Chancellor promises end of austerity, but no end to Oldham Council funding cuts

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has welcomed the promise by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in today’s Budget that ‘austerity is coming to an end’ and his recognition that local authorities have ‘significantly contributed’ towards the UK Government in addressing austerity, albeit through being forced to accept swingeing general cuts to their funding.

Councillor Sykes has also welcomed the promised extra funding to tackle potholes across the country and for new services to help those in mental health crisis, contemplating suicide, or living with infirmity or disabilities; however the Chancellor was short on detail when it came to rolling back the massive funding cuts that local authorities have faced since 2010.

“Some of this so called funding will not happen for a couple of years so is very much a promise of jam tomorrow,” stated Councillor Sykes.  “Also all bets are off budget wise if Brexit negotiations do not go well.”

He added:  “It is easy to promise an end to austerity, but the ‘hard working British public’ that Mr Hammond spoke so warmly of rely on the council services that have been cut to the bone, and in some cases just stopped providing them under this Conservative Government.”

“Our green spaces, cemeteries, parks and alike will continue to look even more unloved.  Streets will be dirtier, basic maintenance stopped in places our libraries and community centres some time ago.”

“The Chancellor failed to pull out a ‘promised rabbit’ for local government and other public services like police and fire.  He talked a lot about councils gaining ‘greater control’ over finances by allowing them to retain business rates and by lifting the housing cap, but the rate support grant that councils rely upon is being phased out by 2020.  For us, austerity does not seem to be coming to an end anytime soon in fact it just took a turn for the worse in our Borough.”

First Bus timetable changes from 28 October 2018

From Sunday 28 October, First Bus will be making changes to the timetables of some of their services.

The following services will be affected by the changes: V1, 2, 24, 33, 42, 58, 59, 93, 97/98, 100, 135, 163, 180, 181/182, 350, 409, 415, 425, 582 and X39.

Unfortunately service 42 will be withdrawn (East Didsbury – Manchester route only), but for customers wanting to travel between Withington and Manchester our 41 service will provide an alternative.

Please make sure you check their new timetables before you travel.  See link below.

https://www.firstgroup.com/greater-manchester/news-and-service-updates/planned-changes/service-changes-sunday-28-october

Countryside Volunteer Rangers Crompton Moor 28 October 18

Another volunteering Sunday falls upon us, so I hope you can join me for some drainage maintenance on the access road, amongst other tasks, although this will be dependent upon materials and tools being available.

The weather forecast for Sunday is sunny intervals and a moderate breeze, likely high / low of 8º/2º and 12 mph winds so ensure you have your favourite hot & or cold liquids, warm clothing, appropriate footwear and a packed lunch if you are up for the day – it may feel colder than it really is.

If you have any issues that you may wish to discuss prior to Sunday, please do not hesitate to email (on either address) or text / phone me on 07961107860. REMEMBER the clocks go back, & I would not want you to be early [!], although for this particular Sunday only I will be up from ~ 0930 onwards.

For those of you that have not already done so, please could you let me know if you intend to join us on the day, so that I can make the appropriate plan of work, and hopefully ensure the correct material and or tools are available on the day.

I look forward to seeing you in the Crompton Moor Car Park from 10.30 onwards (or earlier if it suits you also) on Sunday. Thank you.

Kindest Regards – Edward John Fulton (aka Ed / Eddie). Countryside Volunteer Ranger, (Mob) 07961 107860 [Calls may be recorded], (Text) 07961 107860, (Fax)  01706 661813, (E)  edward@edwardjohnfulton.uk , (E) edward.fulton@btinternet.uk

Liberal Democrat Leader welcomes extra funding to help tackle Winter Health Crisis

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Leader of the Opposition, has welcomed the recent announcement by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock MP, that over £1 million in extra money will be provided to Oldham this winter to help patients get home quicker from hospital after medical treatment and improve care that might prevent them being admitted to hospital in the first place.  Mr Hancock recently announced that Oldham will be receiving £1,122,354 in extra winter funding.

Commenting Councillor Sykes said:  “Any extra funding from government to help support adult social care at the time of year when there is the greatest demand must be welcomed.  I am sure patients would much rather have more support to be discharged so they can recover in the comfort of their own homes than spending any more time in hospital than is necessary.  This investment will also help save the NHS money as this so-called ‘bed blocking’ represents a big drain on spending that could be better spent on treating more patients.”

Councillor Sykes did however add a cautionary note:  “I have to say though that the Minister does only get ‘one cheer’ from me rather than the ‘three cheers’ he would if this money had been allocated or notice given as part of the budget settlement last autumn.  That would have given both the Council and the Hospital the maximum amount of time to plan how best to use this money.  Late notice and the element of stop/start is not the best way of getting maximum value; making this cash go as far as possible; and helping as many people as possible.”

The letter from Mr Hancock: 20181017_ASC winter care letter_FINAL

Liberal Democrats propose radical measures to tackle air pollution

Air pollution is estimated to cause 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK, making it the biggest environmental killer.  It also results in health costs of between £8.5bn and £18.6bn a year, according to Public Health England (PHE) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).

The Oldham Liberal Democrats are particularly concerned at the impact of air pollution in the Borough, especially amongst the young, the elderly and those residents who have heart conditions or respiratory illnesses.  In a Borough like Oldham air pollution is a major contributory factor in the premature deaths of some residents and in the recurrence of poor respiratory health in many others.

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Leader of the Opposition, has raised this issue before in the Oldham Council Chamber and has demanded the Council take action to tackle this problem.  He said: “In November 2017, the Council finally agreed to establish an Air Quality Sub-Group from the Health and Well-being Board to look at measures to reduce air pollution.  No one from the Liberal Democrat Group has been invited to join despite our obvious interest in this issue and nothing has so far come of it, so eleven months on I have made my own proposals for action.”

Councillor Sykes has written to the Chair of the Health and Well-being Board, Councillor Jenny Harrison, proposing:

  • Taking action on vehicles idling, particularly outside schools, at bus stops and at taxi ranks
  • Piloting road closures outside schools during school drop off and pick up times
  • Promoting Walking to School schemes
  • More air pollution monitoring, with at least one fixed monitor in every electoral ward across the borough and mobile monitors for use in monitoring air pollution at schools
  • A campaign to raise public awareness of the dangers of exposure to air pollution
  • More electric vehicle charging points across the borough
  • More tree planting, and
  • The installation of anti-pollution bus stops like in central London

Councillor Sykes said: “All these measures are yet more examples of the common-sense proposals that the Oldham Liberal Democrat Group provides in response to the problems our Borough, and its citizen’s face.  Air pollution represents a real danger to public health, and it is only getting worse.  Why it has taken eleven months so far without a plan of action being produced by this sub-group is beyond me.  The Council asked them to ‘move as quickly as possible to produce an Air Quality Improvement Plan’, this is movement at a snail’s pace.  I only hope that Councillor Harrison and this Labour Administration will take these proposals on board, as the time to act is now.”

Notes to Editors:

From: Howard Sykes
Sent: 11 October 2018 17:37
To: Cllr J Harrison <CllrJ.Harrison@oldham.gov.uk>
Cc: howard.sykes@oldham.gov.uk
Subject: The Development of an Oldham Air Quality Improvement Plan

To Councillor Jenny Harrison

Chair of the Health and Well-being Board

Dear Jenny,

The Development of an Oldham Air Quality Improvement Plan

 In November 2017, Council passed a resolution which included a proposal:

‘To ask the Health and Well-being Board Air Quality Sub-Group to move as quickly as possible to produce an Air Quality Improvement Plan which should include what we as individuals can do, as well as by Oldham Council and Greater Manchester bodies.’

Air pollution is estimated to cause 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK, making it the biggest environmental killer.  It also results in health costs of between £8.5bn and £18.6bn a year, according to Public Health England (PHE) and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).

In a Borough like Oldham air pollution is a major contributory factor in the premature deaths of some of our residents and in the recurrence of poor respiratory health in many others.  Accordingly, the Liberal Democrat Group was pleased to support the motion, in the hope that we could work on a cross-party basis to agree some early action.

Despite enquiries lodged with several officers, including the Chief Executive, I have been unable to establish who constituted the Sub-Group, when it actually met, and what its findings have been.  I have also been disappointed that, given the cross-party support for the motion, that the Liberal Democrat Group was never invited to contribute to its deliberations.

After eleven months, no proposals appear to have come forward for consideration by the Board; a rate of progress that, I would suggest, is hardly ‘moving’ as quickly as possible.’

There are plenty of positive ideas for tackling air pollution from other local authorities, and here are some that I would like the Board to consider:

Action on Idling:

 New guidance issued from PHE and Nice recommends that no idling” zones should be used outside schools, care homes and hospitals.

We could look to copy ideas proposed by my Liberal Democrat colleagues in Bury to:

  • Introduce, over the next two years an enforceable ‘no-idling’ zone outside every school in the Borough, with at least four pilot zones in the next year.
  • Where practical, to extend the number of ‘no-idling’ zones to cover areas outside children’s play areas where parked traffic is an issue.
  • To work with our NHS partners, to look at extending ‘no-idling’ zones outside Medical Centres, and in hospital ‘pick up’ areas

We could also:

  • Discourage, through our licensing powers, idling by taxis and private hire vehicles, using enforcement powers when necessary.
  • Require drivers of Council operated vehicles not to idle, and ask the same of our public sector partners and our public transport providers with respect to their own vehicles.
  • Conduct an information campaign to influence driver behaviour by urging motorists to turn off their engines if they think they are not going to move for around two minutes and asking them not to manually override ‘stop-start’ systems.  These are fitted to some vehicles to automatically switch off the engine when the vehicle is stationary and restart it as soon as the accelerator is pressed.

Shutting Off Streets Outside Schools:

 Like Hackney, with its School Streets pilot, we could initiate some trial projects to shut off streets outside schools to traffic at morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times, with the imposition of a fine of up to £80 for those caught on camera flouting the ban.  In this scheme, local residents and businesses will be able to apply for an exemption, free of charge.

  • Other local authorities are introducing ‘bus gates’ outside schools to reduce vehicular through traffic to cycles and local buses with a fixed penalty for transgressors.

Walking to School Schemes: 

  • We should be encouraging every school whenever practical to establish Walk to School initiatives in conjunction with Living Streets to discourage school drop offs / pick-ups and to promote walking for personal health.

More Air Pollution Monitoring: 

  • Can I suggest this Council looks to investigate the introduction of air pollution monitors in each and every ward throughout our borough, and particularly as a priority introduce mobile monitors for testing each and every school, especially nursery and primary schools?

Raising Public Awareness of Air Pollution: 

  • We can look to get children involved in air quality monitoring as part of Science curriculum.
  • Healthcare professionals should be encourage to routinely advise vulnerable patients to reduce strenuous activity when air pollution is high and to use less polluted routes in our borough.

More Electric Vehicle Charging Points: 

Let’s set some challenging targets for installing charging points in our Borough as the reality is that electric or hybrid electric vehicles are the future.

Practical ideas proposed by my Liberal Democrat colleagues in Bury that we might adopt are:

  • Establishing an initiative to identify suitable locations for additional charging points within the borough.
  • Ensuring we have at least one electric vehicle charging point in every electoral ward by the end of calendar year 2018, and that this target be ambitiously reviewed every year.
  • Seeking further funding from GM Mayor Andy Burnham to seek extra money to meet this ambition under TfGM’s GMEV scheme.

 More Tree Planting: 

The Oldham Liberal Democrats have over several years made various proposals relating to the preservation and promotion of tree cover as it is undoubtedly the case that trees absorb pollution and improve air quality.  We will therefore commend any efforts that the Administration will make to reduce tree loss and to plant more trees and it would be helpful if we had a specific Tree Strategy as we have suggested with ambitious targets for tree planting, especially in our urban streets.  This is something that any planning gain that results from the Community Infrastructure Levy could be used to support.

Introduce Anti-Pollution Bus Stops: 

Lastly, I wonder if Oldham might become the location for some anti-pollution bus stops similar to those that have been trialled in London on New Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road and High Holborn –

http://www.jcdecaux.co.uk/news/body-shop-introduces-anti-pollution-bus-stops-london

https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/these-antipollution-bus-stops-in-london-let-you-breathe-in-clean-air-a3554676.html

I do hope that the Health and Well-being Board will be able to look at and adopt many of these proposals to reduce the impact of air pollution on the residents of this Borough, and I will look forward to the Board’s deliberations.

Best wishes.

Howard

Liberal Democrat Leader’s concerns about proposed NHS changes in Oldham

Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group and Leader of the Opposition, has written to the Chief Executive of Oldham Council, Dr Carolyn Wilkins OBE, to raise a number of concerns and questions about the proposals being taken forward in Oldham in the provision of GP and urgent care services.

Under the proposals, urgent care hubs will be created in five health centres around the borough, replacing the town centre walk-in centre which will close.  Patients are also promised greater access to their local GP and a single telephone number to call with enquiries.

In his email, Councillor Sykes is seeking reassurances that there will be in reality a better, more accessible service for patients, particularly those that he and his Liberal Democrat ward colleagues represent in Shaw and Crompton, and that there are firm plans to finally replace the existing aging Crompton Health Centre which Councillor Sykes describes ‘frankly far from fit-for-purpose’ and a source of ‘resentment’ when local patients see ‘the facilities provided daily to their neighbours in Royton’.

The email reads

From: Howard Sykes
Sent: 11 October 2018 16:26
To: Carolyn Wilkins <Carolyn.Wilkins@oldham.gov.uk>
Cc: howard.sykes@oldham.gov.uk
Subject: Questions re Proposed Urgent Care Changes

Dear Dr Wilkins,

I have several questions that I would like please to pose for you.

Will the single telephone number that is promised for patients to contact be an Oldham wide number?

My concern is that this will be overwhelmed by calls and staff will be unable to answer them promptly.

This has been the situation with the Police 101 number.

How will calls be managed – will they be answered centrally or will callers be automatically routed to their own GP surgery or their local ‘urgent care hub’?

Under current proposals, five new hubs will be designated as ‘Urgent Care Hubs’, each serving around 50,000 people.

Am I right in assuming that the Royton Health Centre will be one of the five new ‘urgent care hubs’?

Shaw and Crompton are paired with Royton.  Given that Royton has a new health centre and we do not, I am assuming this will lead to the Royton health centre being designated the hub also for Shaw and Crompton, despite the public transport links being poor or not existent?

Where does this then leave the prospects for the future replacement of Crompton Health Centre which frankly is far from fit-for-purpose?

The people of Shaw and Crompton continue to feel badly let down by the NHS and this Council because of their failure to replace this centre a long time ago and their resentment builds with every month that passes without action, especially when they see the facilities provided daily to their neighbours in Royton.

What guarantee will there be under current proposals that there will be an adequate after-hours service and that patients will have greater access to GPs, particularly outside the hours of 8-6 weekdays?

At present many of my constituents wait days or weeks before they can access a GP of their choosing at a time that suits them.  This leads them to present at the Walk in Centre or A+E.

Under current plans, the town centre LIFT walk-in centre will be closed when the new hubs are open.

As this must be one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the property portfolio of our local NHS, what plans are there to reuse part, or all, of the building and what will happen to the equipment and people that are in there.

Has an audit been carried out recently of all NHS properties in our Borough, whether owned or leased, to determine whether all buildings are used to the utmost for treatment or ancillary purposes or whether they can be sold off to generate capital to reinvest in remaining buildings and services?  If so can this information be shared with me?

After the Walk in Centre closure, what will prevent patients from simply presenting to A+E for urgent treatment, rather than waiting to be seen by a GP or at the hub?

Can you give a guarantee that with the establishment of the hub, the A+E Department at the Royal Oldham Hospital will not be closed or its services reduced or downgraded?

I shall look forward to receiving your responses.

Best wishes.