Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, has today announced his Real Opposition team for 2022/23. The announcement comes after a successful set of local elections for the Liberal Democrats which saw the group gain a seat in Saddleworth West and Lees.
Councillor Howard Sykes said: “I am proud to be leading the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council and to be leading a team that is ready to hold the Council and Labour to account. This year we are joined by the newly elected councillor Alicia Marland, who is joining Mark Kenyon and Sam Al-Hamdani making up a formidable team of community champions for Saddleworth West and Lees residents.”
“At a time when so many people across the Oldham borough are facing the effects of the Conservative cost-of-living crisis, the Liberal Democrats remain the only group holding Labour to account on Oldham Council, and we shall continue to take that responsibility seriously,” added councillor Sykes.
“Oldham Liberal Democrats will continue to oppose Labour’s indulgent and wasteful spending at the Civic Centre. Now more than ever, we need councillors who will speak out against vanity projects such as £68 million on ‘Spendles’. We need to direct more of our residents’ hard-earned Council Tax money into the front-line services that most matter to people, such as street cleaning, parks maintenance, road repairs, social care and alike,” he said.
“The Liberal Democrats will also be fighting for better facilities and an improved retail and leisure offer in our district centres. We will keep up the pressure on to make sure the new health centre for Shaw and Crompton gets back on track. We shall continue to be opposed to Green Belt development, including Labour’s ‘Places for Everyone’ plan. Our beautiful and unique local environment must be safeguarded for future generations.”
“People expect the Council to get the basics right – that is clearly not the case at the moment and this failure will continue to be our focus that will make a difference to people’s lives. That is what the public have told us they want,” he claimed.
Details of the appointments follow:
Group Officers
Councillor Howard Sykes MBE – Group Leader
Councillor Chris Gloster – Deputy Group Leader
Councillor Louie Hamblett – Group Chair
Councillor Diane Williamson – Group Secretary
Councillor Hazel Gloster – Group Treasurer
Councillor Mark Kenyon – Group Political Secretary
Shadow Cabinet Members:
Regeneration and Housing – Howard Sykes
City Region
Economic Growth
Strategic Housing
Housing quality and enforcement
Planning and Building Control
Transport
Homelessness
Landlord Licensing
External Relationships and Partnerships
Capital projects and investment
Borough Strategy
Finance and Low Carbon – Chris Gloster
Finance
Revenues and benefits
Energy
Green New Deal
Corporate Property and Assets
Clean Air
Culture and Leisure – Diane Williamson
Culture
Leisure
Libraries, Heritage and Arts
Sports and sport development
Events
Education and Skills – Sam Al-Hamdani
Education and Skills
Education Alliance
School Place Planning
Looked After Children – educational performance
Work and Skills Strategy
Lifelong Learning
Apprenticeships
Neighbourhoods – Dave Murphy
Highways
Trading Standards and Licensing
Registrars and Cemeteries
Environmental Services
Waste and recycling
Parks and Countryside
Justice and Community Safety
Community Cohesion
Emergency Planning
Districts
Children and Young People – Hazel Gloster
Child safeguarding
Children’s Partnership
Adoption and fostering
Children Looked After
Children’s health and wellbeing
Youth Service
Early Years
Early Help
Health and Social Care – Louie Hamblett
Adult Social Services
Adult safeguarding
Provider services
Disability services and adaptations
Family support
Integrated Care System development
Health Improvement
Mental Health and wellbeing
Isolation
Corporate Services – Alicia Marland
Workforce and Organisational Development
Transformation
IT and Digital
Customer Services
Performance
Legal Services
Employment and Enterprise – Mark Kenyon
Employment
Get Oldham Working
Employability
Business Support
Markets
Supporting VCSFE sector
Social Infrastructure
Official Spokespersons/Lead Members on Boards and Committees:
Chris Gloster: Audit Committee, Licensing Committee, Traffic Regulation Order Panel
Hazel Gloster: Planning Committee
Alicia Marland: Health Scrutiny
Mark Kenyon: Performance Overview and Scrutiny
Diane Williamson: Policy Overview and Scrutiny, Standards Board
District Leads
Diane Williamson: Chair, Shaw and Crompton (Vice Chair North District)
Sam Al-Hamdani: Official Spokesperson, Saddleworth and Lees (East District)