Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Aslam, Lancaster and Sharp.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Council meeting held 22^nd May 2024 be approved and signed by the Mayor as a correct record.

a.    Councillor Arnott declared a non-registerable interest in Motion 2 at agenda item 10 (Get Veterans Moving More).

b.    Councillor Wilkinson declared a non-registerable interest in Motion 2 at agenda item 10 (Get Veterans Moving More).

c.    Councillor Rustidge declared a non-registerable interest in Motion 2 at agenda item 10 (Get Veterans Moving More).

Councillor Shah MOVED and Councillor Taylor SECONDED the MOTION that the Council shall suspend Council Procedure Rules in respect of time limits at agenda item 9 (Reports of the Leader and Cabinet Members).

AMENDMENT

Councillor Sykes MOVED and Councillor Murphy SECONDED and AMENDMENT which opposed the suspension of Council Procedure Rules in respect of time limits at agenda item 9 and proposed an extension of 10 minutes for agenda item 11 (Notice of Opposition Business).

On being put to the Vote the AMENDMENT was LOST.

On being put to the Vote the MOTION was CARRIED.

RESOLVED:

That the Council suspends Council Porcedure Rules in respect of time limits at agenda item 9 (Reports of the Leader and Cabinet Members).

There were no communications to report relating to the business of this meeting of the Council.

(time limit 20 minutes)

There are no petitions for this meeting of Council to consider.

There were no petitions for this meeting of the Council to consider.

(time limit 20 minutes)

There is no Youth Council business.

There was no Youth Council business for this meeting of the Council to consider.

(time limit 15 Minutes)

1.    Question from Rita Ireland:

How does the Labour leader justify spending £460K on Alexandra Park's Conservatory then closing it less than 12 months after it was re-opened? 

Preferably without blaming the Government.

Councillor Goodwin, Cabinet Member for Don’t Trash Oldham, thanked Rita Ireland for her question but there seems to be some confusion or miss-communication, as the Conservatory at Alexandra Park remains open and is fully stocked with plants for the public to enjoy. There are no plans to close this facility. 

2.    Question from Lucia Rea:

In light of the current situation of uncertainty of the council demographics and division across our town, I pose this question to the council: Can we set aside our differences and come together to support a central program that embodies the spirit of community and collaboration? By each contributing just £50 of your allowance, you have the power to provide the Oldham Theatre Workshop with £3000, assisting them in their invaluable work with classes, workshops, and productions, that so many of our children, young people and volunteers are part of. 

This gesture not only demonstrates your commitment to supporting the arts and enriching our community, but also serves as a display of hope for our residents, showing that cross-party working is not only possible but essential in making Oldham a better place. 

Will you join me in this endeavour to showcase unity and solidarity for the betterment of our town?  Furthermore, would you commit to more collaborative work that benefits the town.

Councillor Shah, Leader of the Council, replied, thanking Lucia Rea for her question. I would fully support anything that seeks to bring people together in the spirit of collaboration and community and especially that brings the people in this chamber together in the spirit of collaboration and community. 

Oldham Theatre Workshop are an absolute gem in Oldham’s crown and I can think of nobody better to create something special that brings people from across Oldham together. 

As you know Councillors have individual control over how they spend their councillor budgets but I am more than willing to support you in putting this ask to all sixty of us in this chamber to see if we can make it happen. 

3.    Question from Peter Roberts:

As I travel around Oldham, I am frequently concerned by the speeding of both cars and motorcycles. I would like to know what measures the council are taking to ensure road safety for both road users and pedestrians.

Councillor Goodwin, Cabinet Member for Don’t Trash Oldham, replied, thanking Mr Roberts for his question. The Council takes road safety concerns very seriously, and we regularly work with Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to help ensure roads across the borough are safe.  This includes investigating reports after serious accidents or collisions occur so that any identified changes can be made to ensure safer roads across Oldham.   

The Council also undertakes regular traffic/speed assessments in response to concerns from local communities and where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

(Time limit 90 minutes)

Leader and Cabinet Members to present their reports.

Non-executive members may ask questions.

a.    Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Building a Better Oldham – including the Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held 26^th February 2024 and 18^th March 2024 and the meetings of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority held 23^rd February 2024 and 22^nd March 2024

b.    Deputy Leader and Decent Home Portfolio Holder

c.    Deputy Leader and Value for Money and Sustainability Portfolio Holder

d.    Children and Young People’s Portfolio Holder

e.    Education and Skills Portfolio Holder

f.     Enterprise Portfolio Holder

g.    Adults, Health and Wellbeing Portfolio Holder

h.    Don’t Trash Oldham Portfolio Holder

i.      Thriving Communities and Culture Portfolio Holder

The Mayor reminded Council that earlier in the meeting (Minute 4), Members had agreed to suspend Council Procedure Rules in respect of this agenda item.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Minutes of the Cabinet meetings held 26^th February 2024 and 18^th March 2024, be noted.

2.    That the Minutes of the meetings of the Greater Manchester

     Combined Authority, held 23^rd February 2024 and 22^nd March 2024, be noted.

3.    That the reports of the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Members, be noted.

(time limit 30 minutes)

Motion 1 - A voice for those affected by Child Sexual Exploitation in Oldham 
to be Moved by Councillor Hobin
Seconded by Councillor Hince

In June 2022, the Greater Manchester Independent Assurance Review in relation to Child Sexual Exploitation published its second report which looked into the effectiveness of safeguarding practice in the borough of Oldham.

Since that time survivors, advocates and campaigners have articulated a series of areas which they believe the assurance review was unable to cover due to its restricted terms of reference. These are;

·         That the Assurance Review team heard limited testimony from those affected by Child Sexual Exploitation in the Borough of Oldham and that, as a result, other survivors and their families were not provided with the opportunity for their cases to be reviewed or to have their voices heard.

and

·         That the time-period and scope set by the Independent Assurance Review was too limited.

Concerns have also been raised that some of those who claimed to have evidence relating to abuse and exploitation did not engage with the review and/or refused to share that evidence.

Since the publication of the Assurance Review in June 2022 numerous calls have been made to the Home Office for a wider Public Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in the Borough of Oldham. To date, these calls have been rejected. The Home Office saying that it is within the power of the Local Authority to commission an Independent Inquiry.

The survivors should be the first consideration and their questions and concerns answered. There should also be a pathway for perpetrators and facilitators to be brought to account.

Oldham Council resolves:

·         To write to the Home Secretary requesting a Home Office led Public Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in the borough of Oldham.

·         To continue the work with survivors and others affected in preparing the framework and to commission an Independent Inquiry should the Home Office refuse the above request.

·         That any Inquiry should provide a voice for those affected by Child Sexual Exploitation in Oldham and provide the very best support and protection to those who wish to come forward with their testimony.

Motion 2 - Get Veterans Moving More
To be Moved by Councillor Shah
Seconded by Councillor Rustidge

According to the 2021 Census, approximately 6,000 Oldham residents are former members of either the UK regular or reserve armed forces. This Council believes that these veterans should be eligible for discounted membership at Oldham Community Leisure (OCL) facilities.

This Council notes:

·         The percentage of physically active adults in Oldham in 2021/22 was 62.7% compared to the 67.3% in England, and the Council and our partners on the Health and Wellbeing Board are committed to getting Oldham’s residents ‘Moving More’.

·         Making it easier for Oldham’s veterans’ population to access OCL provision across the Borough will support the ‘Moving More’ strategy in particular the strand: ‘Supporting VCF organisationsto be able to provide services and work with their communities to increase Physical Activity’.

·         Increased  ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

Motion 1: A voice for those affected by Child Sexual Exploitation in Oldham 

Councillor Hobin MOVED and Councillor Hince SECONDED the following Motion:

In June 2022, the Greater Manchester Independent Assurance Review in relation to Child Sexual Exploitation published its second report which looked into the effectiveness of safeguarding practice in the borough of Oldham.

Since that time survivors, advocates and campaigners have articulated a series of areas which they believe the assurance review was unable to cover due to its restricted terms of reference. These are;

a.    That the Assurance Review team heard limited testimony from those affected by Child Sexual Exploitation in the Borough of Oldham and that, as a result, other survivors and their families were not provided with the opportunity for their cases to be reviewed or to have their voices heard and;

b.    That the time-period and scope set by the Independent Assurance Review was too limited.

Concerns have also been raised that some of those who claimed to have evidence relating to abuse and exploitation did not engage with the review and/or refused to share that evidence.

Since the publication of the Assurance Review in June 2022 numerous calls have been made to the Home Office for a wider Public Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in the Borough of Oldham. To date, these calls have been rejected. The Home Office saying that it is within the power of the Local Authority to commission an Independent Inquiry.

The survivors should be the first consideration and their questions and concerns answered. There should also be a pathway for perpetrators and facilitators to be brought to account.

Oldham Council resolves:

1.    To write to the Home Secretary requesting a Home Office led Public Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in the borough of Oldham.

2.    To continue the work with survivors and others affected in preparing the framework and to commission an Independent Inquiry should the Home Office refuse the above request.

3.    That any Inquiry should provide a voice for those affected by Child Sexual Exploitation in Oldham and provide the very best support and protection to those who wish to come forward with their testimony.

Councillor Mushtaq spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Navesey spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Bishop spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Wahid spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Al-Hamdani spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Hobin exercised his right of reply.

On being put to the VOTE, the MOTION was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

RESOLVED that:

1.    The Chief Executive be requested to write to the Home Secretary requesting a Home Office led Public Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in the borough of Oldham.

2.    That the Council continues the work with survivors and others affected in preparing the framework and to commission an Independent Inquiry should the Home Office refuse the above request.

3.    That any Inquiry should provide a voice for those affected by Child Sexual Exploitation in Oldham and provide the very best support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

(time limit 30 minutes)

Motion 1: Removing Oldham Borough from Places for Everyone

To be moved by Councillor Sykes

Seconded by Councillor Woodvine

This council recognises that:

·                     Places for Everyone is based on ‘housing need’ calculations which are already the better part of a decade old.

·                     Places for Everyone does not give guarantees with regards to the delivery of affordable and socially rented homes.

·                     ‘Places for Everyone’ represents a developer-led approach.

·                     It would see the irreparable loss of Green Belt sites and green spaces which is not necessary.

·                     It uses Green Belt for the delivery of a housing strategy focused solely on developer profit.

·                     It does not deliver the right mix of affordable housing types and tenures in the places people want to live. 

·                     We also believe the Adoption Statement for the Plan presented at the last Full Council meeting in March 2024 was misleading by implying that all the main modifications had been consulted on.  This was not the case, as none of the main modifications related to HS2 have been consulted upon.

This council resolves to:

1. Request the new Secretary of State to revoke the Plan ‘Places for Everyone’ in the interest of all Oldham’s residents, businesses and other stake holders for the reasons stated above. 

2. In order for Council to consider this decision at its next meeting in September, the relevant council officers are requested to present a full report on the planning, legal, equalities and all other considerations of such a revocation. 

3. Should the request be approved Oldham Council’ withdraw engagement and support for the defence of the judicial review of ‘Places for Everyone’.

4. Should the Plan be revoked the Green Belt boundaries should be restored to their pre-adoption state.

5. If the Plan is revoked develop an Oldham-led housing strategy that prioritises brownfield and ex-industrial sites, while protecting greenbelt and green spaces for future generations.

Motion 2:  Request for a public inquiry into historic and current CSE within the Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council area

To be moved by Councillor Quigg

Seconded by Councillor Al-Hamdani

People in positions of power at both Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council (OMBC) and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have yet to be held to account for their failure to protect our children from child sexual exploitation (CSE).

People of all communities in Oldham have as result of delay, obstruction and passage of time lost trust in OMBC and GMP.

As recently as January 2024, the highly respected Maggie Oliver referenced the Oldham Assurance Review and told its authors Malcom Newsam & Gary Ridgway that in Oldham they had been prevented from getting to the truth. This is after it emerged that survivors had been prevented from giving testimony to the Review Team.

The findings of the Mayor of Greater Manchester’s Assurance Review neither provided assurance nor sufficiently reviewed what had taken place. Despite claiming there was no cover up, and that lessons had been learned.

This Council notes:

Survivors deserve to see the full powers of law used to  ...  view the full agenda text for item 11.

Motion 1: Removing Oldham Borough from Places for Everyone

Councillor Sykes MOVED and Councillor Woodvine SECONDED the following Motion:

This council recognises that:

·         Places for Everyone is based on ‘housing need’ calculations which are already the better part of a decade old.

·         Places for Everyone does not give guarantees with regards to the delivery of affordable and socially rented homes.

·         ‘Places for Everyone’ represents a developer-led approach.

·         It would see the irreparable loss of Green Belt sites and green spaces which is not necessary.

·         It uses Green Belt for the delivery of a housing strategy focused solely on developer profit.

·         It does not deliver the right mix of affordable housing types and tenures in the places people want to live. 

·         We also believe the Adoption Statement for the Plan presented at the last Full Council meeting in March 2024 was misleading by implying that all the main modifications had been consulted on.  This was not the case, as none of the main modifications related to HS2 have been consulted upon.

This council resolves to:
1) Request that Council consider at its next meeting in September, that the Secretary of State be requested to revoke the ‘Places for Everyone’ plan in the interest of all Oldham’s residents, businesses and other stake holders for the reasons stated above.  (note: Councillor Sykes and Councillor Woodvine, Mover and Seconder of the Motion, agreed to this paragraph being in the submitted motion, replacing the paragraph that had been included in the published agenda pack for this meeting).

2) In order for Council to consider this decision at its next meeting in September, the relevant council officers are requested to present a full report on the planning, legal, equalities and all other considerations of such a revocation. 

3) Should the request be approved Oldham Council’ withdraw engagement and support for the defence of the judicial review of ‘Places for Everyone’.

4) Should the Plan be revoked the Green Belt boundaries should be restored to their pre-adoption state.

5) If the Plan is revoked develop an Oldham-led housing strategy that prioritises brownfield and ex-industrial sites, while protecting greenbelt and green spaces for future generations.

AMENDMENT

Councillor Hince MOVED and Councillor Navesey SECONDED the

following AMENDMENT:

This Council is concerned that:

·         Places for Everyone is based on ‘housing need’ calculations which are already the better part of a decade old.

·         Places for Everyone does not give guarantees with regards to the delivery of affordable and socially rented homes.

·         ‘Places for Everyone’ represents a developer-led approach.

·         It would see the irreparable loss of Green Belt sites and green spaces which is not necessary.

·         It uses Green Belt for the delivery of a housing strategy focused solely on developer profit.

·         It does not deliver the right mix of affordable housing types and tenures in the places people want to live. 

·         We also believe the Adoption Statement for the Plan presented at the last Full Council meeting in March 2024 was misleading by implying that all the main modifications  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To notes actions taken arising from Council meetings.

Councillor Shah MOVED and Councillor Sykes SECONDED a report of the Director of Legal, which updated members on actions taken following the meeting of the Council held on 13^th March 2024, the Annual Council meeting held on 22^nd May 2024, noting and confirming the appointments to outside bodies detailed at Appendix 4 and also on any updated responses from meetings earlier in the 2023/24 municipal year.

RESOLVED:

That the actions regarding motions and issues from the meetings of the Council held on 13^th March 2024 and 22^nd May 2024, be noted and confirmed.

A report that reviews the political composition of committees and to note the composition of the political groups represented on the Council.

The Council considered a report of the Director of Legal which sought a review of the political composition of committees and to note the composition of the political groups as previously notified under Regulation 8 (1) of the Local Government (Committees and Political Groups) Regulations 1990 and under Section 15 and 16 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989, as notification had been given that Councillors Akhtar and Ibrahim had joined the Oldham Group bringing that Group’s membership up to 8 members. The Council was also being asked to constitute and appoint members to serve on the several Committees detailed in the constitution and listed at Appendix 1 to the submitted report.

AMENDMENT

Councillor Shah MOVED and Councillor Taylor SECONDED, amendments to Appendix 1 in respect of certain Chairs and Vice Chairs of Committees (as indicated in the recorded votes detailed below).

a.    A recorded vote, in line with Council Procedure Rules was taken on the AMENDMENT to appoint Councillor Goodwin as Chair of the Commons Registration Committee for the remainder of the 2024/25 Municipal Year as follows:

.

On a recorded VOTE being taken 30 VOTES were cast in FAVOUR of the AMENDMENT with 27 VOTES cast AGAINST and there were 0 ABSTENTIONS. The AMENDMENT was therefore CARRIED.

b.    A recorded vote, in line with Council Procedure Rules was taken on the AMENDMENT to appoint Councillor Rustidge as Chair of the Charitable Trust Committee for the remainder of the 2024/25 Municipal Year as follows:

To approve updates to the Council’s Constitution

Councillor Shah MOVED and Councillor Jabbar SECONDED a report of the Director of Legal which requested that Council consider amendments to the Constitution, in respect of Council Procedure Rules (as outlined at Appendix 1 to the report), Budget and Policy Framework Procedure Rules (as outlined at Appendix 2 to the report), the Terms of Reference of the Planning Committee as outlined at Appendix 3 to the report) and Section 36 delegation, which places a duty on a local authority to ensure that a Channel Panel is established in its area and gives powers as amended to refer an individual at risk of being drawn into terrorism to the Channel Panel.

Council was advised that the Constitution needs to be regularly reviewed to ensure that it reflects any procedural or organisational changes and the Director of Legal’s report identified areas where amendments to the Constitution were required.

RESOLVED:

That the proposed amendments to the Council’s Constitution, outlined in the Director of Legal’s report, be approved.

To approve the appointment of Independent Members on the Independent Remuneration Panel.

Councillor Shah MOVED and Councillor Jabbar SECONED a report of the Director of Legal that sought to appoint independent members on the Independent Remuneration Panel, which makes recommendations to the Council on the Members Allowances scheme.

The report recommended that the term of office of Peter Claber and John Barlow be extended for four years up to July 2028.  Geoffrey Millard is the third Panel member, whose term of office expires in September 2025.

It was proposed to appoint another independent member to the Panel and a report will be presented to Council, in due course, when the necessary processes are complete.

RESOLVED:

That Council approves the reappointment of Peter Claber and John Barlow for a further four-year term, expiring in July 2028.