Oldham Council – Page 2 – Saddleworth Liberal Democrats

23Jul 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

GMP ignore Council warning that DBS checks no good

Borough news, CSE

Oldham Liberal Democrats have discovered that despite Oldham Council warning Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in December 2018 that the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS check) wasn’t good enough for taxi licensing, the Council still haven’t had a promised response. The recent Assurance Review into historic CSE in Oldham found that GMP initially ignored the Council’s concerns about the working of DBS checks for taxi licensing submitted in December 2018 but the new Chief Constable of GMP, Stephen Watson, had responded to the Council’s concerns set out in a letter in December 2018. The report did not detail when Stephen Watson replied or what his reply contained. Mark Kenyon, Liberal Democrat councillor for Grotton, Springhead & Lees, said: “We’ve quizzed Council further and they’ve confirmed that whilst Stephen Watson was appointed…

13Jul 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Liberal Democrats deliver more transparency on public decisions

Borough news, fairer council

Oldham Council is changing its approach to recording Cabinet decisions after local Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Al-Hamdani raised concerns over a lack of transparency when making commercially sensitive decisions. Until last month, when decisions were made using information from reports which were not put in the public domain, the minutes of the decisions simply showed “that the recommendations as contained within commercially sensitive report be approved”. Councillor Al-Hamdani said: “That is simply not good enough. That report is not made public, so that minute simply doesn’t tell the public what the Cabinet has agreed to do, and they have no means of finding out. “We work for the people of Oldham, and all the decisions that we take should be transparent. No-one should have to hunt to find out what…

11Jul 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Putting local children first

Borough news, CSE, fairer council

Oldham & Saddleworth’s Liberal Democrat councillors have said that the report into historic safeguarding and CSE in the borough is a challenge to put children at the heart of everything the Council does and so have submitted a motion for the next Council Meeting on 13th July. Mark Kenyon, Liberal Democrat councillor for Grotton, Springhead & Lees, said: “The implications of Newsam & Ridgway’s report will take a long while to unpick – we have 50 outstanding questions alone – but there’s two things we can do straight away to make a change. Our motion for the next Council meeting asks that all future Council decisions made either by officers or councillors be explicitly weighed against the potential risk to children and on the level of Council spending locally.” Mark…

08Jul 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

50 questions for Burnham and council bosses

Borough news, CSE, domestic abuse and violence

Liberal Democrat councillors have said that the report into historic safeguarding and CSE in the borough is just the start of a rigorous investigation into what went wrong for Sophie and other children. They have submitted 50 questions to Council Chief Executive Harry Catherall, Greater Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham and to the authors of the report, Gary Newsam and Malcolm Ridgway. Mark Kenyon, Liberal Democrat councillor for Grotton, Springhead & Lees, said: “The report raises more questions than it answers. It was intended to give us all assurance that CSE was and is being targeted effectively. While these questions are outstanding, none of us can have that assurance.” Questions being asked include: why the reports authors weren’t allowed free access to GMP records, why only half of the 104 people…

08Jul 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Government leaves local councils £10 billion short for social care costs

Borough news, health and social care

Oldham’s Liberal Democrats have slammed Conservative ministers after research from the Conservative dominated County Councils’ Network revealed that the governments planned social care reforms would leave a £10 billion funding gap in the sector. Government Ministers had previously said that local councils would have to find their own ways to raise funds. Oldham’s Liberal Democrat Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE said: “While Conservative MPs worry about who the next Prime Minister will be, the real issues like social care funding are being side-lined. The government is telling councils to cover the costs when everyone knows the money isn’t there. All the while, the social care sector is haemorrhaging staff and the government won’t even listen to their own Conservative colleagues in local government.” In the wake of the pandemic and…

02Jul 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Out with the old – what about the new

Borough news, CSE, domestic abuse and violence

At this week’s [27/06/22] meeting of full Council, GM Mayor Andy Burnham said that former Chief Constable Ian Hopkins was replaced because of a lack of progress in providing information to the CSE inquiry in Oldham. This contradicts the statements put out at the time that he had resigned because of the police being put into special measures. It also fails to address the subsequent 11-month gap between his resignation and ANY information being provided to the CSE inquiry, and fails to explain why information was only provided on one of the 11 cases under review – with that one showing serious failures on the part of GMP. Liberal Democrat spokesperson Sam Al-Hamdani said: “This is an absolute failure. “GMP has been warned about failing victims of domestic abuse repeatedly…

02Jul 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Government must support no charging Clean Air Zone says councillor Sykes

Borough news, environment

Oldham’s Liberal Democrats are calling for the government to support a no charging Clean Air Zone as new plans emerge for the next phases of CAZ today. Liberal Democrat Leader and Shaw councillor Howard Sykes said: “Common sense has finally prevailed on the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. We welcome the proposals for a no charging Clean Air Zone. The government must not impose charges on Greater Manchester that would hurt jobs during the cost-of-living crisis.” Councillor Sykes also said that the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Andy Burnham had questions to answer. Councillor Sykes said, “Why has it taken so long to get to this stage? It was clear that a no charging zone was the common sense approach from the outset. So why has Mayor Burnham spent time and…

20Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Oldham’s Child Sexual Exploitation report to be released Monday – reaction

Borough news, CSE, domestic abuse and violence, fairer council

Oldham Liberal Democrats have said that due care must be taken with responses to the independent inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Oldham, to be released on Monday, and it “must be viewed in the knowledge of the terrible and lasting impact CSE has had on the lives of many of this borough’s most vulnerable young people”. The report is being released with a background of serial failings of the senior management of Greater Manchester Police, including the botched introduction and inadequacies of the now-abandoned iOPS computer system, and the force being placed into special measures. Liberal Democrat spokesperson Sam Al-Hamdani said: “People must know that Oldham Council, the police, and the services that they rely on have changed, and will continue to change, so that others will not have…

17Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

Foster carers left months without reply as Oldham Council slammed for inaction

Borough news, health and social care

Oldham’s foster carers have been left waiting months for a response after raising concerns about the cost-of-living with senior council figures. Shaw representative and Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE called the situation “shameful” as he and his colleagues called for answers on behalf of local foster carers. Oldham Council has so far been unable to provide answers to foster carers in the Borough who have raised concerns about making ends meet during the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. (See attached letter which is one of many councillors have received at the end of March/early April). Councillor Sykes said: “This is an incredibly stressful time for foster carers who are rightly raising concerns about Oldham Council’s policy towards supporting them financially. Other local councils offer foster carers reimbursement through council…

13Jun 2022 by Sam Al-Hamdani

‘Keep Clean Air Zone free’ say Oldham Liberal Democrats

Borough news, environment

Liberal Democrat Opposition Leader councillor Howard Sykes MBE has called for common sense as Andy Burnham’s war of words with the government over the Clean Air Zone (CAZ) continues. The Greater Manchester Mayor is locked in a bitter stalemate with Conservative ministers after he rejected Government proposals to limit the Clean Air Zone to Manchester City Centre only. Councillor Sykes said, “It’s about time we had some common sense instead of bickering between Mayor Burnham and the Conservatives. The Liberal Democrats want to see people’s jobs and income protected at a time when many are struggling. Keeping CAZ free is the best way forward if we want to protect jobs during the cost-of-living crisis. “If the Conservative government force a charging zone on Greater Manchester then the area affected by…

Tag: Oldham Council