Liberal Democrat Councillors Diane Williamson and Hazel Gloster want to make centres of the community more accessible.  They wish to set aside funding and offer improved access for those with mobility issues.  Councillor Williamson and Councillor Gloster bring forward a proposal to do just this to the 17June Oldham Council meeting.

The motion wishes Oldham Council to partner with: Age UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), Action on Hearing Loss and other charities to carry out assessment of buildings and shopping areas.  Then, with the funding set aside the improvements will be made.

Councillor Williamson says: “Covid-19 has pushed elderly and ‘at-risk’ people from our high streets.  This motion aids those made vulnerable by Covid-19 to make an easier return to accessing what our communities have to offer.”

Councillor Gloster states: “We want to see the provision of ramps, hand rails, additions to entrances, removal of steps. These plus any necessary alterations needed to make our district shopping centres become more accessible.”

The Council meeting will be held on 17June and starts at 6pm.

Copy of Motion:

Council June 17, 2020 – Notice of Opposition Business, Motion 2 – Accessible Shopping Districts

Council notes that:

• Regulations are in place so that future improvements are Disability Discrimination Act compliant.
• That there are low-cost improvements businesses can make.
• Charities and Oldham Council can support and provide better guidance as to what those improvements might be.
• There is proven success in directly investing in our town and district centres.
• That all members need to be aware of dementia awareness training available.
• Oldham Council knows simple steps that can be taken to improve the use of the shops for people with dementia in our communities.
• Improvements such as these would help and support the local economy.

Council resolves to:

• Set up a district panel like that of the High Street Grants scheme.  This is where local elected members have an input and approval of applications to ensure an accessible commercial centre with the Cabinet Member having the final say on applications. 
• To ask Highway Engineers to carry out inspections of shopping area footways to ensure they meet current guidelines.  It doesn’t matter if this is in a town centre or a row of shops on an estate, accessible shopping must take place right across our Borough.
• Ask that an assessment of shopping area and town centre signage is clear and that brail information points are installed across these zones.
• Prepare a guidance campaign for businesses that could be used to raise accessibility awareness in commercial districts.
• Refer motion to Overview and Scrutiny and ask the mover and seconder to be part of any investigation.
• Read the report on Town Centres by Trailblazers a group of disabled campaigners from across the UK titled “Short-changed” to see if there is anything that we can learn from the report findings.

Proposed by: Councillor Diane Williamson, Seconded by: Councillor Hazel Gloster

Since October 2013, then journalist and now Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for employees to be ‘allowed to pay for their season tickets from their pre-tax income.’

Oldham Liberal Democrat Councillors Garth Harkness and Louie Hamblett are now calling the Prime Minister’s bluff.  This is with a new motion to the first Oldham Council meeting since the start of the Coronavirus Pandemic.  The idea behind the policy is to make a saving for passengers whilst actively encouraging people to reinvest in public transport.

The scheme would be on seasonal travel tickets throughout the public transport network in Greater Manchester.  Passengers would save hundreds of pounds a year.

Councillor Harkness comments:  “It will be interesting to see if the Prime Minister makes good on this.  After all, it is his idea!  Tax relief for public transport is a great way for workers and businesses to cooperate.”

 “Public health comes first.  However, whilst we all must be cautious when using public transport, we should still invest ourselves in its worth.  If not now, then when things return to normal.”  Said Councillor Hamblett.

The Council meeting will be held on 17^th June and starts at 6pm.

Copy of Motion:

Council June 17, 2020 – Notice of Opposition Business, Motion 1 – Tax relief for Public Transport

This Council notes that:

• In his article for the Daily Telegraph ‘Tax Relief just the Ticket’ (6 October 2013), then journalist Boris Johnson called for employees to be ‘allowed to pay for their season tickets from their pre-tax income.’

• The impact of such a scheme would mean that employees would have less taxable income reducing their liability for income tax and national insurance and the employer would also save on national insurance contributions.
• The economy has been hit by the Coronavirus Pandemic.  This would be an easing measure for people returning to public transport.
• An annual season ticket costs a Metrolink tram commuter from Shaw to Manchester £1,154, a Train commuter from Greenfield to Manchester is £1,208, and a Bus commuter with First Manchester is £670.
• Such a tax-relief scheme would represent a significant financial saving for Oldham Borough’s commuters and be a real kickstart to the local economy.
• Council further notes that now Mr Johnson is Prime Minister he has it within his power to put his aspirations for tax relief on seasonal travel tickets into practice.

Council resolves to:

• Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to the Prime Minister and Chancellor of The Exchequer to request that this Government introduce such a tax-relief scheme.
• This would be on seasonal travel tickets (following the principles outlined in Mr Johnson’s Telegraph article in 2013) making this effective as soon as possible.
• Write to the Mayor of Greater Manchester saying that we all should support such a scheme.

Proposed by: Councillor Garth Harkness , Seconded by: Councillor Louie Hamblett                                                                      

Repairs will be taking place on Buckstones Road, over the weekend period, to patch the fault in the road that has re-opened in the vicinity of Grains Road; traffic will be controlled by temporary signals.   

Signs are currently in place asking motorists to ‘Slow Down Uneven Road’ until the signals can be erected.

https://www.cyclinguk.org/bikeweek

Following a recent Group meeting in May, the Oldham Borough Liberal Democrat Group has announced their appointment, unanimously and un-opposed, of Councillor Howard Sykes MBE as their Leader and Councillor Chris Gloster as their Deputy Leader. 

Councillor Sykes has also announced the appointment of his Shadow Cabinet Team for 2020/21.

Councillor Howard Sykes said: “I am delighted and honoured that Chris and I have once again received the unanimous support of our party colleagues.  The Liberal Democrats remain the only effective opposition holding Labour to account on Oldham Council.”

“Citizens can rest assured that the Oldham Liberal Democrats will continue to oppose Labour’s waste, inefficiency and centralisation tendancies and we will always speak up for fair treatment for our residents and for value-for-money services and common sense solutions”.  He added.  “As ever, the Liberal Democrats remain the only party holding Labour to account on Oldham Council, and we shall continue to take that responsibility seriously.”

Shadow Cabinet Members:

Councillor	Portfolio
Howard Sykes	Economy and Skills (Opposition Leader) HR & Corporate Reform
Garth Harkness	Education
Hazel Gloster	Children and Young People
Louie Hamblett	Health and Social Care
Dave Murphy	Neighbourhoods and Culture
Diane Williamson	Covid 19 Recovery
Sam Al-Hamdani	Housing & Homelessness
Chris Gloster	Finance and Low Carbon (Opposition Deputy Leader)

Group Officers:

Councillor	Role
Howard Sykes	Group Leader
Chris Gloster	Deputy Group Leader
Dave Murphy	Group Chair
Diane Williamson	Group Secretary
Hazel Gloster	Group Treasurer
Garth Harkness	Group Political Secretary

 Official Spokespersons / Lead Members on Boards and Committees:

Councillor	Board / Committee
Chris Gloster	Audit Committee
Garth Harkness	Performance and Value for Money Committee
Diane Williamson	Overview and Scrutiny Board
Hazel Gloster	Planning Committee
Chris Gloster	Licensing Committee
Diane Williamson	Standards Committee
Dave Murphy	Petitions and Traffic Regulation Orders

 District Leads:

Name of Councillor	District
Diane Williamson	Lead, Shaw and Crompton
Sam Al-Hamdani	Official Spokesperson, Saddleworth and Lees

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

A new discretionary grants fund to support certain small businesses which have been impacted by coronavirus and do not meet the existing cash grants criteria has been launched.

Grants of £2,000, £5,000 and £10,000 will be available.  

The funding will be allocated in two phases with the first phase now open.

It will close on Friday 12 June at 5pm and the first payments made week commencing 15 June.

Phase one will prioritise the following applicants:  

• Small businesses in shared offices or other flexible workspaces. Examples could include units in industrial parks, science parks and incubators which do not have their own business rates assessment;
• Regular market traders with fixed building costs, such as rent, who do not have their own business rates assessment;
• Bed & Breakfasts which pay Council Tax instead of business rates; and
• Charity properties in receipt of charitable business rates relief which would otherwise have been eligible for Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rate Relief.

Oldham Council has set out detailed criteria on the local scheme to try and ensure as many businesses as possible can receive financial support.

Grant awards will be based on annual property costs:

• For businesses that are charged an annual rent and property related charge of between £1,200 to £2,000 will receive a grant payment of £2,000.
• For businesses that are charged an annual rent and property related charges of between £2,001 to £5,000 will receive a grant payment of £5,000.
• For businesses that are charged an annual rent and property related charge of £5,001 or more will receive a grant payment of £10,000.

The discretionary grant fund is for businesses that are not eligible for other coronavirus grant schemes and is primarily and predominantly aimed at:

• Small and micro businesses
• Businesses with relatively high ongoing fixed property-related costs (>£1,200 per annum – however, storage units are excluded).
• Businesses which can demonstrate that they have suffered a significant fall in income due to the COVID-19 crisis
• Businesses which occupy property, or part of a property, with a rateable value or annual rent or annual mortgage payments below £51,000.

https://www.oldham.gov.uk/info/200195/business

A Mobile Testing Unit staffed by the army will be visiting Oldham from Sunday for 3 days until Tuesday 2^nd June. It will provide testing for coronavirus for local residents (adults and children over 5 years) and keyworkers.  

The Unit will be at the Old Leisure Centre Car Park, on Rock Street, in the Town Centre. 

Testing will be by pre-booked appointment only and people can arrive either by car or by foot and are advised to follow the national social distancing guidelines.  

These tests will only be able to tell people if they have coronavirus now. They will not be able to tell if they have been infected in the past. The common symptoms of coronavirus are a high temperature, a new continuous cough, or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste. 

Booking available from Saturday evening only 

Residents wishing to book at test will be able to make an appointment through the national booking website – NHS testing from the evening of Saturday 30^th May.   

Employers of keyworkers can also book tests for their staff through the national employer booking portal. Employers need to register via e-mail following the guidance on the Coronavirus testing guidance site before they can refer their employees. 

If you are not able to access the testing website, you can book a test by telephone by calling 119. 

If the Oldham site is not listed on the booking portal it means that all the available testing appointments for the day have been filled. Home testing kits can also be requested via the same website and telephone number.

The Oldham Liberal Democrats and Councillor Howard Sykes (Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Opposition Leader on Oldham Council) have all signed a letter of support.  This is to aid vulnerable children and protect local education.  The National Education Union (NEU) Councillors Network has written a letter to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson for local councillors to sign up to. 

Schools have been underfunded and struggling and the Covid-19 world has increased that mounting pressure.  The signed letter has several key demands noted here:

1. Assurance that families will be eligible for free school meals (FSM) will be given food vouchers during summer holidays.
2. Government to work with local authorities to protect vulnerable children.
3. Supporting calls from the teaching profession that schools be reopened when it is safe to do so, for both staff and students.
4. Local authorities be given a role in coordinating with schools, trade unions and the DfE on a safe end to school closures.

Councillor Sykes says:  “This letter of support, has been backed by thousands of councillors from all parties and non, hopefully it will send a strong message to central government.  I am pleased that all Liberal Democrat Councillors on Oldham Council have signed it.”

Notes:

https://neu.org.uk/councillors-network

Letter to Gavin Williamson

Dear Gavin Williamson MP,

As local councillors, we are writing to raise concerns in relation to current school closures.

The first issue is our concern about the impact school closures are having on disadvantaged students and their families.

Students eligible for free school meals (FSM) have had mixed experiences when applying for the Government’s voucher scheme, with some unable to access vouchers to which they are entitled. We would like your assurances that all families with children eligible for FSM will receive vouchers for the full period of school closure, including school holidays. This may need to be in retrospect for families who have not yet been able to access their vouchers.

We would ask that the Department for Education (DfE) continues to work with local authorities who are at the forefront of supporting families facing unprecedented food insecurity in the current climate.

As you will know, holiday hunger is an issue for many families, and we would like your assurances that families eligible for FSM will be given food vouchers to sustain them during the summer holidays. We believe that this should become a permanent fixture within our school system, so no child need go hungry during the school holidays again.

We also have concerns about support for vulnerable children and the increased calls to domestic violence helplines nationally. We would ask that the Government continue to work with local authorities and schools to ensure vulnerable children do not ‘slip through the net’ and the necessary financial support is available to councils to support families fleeing domestic violence.

Finally, we are concerned by the current speculation on the end to school closures. We find current speculation unhelpful but would like to support the calls from the teaching profession that schools only be reopened when it is safe to do so, for both teachers and students.

We also ask that local authorities be given a role in coordinating with schools, trade unions and the DfE on a safe end to school closures.

We hope that the Government will continue to collaborate closely with local councils to support families and schools as we weather the current crisis and its aftermath. This will require an end to austerity and a new, long-term, funding settlement for local authorities and schools, to ensure they are best equipped going forward.

Yours sincerely,

The Undersigned

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Opposition leader on Oldham Council, is appalled at a new analysis.  The shocking study shows the areas worst hit by Covid-19 will now receive some of the largest cuts in Government support.  

Oldham Borough is in the top ten Councils hit harder than any other area by the virus.  More than £100 million of public money has been diverted away from Councils in the bottom half of the English deprivation index.  Oldham Borough is unfortunately one of those Council areas.

Conservative run areas are not receiving funding cuts in the same way.  Many believe this is a sly political move by Boris Johnson and the Conservatives.  Oldham Borough will now not receive £1.1 million diverted monies.

Councillor Sykes says “The cash was supposed to be for fighting Covid-19.  Our communities need this money, our area is already struggling badly.” 

“I commend bravery and hard-working nature of local people.  However, Oldham needs the financial support!  We cannot do without it.”