30Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Liberal Democrats want to make street harassment a crime

Liberal Democrats want to make street harassment a crime

Borough news, CSE, domestic abuse and violence
Oldham Council’s Liberal Democrats want to see street harassment of women and girls made a crime, as it is in Portugal, Belgium and France. Saddleworth and Lees Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani is taking a motion on this issue to the next meeting of the full Council (Wednesday November 4). Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “Everyone should feel safe on our streets and in our communities, yet in national surveys two-thirds of women and girls report that they have been subjected to street harassment. We all the right to self-respect, and to freedom of movement and freedom of expression, yet women and girls are intimidated by this unwanted personal sexual attention. It is frightening and as a result some choose not to go out or do not feel able to be themselves. “I want…
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27Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Why do we need GMSF? asks Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader

Why do we need GMSF? asks Oldham Liberal Democrat Leader

Borough news
Study finds more than 1.3m homes can be built on brownfield sites A recent study published by the countryside charity, the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) has found that the government’s target of 300,000 new homes could be built every year for the next four years, and then some, on brownfield sites, leaving the Green Belt untouched. Responding the findings, Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Howard Sykes MBE posed the question: “Why then do we need the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework with the proposal by the Greater Manchester Mayor and his Labour colleagues to destroy vast swathes of our irreplaceable Green Belt with unnecessary housing?” The CPRE found that there are enough sites in England that have been previously developed, and that are available for housing, to…
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27Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
20’s Plenty for Us in 2020

20’s Plenty for Us in 2020

Borough news, road safety
Liberal Democrat Councillors are proposing a motion at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (November 4th) calling for a default 20mph speed limit to be introduced on the Borough’s minor residential roads. Twenty million British citizens already live in local authorities where a 20mph default speed limit exists. The Liberal Democrats want Oldham Council to do the same. This is the second time they have introduced such a proposal at the Council; the first was in February 2014. The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Shaw Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, is proposing the motion. Commenting he said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has made crystal clear just how precious life is. Whilst we as a local authority work with our partners in the National Health Service to bring this terrible disease…
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27Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Time to give child food poverty the boot

Borough news
Liberal Democrat Councillors are playing on the same team as campaigning footballer Marcus Rashford when it comes to tackling child food poverty. The 22-year old Manchester United star has just been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his work ensuring that no child goes hungry. This is an issue close to the heart of Saddleworth North Liberal Democrat Councillor Garth Harkness, who is proposing a motion at the next full meeting of Oldham Council (November 4) seeking cross-party support for Mr Rashford’s pioneering work. He has frequently raised child hunger with the Council. Being employed at a Manchester school, Councillor Harkness is well-aware of the adverse impact that hunger can have on a child’s educational performance. Commenting Councillor Harkness said: “When many people think of top-flight footballers,…
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23Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Leader welcomes promised update on child sexual exploitation investigation at next Council meeting

Borough news, CSE
A report updating Councillors and the public on the progress made by the investigation team into historic allegations of child sexual exploitation in the Borough will be included in the agenda papers for the next full meeting of Oldham Council (4 November 2020). Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, Leader of the Opposition, wrote to the Leader of the Council three weeks ago (30 Sept) requesting such a report. He has just received confirmation that this will now happen. Commenting he said: “I welcome the commitment to bring a report to the next Council meeting. There is a great deal of public and Councillor interest in this investigation and the Council has already committed to implementing its findings in full. It is now almost a year since the investigation into these serious…
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23Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Local Serco testing failures let down residents

Local Serco testing failures let down residents

Borough news
The latest failure by Serco to provide coronavirus testing facilities in Lees are letting down local residents, and just one of the failings of the testing system nationally, says local Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Al-Hamdani. At 10.10 on Monday morning, an email to local councillors informed them that there would be testing facilities available on Monday and Tuesday this week, at the Co-op in Lees. By 11am, after a complaint about traffic, Serco had closed the site, before they later informed the Council that there was an issue. Neither the local councillors, nor highways, were informed of the problem until later that week. Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, having noticed the absence of the team on Tuesday, asked for an explanation, after receiving no updates from the Council or Serco themselves. Councillor…
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21Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Oldham Liberal Democrats welcome Commons debate on local electricity bill

Borough news, Parliamentary news
Crompton Councillor Dave Murphy has welcomed the hugely successful adjournment debate held in the House of Commons last Wednesday (14 October) in which MPs from all parties supported the Local Electricity Bill. Councillor Murphy, with his Liberal Democrat colleague from Shaw, Chris Gloster, proposed a motion at the July 2020 meeting of Oldham Council in support of the Bill. This received cross-party support on the night making Oldham Council one of 56 Councils across the UK to endorse the Bill. The Local Electricity Bill if it becomes law will make it easier and cheaper for local companies to be set up to supply electricity generated from renewable sources to local people. Councillor Murphy said: “The present arrangements are too complicated and too costly to allow local electricity companies to compete…
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21Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Liberal Democrat Leader’s app suggestion an “excellent idea”

Liberal Democrat Leader’s app suggestion an “excellent idea”

Borough news
The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Oldham Council, Councillor Howard Sykes MBE, was heartened to receive a letter from the Chief Executive of Oldham Council, Dr Carolyn Wilkins OBE, endorsing his idea that the NHS Covid-19 app be made available pro-actively to all staff at the Council and staff in other public sector organisations who are issued with a smart phone for business use. Describing the suggestion as an “excellent idea”, Dr Wilkins has agreed to make the app available to Council staff and has also written to partner organisations in the Borough asking them to do the same. Dr Wilkins also plays a key role in the delivery of the national Track and Trace scheme representing local authorities. Commenting, Councillor Sykes said:…
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15Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Liberal Democrats backing calls for care home window visits

Liberal Democrats backing calls for care home window visits

Borough news
With rumours swirling around whether Greater Manchester will move into Tier 3 of the new warning systems, Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani is backing calls for local and national Government to ensure that “window visits” and end-of-life visiting rules are revised to ensure that families get to ensure the care and emotional support that they need. Window visits are conducted on care homes where families are on the grounds, and their relatives stay indoors – they can see each other and hold a real conversation, but the windows reduce the risk of passing on infections. Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “I have spoken to local residents who have not been able to offer grandparents the support and love that they need. I absolutely agree with the need to control this virus, but we…
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15Oct 2020 by Sam Al-Hamdani
Success on deadline extensions for planning

Success on deadline extensions for planning

Borough news
Oldham Council’s planning department has responded to calls from Liberal Democrat Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani to extend the deadlines for all planning applications affected by the switchover to a new system. Anyone who has been affected should contact the case officer concerned, or email planning.admin@oldham.gov.uk to get the full details. Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “It’s good to get a quick and positive response. The Council needs to deliver a planning service that people can trust, and doing this when there has been a problem is a good step. I hope they continue to respond as well in the future.”
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