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

With the publication of the fan-led review into football thrusting governance of the fair game into the spotlight, Oldham Liberal Democrats will propose a motion in support of Fair Game to the next meeting of Oldham Council (15 December).  Fair Game is a national campaign that seeks radical reform in the way football is managed to make the ‘beautiful game’ more fan-focussed and financially sustainable.

Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani will propose the motion.  He explained: “I’m a City fan – I was there when we were losing games in the third tier, and I have seen us ride the rollercoaster all the way to the top.  As much as I love watching the great players it has brought to my club, I don’t think that the way football works is even close to fair.”

“I have friends who support Macclesfield Town.  I have friends who support Bury FC. Clubs that have failed, and which have ripped the heart out of those towns when they went into meltdown.  Too many teams are too close to doing the same elsewhere.”

“The Fair Game manifesto proposes practical measures which will refocus football clubs on the score and not on their profit margins, and which recognise that fans and not sovereign wealth funds should come first.”

“Football clubs are not profit centres; they give the people of the town a sense of identity and pride.  Ask anyone from outside of the Borough what they know about Oldham and the chances are they will tell you they visited Boundary Park and it was cold!  My first ever game in the flesh was at Boundary Park, sitting on the shoulders of my brother-in-law in the Chaddy end, watching Joe Royle’s team gunning for promotion.  I hate to think that the next generation might not know that feeling.”

As well as signifying support for the manifesto, the Liberal Democrats also want Oldham to do more to set the pace to help fans acquire struggling professional football clubs.

Councillor Diane Williamson who is backing Sam said:  “Ideally, we need to see clubs part-owned, or wholly-owned and operated as co-operatives, by lifelong local fans for local benefit, rather than profit.”

“Oldham Council is a founder member of the Co-operative Councils’ Innovation Network.  We believe Oldham should work with other member Councils to develop a model which can support fan groups to register their local football club as an Asset of Community Value and provide them with a chance to buy and operate the club should the opportunity arise.”

“To see a club saved for future generations would really be ‘football coming home’.”

https://www.fairgameuk.org/

The motion reads to the next meeting of Oldham Council (15 December 2021):

Liberal Democrat Motion 1 – Time for the Fair Game manifesto in football

Council believes that football, the national game in the UK, is currently in crisis.

COVID-19 has devastated the revenue of many lower-league clubs, with the loss of some notables, and dozens more clubs teetering on the brink of survival. Frequently bad management has gone unnoticed or ignored and clubs are run unsustainably, putting at risk all the history, heritage, and economic benefit they bring to an area – often in pursuit of short-term gain.

Council believes that football clubs are not ordinary businesses; they are historic sporting institutions that are both a civic and community asset, and a source of pride and unity, in their hometown or city.

Council therefore supports Fair Game, a national campaign that seeks radical reform of the way football is managed and run, specifically its call for:

• An independent regulator for the sport.
• A refocus on ‘values’ rather than profit.
• The establishment of a Sustainability Index, which will reallocate the payments made to clubs to reward those which are run well, respect equality standards and properly engage with their fans and their community.
• Fans to be given the final say on any proposed change to a club’s ‘crown jewels’, including the club’s name, nickname, colours, badge and the geographical location from where the club plays.

Council also notes that former Sports Minister Tracey Crouch MP is about to publish a Government-commissioned fan-led review into football governance and believes that some of its findings will mirror Fair Game’s aspirations.

As a Co-operative Council, we would also like to see football clubs co-operatively owned by their fans, rather than owners with no connection to a town or with more interest in extracting profits from the club, rather than the team’s on-pitch performance.

Council therefore resolves to:

• Declare its support for the Fair Game manifesto, ‘Solutions for our National Game’, and calls on other councils to join us in our support.
• Ask the Chief Executive to write to the Minister for Sport, our local Members of Parliament, and the Chair of the Local Government Association Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, asking them to support and work towards implementing Fair Game’s manifesto and the findings of the fan-led review led by Tracey Crouch MP.
• Ask the Council’s representative to the Co-operative Council’s Innovation Network to request the CCIN investigate how best member councils can support the registration of their local football clubs as Assets of Community Value and facilitate their future purchase and operation, when the opportunity arises, as fan-owned co-operatives.

Proposed by                                        Seconded by

Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani                   Councillor Diane Williamson

As Oldham Borough residents face massive hikes in fuel bills this winter, local Liberal Democrats are furious that the Warm Homes Discount, which helps our poorest residents heat their homes, will only go up by £10.

Liberal Democrat councillors Hazel Gloster and Dave Murphy will be calling upon Oldham Council at the next meeting (15 December 2021) to support a demand to the UK Government that the Warm Homes Discount be increased to meet the new reality.

Councillor Hazel Gloster will be proposing the motion:  “Homeowners face up to 40% price increases this year while many of our oldest and poorest residents have seen the Conservative Government betray their promise to increase state pensions by the Triple Lock and also scrap the £20-per-week Universal Credit top-up for the needy.” 

“For many people, this winter will be a time of survival as they struggle to heat and eat, but the Warm Homes Discount which at least represents some additional funding for making ends meet, is now wholly inadequate to the task.”

Councillor Dave Murphy is supporting a motion to the Council.  He added:  “Whilst we welcome the fact that the government have promised to make more households eligible for the Warm Homes Discount, the £10 increase is wholly inadequate given the unprecedented increases in fuel bills this year.” 

“The £140 Warm Homes Discount has not been properly adjusted to reflect increased gas and electricity prices for nine years and in that time household bills have sky-rocketed.  And many people do not even know it exists.  Oldham Liberal Democrats are calling on the government to increase this grant by a meaningful, rather than a marginal, amount, and do more to ensure that those who can get it can access the cash.”

You can contact Warm Homes Oldham on:

Freephone: 0800 019 1084

E-mail: warmhomes@oldham.gov.uk

https://www.oldham.gov.uk/info/200258/housing_benefit_grants_and_loans/1979/help_to_heat_your_home

Council 15 December 2021 – Notice of Opposition Business

Liberal Democrat Motion – Increasing and promoting the Warm Home Discount

This Council notes:

• The Warm Home Discount Scheme, a Government initiative administered by energy suppliers, provides eligible households with a £140 discount on their electricity bill between September and March each year which has remained fixed for over 9 years.

• Energy prices have increased significantly in recent years, with the costs of energy increasing by 40% in the last year alone.

• Additionally, Ofgem has recently set an unprecedented price cap hike, a measure which the End Fuel Poverty Coalition has predicted will propel a further 1.2 million people into fuel poverty (up from 4.1 million to 5.3 million).

• Following a consultation earlier this year, the government has pledged to increase the rebate in England and Wales and to expand the scheme so that an additional 780,000 households become eligible. 

Council believes:

• That the Warm Home Discount is vital in helping to tackle fuel poverty.

• The £10 increase is wholly inadequate given price inflation over the last nine years and the increases proposed in the future.

• That many eligible households are not aware of the discount or how to apply for it.

 This Council resolves:

• To ask the Chief Executive to write to the Minister of State at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy to urgently increase the value of the Warm Home Discount Scheme to reflect price inflation and future increases and to identify new ways to promote the rebate so many more eligible households are aware of it and apply for it.

Proposed by:                                                               Seconded by:

Councillor Hazel Gloster                                                Councillor Dave Murphy

A year after the child and safeguarding teams in all 10 areas of Greater Manchester wrote to highlight the failure of Greater Manchester Police and the GM Mayor to provide equitable funding for child safeguarding across the whole of the region, there has been no change to the funding made.

At November’s Overview and Scrutiny meeting in Oldham (14/11/21), Liberal Democrat Councillor Mark Kenyon identified the funding gap, and demanded to know why it still existed.

Councillor Kenyon said: “Safeguarding children is crucial work in Oldham and across the whole of Greater Manchester so I was alarmed to see that despite the funding inequalities being highlighted to the GM Mayor’s office over a year ago, nothing has changed.”

Government guidance indicates that safeguarding partners – in this case the local councils, the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), and GM Police should be “equitable and proportionate”, and be “sufficient to cover all elements of the arrangements, including the cost of local child safeguarding practice reviews”.

Councillor Kenyon continued: “We’re past the point of no return here for GM Mayor, Andy Burnham. He’s the Police and Crime Commissioner, the head of GMP, so a paltry £12,900 for safeguarding our most vulnerable and not even a reply to the safeguarding team who’ve been forced to go cap in hand begging for resources is beyond the pale. He’s the King in the North when it suits and Not My Job for the rest of the time.”

Fellow Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani concluded: “This is the last in a line of policing failures on Andy Burnham’s watch. Millions have been wasted on a broken IT system, 80,000 cases have been lost, and the force has been placed in special measures.

“This lack of funding is an indication of where the Mayoral and GMP priorities lie, and it appears not to be with child safeguarding. That must change, and as the Police and Crime Commissioner, that is Andy Burnham’s responsibility.”

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

Liberal Democrat call for Oldham Borough to support Small Business Saturday

This Christmas, Liberal Democrat councillors are once more calling on local residents to support their local retailers on Small Business Saturday (4 December).

Liberal Democrat Group Leader, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, explained why:

“Local shops, cafes and pubs are the lifeblood of our high street; without them our district centres would be ghost towns.  Every pound spent with a local retailer is a pound that goes into our local economy.  It supports local business owners, helps support local jobs and sustains local suppliers, instead of going into the back-pocket of a multi-billionaire with enough money to go space travelling!”

Small Business Saturday was first started in the United States in 2010 to highlight the criticality of shoppers spending with independent small businesses, rather than big chains. The campaign is now in its ninth year in the UK, with an estimated 15.4 million people choosing to spend a record £1.1 billion with small businesses last year.

“Whilst we would encourage everyone to go out and shop local this Saturday, developing the habit of local shopping should be a year-round pursuit and not just a Christmas thing”, added councillor Sykes.

“For those who are environmentally conscious, it also has the added benefit that food and other goods purchased are often locally sourced, meaning less food and travel miles bringing them to you, and by increasing local spending we are more likely to see a growth in bespoke local shops providing specialist goods.”

“This is why in Shaw and Crompton we have been campaigning for the establishment of an artisan market, something original that would bring in more shoppers to our district.”

https://smallbusinesssaturdayuk.com/

After a two-year campaign this was the response of Oldham Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE on finally receiving confirmation that a loophole in sexual offences law will be closed.

Under current ‘Position of Trust’ legislation, certain individuals with responsibility for young people aged 16 and 17 years can legally engage in sexual activity with those young persons, even though they are often very vulnerable.

For over two years, Councillor Sykes and his Oldham Liberal Democrat colleagues have been campaigning to close the hoop hole by making it a sexual offence for any person in authority to engage with a young person in their care.

In October, Councillor Sykes wrote to the newly appointed Lord Chancellor asking the government to move forward with the necessary new legislation.  Finally (29 November) he has received the good news he has been waiting for.

“In September 2019, the Liberal Democrats first took a motion to Oldham Council calling on the government to outlaw sexual activity involving young people and persons in positions of trust.”

“Now the Justice Ministry has finally confirmed that there is ‘a clause in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill which will do just that’.  This Bill is currently going through Parliament.  Although there are many criticisms that can be levelled at the Bill, this at least is one positive element to look forward to.”

30 November

Liberal Democrats are delighted to see the Local Electricity Bill continue to gain momentum in Parliament, as the issue once more comes up for discussion (30 November).

Oldham Liberal Democrat Councillors put forward a motion to Council (July 2020) favouring the Local Electricity Bill, which received cross-party support and was agreed.  Now the bill will feature as part of the ‘Empowering Community Energy Schemes’ Adjournment debate in Parliament on Tuesday 30^th November at 2.30pm. 

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE also used the opportunity of the recent COP26 climate change conference to write to newly appointed Energy Minister Greg Hands MP asking for the government’s support for the measure.

“It is great to see Parliament once more debating this bill”, said councillor Sykes.  “The Local Electricity Bill will revolutionise the way that we produce and consume electricity.  It will enable local communities to generate electricity using renewable technologies and then supply it directly to local people, without all the bureaucracy and expense that small suppliers currently face when entering the energy market.”

Support for the bill is also building amongst all parties in Parliament.

“281 MPs from all parties, including Liberal Democrats, back it as well as nearly 100 Local Authorities, which as a result of our initiative of course includes Oldham,” added councillor Sykes.  “114 Conservative MPs also back the legislation, and it is my hope that this will eventually filter through into a positive reply from Energy Minister Greg Hands as government support would make the law more certain.”

The news that the independent report into CSE in Oldham has been delayed until the new year is “further undermining the trust that needs to be rebuilt” according to Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani.

GM Mayor Andy Burnham has announced that the report will now be released in the week commencing January 24, citing both delays with Queen’s Counsel Advice, and the wishes of victims of CSE not to release the report in the run up to Christmas.

Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani said: “The most important people in the whole process are the survivors of violence, and I absolutely respect their wishes not to see the report published at this time of year.

“What I then question is why we had been told previously that the report would be released now? That should already have been considered, and we should not have been told the report would be released before the end of the year.

“The same applies to the QC’s advice. This should have been allowed for in the process, and should have been planned for.”

“This is not the first time that we have been given a date for the publication of the report, and then down the line, it has shifted.”

The report is being produced by the team that conducted the hard-hitting investigation into CSE in Rotherham.

Councillor Al-Hamdani continued: “One of the most terrible aspects of this form of abuse is that it breaks down people’s trust, and it is vital that promises are kept, to stop that trust from breaking down further.

“It is inevitable that this report criticise the Council, and the other organisations involved, and change will be necessary. There must be no glib statements that ‘lessons have been learnt’. We will need to respond to the report thoroughly, responsibly and with open honesty about the Council’s role. That must start with an end to this catalogue of missed dates.”