My two allowed questions at tonight’s Council meeting 28 March – Tackling Child Poverty in Oldham and Primary Health Care

Oldham Council 28 March 2018 – Leader’s Questions – Councillor Howard Sykes

Q1 Tackling Child Poverty in Oldham

Mr Mayor, for my first question tonight I want to refer to the report published last month by the campaigning coalition End Child Poverty into child poverty across the UK.

Overall the report found that Oldham was the local authority area with the 7th worst estimated prevalence of poverty in the UK.  Most shockingly Coldhurst was identified as the electoral ward with the highest estimated level of child poverty in the country, with over six in ten children living in poverty.

Regrettably Werneth, St Mary’s and Alexandra also featured highly with over fifty percent of all children in poverty.

But child poverty is not simply confined to these areas – there are children living in poverty everywhere in our Borough.

Sadly, you also find pockets of economic deprivation in Shaw, Saddleworth, Chadderton and Royton – all are a criminal indictment of the indifference of policymakers and financiers in the affluent nation that is 21st century Britain.

Of course, much of the blame for the increase in poverty must be laid at the feet of a Conservative Government which continues to insist on austerity and has punished the poor with a benefit freeze.

Yet there were previously investments amounting to tens of millions directed at our most deprived neighbourhoods, Coldhurst, Glodwick, Derker, Fitton Hill, Hathershaw, Limeside, Werneth, and Westwood during previous  Government’s including Labour.  I will mention just four!

  • The Single Regeneration Budget
  • Neighbourhood Renewal Fund
  • The New Deal for Communities
  • Housing Market Renewal

Despite their high sounding titles, very little seems to have changed on the ground.

Mr Mayor, this Administration talks a lot about the ‘game changer’ that the redevelopment of our town centre will represent, but for the children of these neighbourhoods who are hungry or ill-shod a real ‘game changer’ would be having enough food to eat and decent shoes and clothes to wear right now.

My first question to the Leader tonight is this – does this Administration along with its partners have a practical strategy, a ‘game changer’, with real achievable, measurable targets to address the poverty, and therefore the life chances of these disadvantaged children?

This is one league table we need to get off the top of and better still Oldham needs relegated to a lower division.  At least 4 wards in the top flight for poverty is not where we need to be!

If there is not such a strategy, does she not think it is about time that we put one in place as a top priority and as a cross-party priority – for I can tell her now the Liberal Democrats stand ready to help or is another generation to be condemned to poverty?

Q2 Primary Health Care

Mr Mayor, I would now like to return to another very important issue for many residents in our Borough – access to modern primary care facilities in their locality.

The NHS Clinical Commissioning Group has recently consulted on proposals to create five local ‘clusters’, each to serve approximately 50,000 patients at which local GP practices will be concentrated, along with a range of high-quality primary care services that will be tailored to the especial needs of the host community.

I am confident that patients and carers in Chadderton, Saddleworth and Shaw and Crompton will be excited to hear this news as they are currently obliged to attend health centres that are well past their best to say the least.

In fact their facilities are so poor that I would suggest that if a patient presented in such a condition they would be immediately referred for emergency treatment by triage.  They are quite literally falling to bits.

Mr Mayor, if we do indeed have a National Health Service that provides everyone with access to equal treatment at their point of need, why do we not have a Local Health Service that does the same?

Certainly the hard working tax payers in Chadderton, Saddleworth and Shaw and Crompton are being seriously short-changed with their current provision.

We have been promised new health centres in these areas for years; it would nice to see this finally happen – and soon.

The recent appointment of our own Chief Executive Dr Carolyn Wilkins, to a key position and leading role in our local NHS gives me some hope that things may now finally move in the right direction.

With this in mind my second question to the Leader tonight is when can we expect to see new health centres in all areas of our Borough that are fit for the 21st Century?

A Few Words re Former Mayor Joe Farquhar – Oldham Council 28 March

Mr Mayor, I rise to say a few words of tribute to former Mayor and Conservative Councillor Joe Farquhar who recently passed away.

Joe was larger than life.  He was always a man with a presence – you always knew when he was in the Chamber – and when he made a speech you could not help but listen.

Joe served the people of Royton South for two terms from 1984 to 1988 and from 1992 to 1996, sitting as a member on six committees during this time.  He was also elected for a four year term to the former Greater Manchester County Council, playing a vital role in advocating the Oldham case at the city region level.

In his final year in office, Joe became Mayor of this Borough, and his service became a family affair with his mother – Sarah – serving alongside him as Mayoress.

Joe was an active member of the United Reformed Church, and along with his mother Sarah he was a regular at the Union Street Church, and before that at Heyside.  His faith was important part of his life and that of his mum.

Joe also played a prominent role in other areas of civic life within the Borough – he was a Magistrate and a JP, and, for over 20 years, he was President of the Oldham Branch of the Royal British Legion, being an ex-Lancashire Fusilier himself.

Although I may have had differences of outlook and opinion with him, this did not mean that I did not respect him and I felt that he was always a ward councillor who took a great interest in the affairs of Royton, and was an effective and independent voice and advocate for his constituents in this Chamber.

He will be sadly missed and my personal and the Liberal Democrats condolences to his family.

Oldham Council 28 March 2018 – Civic Appreciation Award – Reverend Jean Hurlston

Mr Mayor, it is an honour to be able to second the nomination of the Reverend Jean Hurlston as this year’s recipient of the Civic Appreciation Award.

I am always very proud to be the elected representative of a Borough in which there are many citizens who selflessly carry out acts in their own time and without pay, which transform the lives of their fellow citizens in so many positive ways – and amongst these many unsung heroes and heroines, Jean is both a shining light and an inspiration to many.

I think many people will have heard of, or indeed seen first-hand, the excellent work that is done by Jean and her fellow volunteers at the organisation, Street Angels, that she founded in 2011 to help keep our town’s party-goers safe.

As the former Leader of this Council, I inherited a situation where Oldham’s night-time economy was described in the national press as the ‘Wild West’ and where regrettably violence and loutish behaviour, sometimes ending in tragedy, was commonplace.

This crisis was something that cabinet members and officers expended a great deal of energy to address, and it is to their great credit that Jean and her team of steadfast volunteers were always there until the early hours of the morning, whatever the weather, to lend visitors to our town centre a helping hand to ensure they were safe and reunited with friends – making a great contribution to public safety.

Whether it was handing out flip-flops to young women who had discarded their footwear, making a brew for people who had taken a little too much to drink, clearing broken glass from the street, offering medical treatment to the injured, or providing a word of reassurance, the Street Angels are just that – Angels.

I have read recently, Jean; that you have also started taking deliveries of hot pies for distribution to the homeless.

I understand that when a recent Latics – Southend United home fixture was cancelled because of the weather, leaving catering staff with a mountain of pies, you rushed to the rescue and redistributed them to rough sleepers and to the One World Cafe.  Another example of two of the many great qualities you possess – practicality and compassion.

I believe that you now have plans that are well-advanced to establish a night shelter for rough sleepers, offering shower facilities and food to those most in need.

Homelessness is an issue that members from across parties have in this chamber raised in recent months so I am sure that all Councillors will join me in calling upon all Oldhamer’ s with compassion to support this venture to ensure its success so that no-one need sleep out in the cold.

Mr Mayor, this award is well deserved tonight and I am very pleased to second this nomination – I wish Jean and her team every success in continuing their wonderful work and I hope this award will help you to secure more support for the many worthy causes that you champion.

Liberal Democrats proud of Oldham Connection with Trades Union History

The Leader of the Opposition and of the Liberal Democrat Group, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE is proposing an amendment to a Labour motion about the centenary of the Trades Union Congress that will be discussed at this week’s meeting of Oldham Council (Wednesday 28 March).  The amendment seeks recognition for the fact that an Oldham Trades Union Council was established one year before the TUC itself and that the Oldham connection to trades unionism history should be properly celebrated.

Councillor Sykes said: “We support the motion – the 150th anniversary of the TUC is worthy of commemoration.  Trades unionism has brought immense benefits to working people and their families, in terms of improving their pay and workplace conditions, but also in campaigning for improvements in safety.  However I was a little surprised that the Labour motion makes no mention of Oldham’s proud record in trades’ union history?  The Oldham Liberal Democrats are therefore pleased to be able to rectify this with our amendment.”

He added: “For the record, one year before the establishment of the TUC itself, the Oldham Trades Council was born, clearly demonstrating that unions in our Borough were already organising themselves to speak and act as one local voice in seeking improvements to pay and conditions in local mills and factories, and ultimately to secure political representation.  Not only that but Annie Kenney, the Springhead mill worker we are now celebrating as a pioneer in the fight for women’s suffrage, was also in fact the first elected female delegate to this body.”

The amendment is backed by Councillor Chris Gloster.  Councillor Gloster commented: “I am pleased to say that some crucial ephemera from the early years of the movement have survived. A banner from 1890 has been displayed at Gallery Oldham as part of the Oldham Stories exhibition, and a banner earlier than this, and mistakenly dated 1857, was restored by dedicated staff at the People’s History Museum.  In addition, early records from the Trades Council were saved when the former Oldham TUC Centre for the Unemployed closed in 1993 and these were transferred to the Working Class Movement Library for safe keeping.  Perhaps some of these items could be used as part of the celebrations?”

Councillor Sykes ended: “The Oldham Trades Union Council still exists so the organisation should be fully involved in this year’s celebrations.”

Cannes you believe it?  £10,000 would be better spent fixing our crumbling roads or providing care for our vulnerable children or elderly citizens rather than on French Seaside Spree, says Liberal Democrat Leader

The Leader of the Opposition and Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes, MBE, has questioned the value of Oldham Council spending more than £10,000 + VAT to send two Council officers to the French Riviera resort of Cannes at a time when Council services have been cut to the bone.

The two officers were representing Oldham Council at the three day Marché International des Professionnels d’Immobilier (MIPIM) property conference earlier this month.  Oldham Council was one of at least nine around the UK that the national press reported were sending representatives at public expense.

Commenting Councillor Sykes stated:  “The attendance by these Council officers at this conference at this time; at such expense sends; out all of the totally wrong signals when the Council is cutting services to the bone or just stopping them because of swingeing cuts in central government funding.”

He added:  “I am not suggesting that this simply amounted to three days of sunshine and champagne.  I am sure these officers were also meeting with potential investors in Oldham, but many residents in our Borough; who are struggling to pay their Council Tax bills; will rightly ask why this money could not have been spent on fixing potholes on our crumbling roads or providing care for our vulnerable children or elderly citizens rather than on jet travel and hotel bills for staff going to the French Riviera.”

Councillor Sykes is also still investigating whether this £10,000 bill represents the full cost to the Council, and he has an outstanding enquiry with officers in the Chief Executive’s team.