a top priority for the people we represent.

What we’ve had is a long and uncertain journey to this point over many years but by working constructively, local Liberal Democrat councillors, have now helped it get across the line.  We continue to work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure the new health centre becomes a reality for residents.

This news is very welcome indeed and is a poke in the eye for those who talk our area down and said it would never happen.”

The planning committee voted unanimously in favour.

Pop along for advice, help or to discuss any issue or matter with your local Liberal Democrat councillors.

Shaw and Crompton Advice Surgeries (no appointment necessary) held on the following Thursdays at Shaw Lifelong Learning Centre – 7:30pm to 8:30pm.

October: 6, 13, 20, 27.

Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has warned that social care services “face collapse” across the country after the government’s ‘mini-budget’ scrapped the so-called NHS and social care levy (N.I increase).

The plan was in the first instance the extra cash would go to the NHS and then after that go to social care.  Councillor Sykes predicted at the time not a penny would reach social care and would all be absorbed by the NHS.  He has been proved right and now neither the NHS nor social care will see a penny of it.

Councillor Sykes said, “The government was already underfunding social care and expecting councils to foot the bill.  The Chancellor’s mini budget has just added £13 billion to the shortfall.  Social care urgently needs funding and instead, the government has just hammered funding and passed responsibility onto councils and council taxpayers.”

The cut comes at a time when 600 people each day are joining the list of people waiting to be assessed for care and support in England.  A survey by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) suggests that almost 300,000 people are now waiting for an assessment of their needs by social workers, an increase of 90,000 (44%) in five months.

Councillor Sykes said, “Social care is in crisis and the government is choosing to leave cash-strapped council taxpayers to plug the gap.”

ADASS Survey

Adass

Liberal Democrats in Oldham have slammed the government for issuing a claim that the number of NHS dentists grew by 500 last year. 

Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has hit out at statement from the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), reported by the Oldham Times on September 21^st.  The government spokesperson claimed, “The number of dentists practising in the NHS increased by over 500 last year”. 

The statement, which reportedly came via a DHSC representative, appeared to contradict official data released by the department earlier this year, which revealed that the number of NHS dentists had fallen by more than 900 across England. 

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “NHS dentistry is in crisis.  Less than four in ten people in Oldham who need an appointment actually get one, we know that one in five of those waiting for care are resorting to DIY dentistry and now we have the government is telling us in September that the number of dentists is up by 500 when in July they said that they were down by nearly 1,000.  Which is it?” 

“This is really basic stuff.  We expect Health Officials to at least have a handle on the facts.  These dodgy figures are just the latest bluff from a government which is way out of its depth and lurching from crisis to crisis.”

July 2022 – DHSC Data in response to a Parliamentary Question from the Liberal Democrats

Written questions and answers – Written questions, answers and statements – UK Parliament

September 2022

Full data from the House of Commons Library on the number of adults and children seeing an NHS dentist by area is available here.

Original source: NHS Dental Statistics (Annual reports 2017-18 – 2021-22). 

The Political Secretary (Councillor Mark Kenyon) of Oldham Liberal Democrat Opposition Group on Oldham Council has released the following statement.

As a result of Press information, we are aware that a male Oldham Borough Councillor has been arrested by Greater Manchester Police as a result of an allegation of rape of a female and is currently on police bail. 

We can confirm this individual is NOT a Liberal Democrat councillor, and we have received no notification from Oldham Council or any other body as to the person’s identity or any proposed actions in relation to the individual concerned or actions the councillor’s political group have taken or intend to take. 

I have been informed the Council will not complete food and garden collections on their country round today.

The country round being the smaller vehicle they use to collect from all of the harder to reach properties.

Residents are advised to leave their waste containers out for collection as they have crew in tomorrow first thing to go back for collections missed from today.

They have apologised for any inconvenience.

Oldham’s Liberal Democrats have slammed Conservative Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng MP for “rewarding the rich” in his ‘Mini-Budget’ today.

Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said, “People in Oldham are facing huge energy bills and soaring costs in supermarkets.  Meanwhile, the Conservatives are giving huge tax cuts to the highest earners, handing bankers unlimited bonuses; and protecting the profits of big energy companies while household bills skyrocket.”

“Oil bosses and London bankers will be popping the champagne while people in Oldham will be worrying about the cost of the weekly shop,”  he added.

In a move that will be welcomed by multiple homeowners, the Chancellor has also announced that stamp duty – the tax applied to property purchases – will be cut. 

Councillor Sykes said, “Cutting stamp duty will only inflate house prices and make it even harder for people to get on the housing ladder.  The government has tried this before and we know that those who benefit the most are those who own multiple properties.  This is just another example of the Conservatives rewarding the rich while most people in the country are struggling.”