Agenda and minutes

Council were informed that a presentation had taken place for Mrs. Myra Wyers in recognition of her significant voluntary contribution and dedication to the local community and borough of Oldham.

Councillors Fielding, Sykes and Byrne gave congratulatory speeches about Mrs. Wyers.

Consultation had been undertaken with Group Leaders to vary the order of the agenda due to the changes to the regulations. Councillor Fielding MOVED and Councillor Sykes SECONDED an amendment to Council Procedure 15.5 and proposed that timings would include the extensions, therefore any members wishing to speak would be granted 4 minutes and 30 seconds and those members with a right of reply 6 minutes and 30 seconds. On being put to the vote, this was AGREED.

Apologies were received from Councillor Ahmad, Councillor Alexander, Councillor Hudson and Councillor Ur-Rehman.

Due to the current pandemic and the virtual meeting, a roll call of elected members was taken, and at the same time, in accordance with the Code of Conduct, elected members declared the following interests:

Councillor Garry declared a pecuniary interest at Item 9d by virtue of her husband’s employment with Greater Manchester Police.

Councillor Chris Gloster declared a personal interest at Item 9d by virtue of his receipt of an occupational pension from Greater Manchester Police.

Councillor Hazel Gloster declared a personal interest at Item 9d by virtue of her husband’s receipt of an occupational pension from Greater Manchester Pension Fund.

Councillor Jabbar declared a personal interest at Item 10 in the motion Fair Grade for All 2021.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Council meetings held on 4^th November 2020 and 25^th November 2020 be approved as a correct record.

There were no items of urgent business.

The Council was informed of the death of the former Mayoress of Oldham, Di Heffernan, the wife of the late Councillor Derek Heffernan.

Councillor Sykes spoke in tribute to Mrs Heffernan.

The Council received a letter from the Right Honourable Baroness Beverley Hughes, Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester, in response to the resolution of Full Council on 4^th November 2020 in relation to the independent CSE Assurance Review.

The Council noted the inspirational achievements of Kevin Sinfield MBE, who was born in Oldham. Along with his outstanding career in rugby, he had run seven marathons in seven days aiming to raise £77,777 in funds for ex-Leeds teammate Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and the MND Association. By the time he finished his seventh marathon on 7 December, more than £1.2 million had been raised and the total raised surpassed £2.5 million.  

There were no petitions received to be noted.

(time limit 20 minutes)

There was no Youth Council business to consider.

There were no items submitted by the Youth Council.

(time limit 15 Minutes)

The Mayor advised that the next item on the agenda was Public Question Time.  Questions had been received from members of the public and would be taken in the order in which they had been received. Council agreed to suspend Council Procedure Rule 10.4 so that the questions would be shared on the screen rather than be read out.

The following questions were submitted:

1.    Question received from Robert Barnes via email:

Would the Council Leader please advise how much Oldham Council received in grant funding from Central Government for the financial year to date?

Would he please break down where this grant funding has been spent?

Councillor Jabbar, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Green, responded that the Council had received £551m in revenue grants for the financial year to date. The net revenue budget of the Council was supported by £74.9m of Central Government Unringfenced Grant.  Although unringfenced, it was made up of several different grants. Where the Government allocated funding with an intention that it was spent, rather than a direction, the Council allocated resources to service accordingly. This applied to funding such as the Improved Better Care Fund (£10.585m). The budget of the Council was also underpinned by £343.4m of ringfenced grant which must be used for the purpose it was given.  The largest of these was £262.1m for the Dedicated Schools Grant. Since the start of the financial year, the Council had received a range of other revenue grants. There had been £2.759m of unringfenced grant of which the largest was £1.580m for the Opportunity Area. These grants had been allocated in line with the Government’s intention. A range of grants had been received to support the response to COVID :

·         £22.696m in unringfenced grant to support its general COVID spending

·         £1.282m to support lost sales fees and charges income

·         £25.463m to compensate the Council for the business rate reliefs given to retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses

·         £54.7m to support mandatory and discretionary business grants introduced at the first national lockdown

·         £10.611m for business grants introduced for the tiered restrictions and second national lockdown – all such grants were being paid to eligible businesses

·         A total of £0.211m had been received in new burdens funding to manage the grant regimes

·         A total of £15m had been received for COVID-specific grants and all were being used in line with Government grant terms and conditions.  These included £4.592m for the Infection Control grant.

The Council had also received £14.4m of additional capital grants. All were being used for the purpose intended. 

2.    Question received from Beth Sharp via email:

There are currently 11 vacant and derelict plots in Derker. These plots are overgrown with weeds, they are used for fly tipping, and the knee rails are rotting and have been vandalised. The appearance of these sites sends the message that this is a forgotten area in the town and this is all Derker is worth.

Will the relevant Cabinet member  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9a

(time limit 30 minutes)

The Leader of the Main Opposition, Councillor Sykes, raised the following two questions:

Question 1: Beer but in fact the chips are down

“My first question concerns the immediate future of the hospitality industry in this Borough. 

The hospitality sector has come in for some particularly harsh treatment from this Government since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, despite the fact that it is estimated that only 3 – 5% of new infections originate from contacts in the hospitality industry in its broadest sense.

It has so far endured two national complete lockdowns.  Invested countless millions of pounds in retraining and providing PPE to staff, adapting physical structures and changing working practices to be Covid-safe.

Faced counter-productive government requirements, such as closing at 10pm, or only serve alcohol with a ‘substantial meal’, meaning that small, wet-led pubs cannot operate profitably or indeed operate at all.  They are now closed in our Tier-3 Borough for an indefinite period with no clear end in sight.

In theory this closure could be for ‘wet’ led pubs until at least March 2021, as we must be in Tier-1 before they can legally reopen.

The reality is brewery, pub and restaurant operators are now at the end of their tether.

They have invested so much emotionally and financially, but the current ongoing uncertainty is taking its toll and frankly current Government financial support packages do not cut the mustard.

The one glimmer of immediate hope in this latest lockdown was a concession granted at the last-minute by the Government after intense pressure from industry bosses and CAMRA.

This was to permit alcohol, as well as food, to be sold by breweries, pubs and restaurants, if pre-ordered.  This has been described as a lifeline, saving at least 70 million pints of beer being immediately poured down the drain!

My question relates to how we as a Council might promote this offer to enable our local hospitality industry to survive?

I welcome the recent launch of the Council’s Virtual Market Place where our small independent traders can advertise in these difficult times, but at least these businesses can physically open.

CAMRA has a national website Brew2You on which breweries and pubs can advertise their wares for discerning customers enabling them to make online purchases for collection or delivery.  

Would the Leader be willing to work with CAMRA and our local hospitality industry to create a similar website for Oldham which can be promoted alongside, or as part of the, the Virtual Market Place by Oldham Council, and help more of our local breweries, pubs and restaurants survive through these troubled times?”

Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills responded that Councillor Sykes had his support in lobbying over this issue. The restrictions had been in place for Greater Manchester for arguably far longer than other parts of the country and that was part of the reason why the Mayor of Greater Manchester had lobbied in October for a generous bail-out package  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9b

(time limit 15 minutes)

19^th October 2020

9^th November 2020

16^th November 2020

Council were requested to note the minutes of the Cabinet meetings held on the undermentioned dates and to receive any questions on any items within the minutes from members of the Council who were not members of the Cabinet, and receive responses form Cabinet members. The minutes of the Cabinet meetings held on 19 October 2020, 9 November 2020 and 16 November 2020 were submitted.

Members raised the following questions:

Councillor Williamson asked the following question related to Cabinet 9^th November 2020 Item 5 - GMSF Publication Draft 2020 Page 1

“Given that the latest draft proposals of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework for consultation have now been pulled following the vote by Stockport Council, will the Leader now consider developing instead a Local Plan for Oldham that is focused upon meeting the current and future housing needs of the people of this Borough rather than continuing with the folly of working up a new joint plan that is more focused on the ambitions of the Greater Manchester Mayor?”

Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills responded that the Council would consider the options and choose which was best for Oldham. The opportunity was now available to offset more homes off the greenbelt and allocate them to places in Greater Manchester that wanted them. Whatever Plan was chosen, it would be aligned to the ambitions of Oldham and not anyone outside the Borough.

Councillor Harkness asked the following question related to Cabinet 9^th November 2020 Item 5 - GMSF Publication Draft 2020 Page 1

“Given that the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework proposals for Oldham will now have to be redrawn or an alternate Local Plan adopted, I would like to draw the Leader’s attention to the merits of the Chew Valley Green Belt Action Group’s Alternative Plan for GMSF Site 15 – the Fletchers Mill site.  This would deliver the required housing on the derelict Fletchers Mill site, and save the remaining undeveloped Green Belt in the Chew Valley. 

Given this Council’s stated policy is to develop on Brownfield first, this plan appears to be worth exploring. Can I therefore ask the Leader if he will agree to Council officers working with the Action Group to bring these proposals forward as part of the new plan?”

Councillor Roberts, Cabinet Member for Housing, responded that the Director of Economy and I have already met the Chew Valley Action Group on the 3rd December to discuss their proposal and are meeting them again on the 18th December. A representative of the landowner was also present. The Action Group was working to provide additional detail in support of their proposal and officers had responded to their requests for information – the viability assessments carried out for the GMSF were still available on the GMCA website. I made it clear at the meeting that we welcome any proposal which would enable us to deliver the Government’s imposed Local Housing Need requirement on brownfield rather than Greenbelt  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9c

(time limit 15 minutes)

Greater Manchester Combined Authority          27^th November 2020

AGMA Executive Board                                   30^th October 2020

Police, Fire and Crime Panel                            29^th September 2020

Peak Park District Authority                             4^th September 2020

                                                                      2^nd October 2020

Health and Wellbeing Board                             21^st July 2020

Greater Manchester Transport Committee        9^th October 2020

Council was asked to note the minutes of the following Joint Authority and Partnership meetings and the relevant spokespersons to respond to questions from Members.

The minutes of the Joint Authorities and Partnerships were submitted as follows:

Greater Manchester Combined Authority                        30 October 2020

AGMA Executive Board                                                      30 October 2020

Police, Fire and Crime Panel                                             29 September 2020

Peak Park District Authority                                               4 September 2020

                                                                                                2 October 2020

Health and Wellbeing Board                                              21 July 2020

Greater Manchester Transport Committee                      9 October 2020

Councillor Williamson asked the following question on Police, Fire and Crime Panel 29th September 2020 Minute PCFP/08/20 – 2020 Officer Uplift:

Please can I ask how many of the new 246 police officers allocated to local policing roles will be allocated to police the Borough of Oldham?

And can we have a breakdown please, as I have asked for previously, of the officers who have been recruited, specifically how many of these new officers are from BME communities and how many are women?

Councillor Steve Williams, Deputy Cabinet Member for Covid-19 Response and Oldham Council representative on the Police and Crime Panel responded that a report had been produced on the allocation of police in Greater Manchester, which he would send out to all Councillors. Increasing the numbers of officers had been made difficult as the training facilities were no longer there. Currently Greater Manchester was 1,300 short of its quota before austerity.

Councillor Al-Hamdani asked the following question on Police, Fire and Crime Panel 29th September 2020 Minute PCFP/09/20 – GMP Crime Data – 2020:

As this reported reduction came before the acknowledgement of 80,000 crimes which were not included in the crime figures, what would be the impact on this if those 80,000 crimes were to be included?

Also, given that reports suggest that many cases are being closed too quickly – in particular with 70% of domestic violence cases concluded out of court, and 80% of victims not consulted on that – what would be the impact of this on the crime figures if they were not closed too quickly?

And finally, given the regular complaints in addition to this from residents that it often takes hours to get through on 101 to report crimes, with the resulting impact in reducing reporting rates, does this mean that crime figures are being artificially reduced even further?

Councillor Steve Williams, Deputy Cabinet Member for Covid-19 Response and Oldham Council representative on the Police and Crime Panel responded that the 80,000 crimes had now been collated into the system. GMP had been criticised on inspection for their crime recording and, at the meeting of the Police and Crime Panel that afternoon, the Assistant Chief Constable had acknowledged there had been failings and apologised for them. Councillor Williams would find out what difference timely recording would have made and provide Councillor Al-Hamdani with this information.

In relation to the 101 number, in the month of December 2018, 3,500 calls were recorded as having been made to that number on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9d

(time limit 30 minutes)

Motion1

Councillor Jabbar to MOVE and Councillor Ali to SECOND:

Spending review November 2020

This Council notes the spending commitments outlined in the one-year spending review

This Council regrets that

• the Chancellor failed to address the systemic underfunding of local Councils, opting instead for a series of one-off measures and further transferring the burden of paying for essential services to local Council Tax payers who have in many cases already been hard hit by the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic and years of Tory austerity.  The Spending Review announced a £2.2bn increase in Councils’ Core Spending Power.  Of this sum £1.5bn is assumed to come from Councils increasing Council Tax by 5% - the maximum the Government will allow without a referendum.  Only £600m of this was badged as new money and £300m of this is recycled so is not new!
• The Government has not brought forward a plan to reform funding and provision of adult social care as promised and instead has given councils the power to raise a further adult social care precept – indeed it assumes that this will be raised within the Core Spending Power increase. The precept can increase by 3% for 2021/22, but by using the ability to raise Council Tax as a means to generate income for adult social care, it’s not linking to need. Those areas that can generate more Council Tax can raise more funding.
• While the Government has provided significant additional funding for 2020/21, including over £23m of general Grant funding for Oldham Council this year, this still leaves a shortfall and the Government continues to break its promise to ‘do whatever it takes’ to support public services tackling the pandemic including fully reimbursing councils and schools for additional costs and reduced income
• While receiving over £14m of grants for specific purposes in Oldham this year is welcome, these grants have come with substantial restrictions from Government on how they can be used.  Such funding could be used more effectively if there was greater flexibility.
• the Spending Review did not include additional funding for public health. This runs contrary to addressing the stark health inequalities exposed by COVID-19 and levelling up our communities. Keeping people healthy and well throughout their lives reduces pressure on the NHS and social care.
• the Government has not temporarily removed the No Recourse to Public Funds condition. This would reduce public health risks and ease the pressure on homelessness services by enabling vulnerable people to access welfare benefits, who are currently unable to do so because of their immigration status. The Chancellor also failed to commit to making permanent the £20 a week supplement to Universal Credit that has been crucial to protecting people from poverty.

This Council condemns the wage freeze imposed on 2m public sector workers including firefighters, the police, teachers and local authority staff. Many of these workers have kept the country going during the pandemic and deserve more than a real term pay cut.

This Council believes  ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

Council were asked to note that the motions would be debated in the order received by the Chief Executive and not as printed in the summons.

Motion 1 – Fair Grade for All 2021

Councillor Mushtaq MOVED and Councillor Goodwin SECONDED the following MOTION:

“After the fiasco of this’s A-level and GCSE results, this Council is keen to ensure fairness for students next year.  On 19 August, trade union leaders wrote to Gavin Williamson MP outlining what steps the Government must take to ensure no student is disadvantaged, as did Kate Green MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Education on 10 November.  Students and teachers urgently need clarity on A-levels and GCSEs, in particular what contingency is in place if exams have to be cancelled again next year.  It is imperative that the distressing experiences of 2020 A-level students are never repeated.  The chaos of 2020 justifies a wider review of how qualifications are awarded. 

This Council calls on government to:

-       Create a level playing field across the country for all students sitting exams next year.  The pandemic has hit and will continue to hit the regions to varying degrees.  The government has hinted at flexibility to boundary grades but must go further and commit to a regional approach to norm-referencing performance to reflect the varying degrees of school attendance levels across the regions rather than setting up an expert group to monitor the situation.

-       Put in place arrangements to make sure that no student misses out on the opportunity to receive their qualifications as a result of having to self-isolate during next year’s exam period.  This government must work with exam boards to make reserve papers available in all subjects.  This would give students who miss an exam the opportunity to sit it later.

-       Publish its plans now for a worst-case scenario whereby exams cannot go ahead next year due to the impact of the pandemic.  A credible Plan B is required that must have the confidence of parents, teachers, school leaders and unions.

This Council calls on the Leader and Chief Executive of Oldham Council to:

·         Write to the Secretary of State for Education asking him to respond as a matter of urgency to all the above points.

·         To write to Oldham’s three MPs, highlighting the motion and asking that they raise the issues in Parliament as a matter of urgency.”

Councillor Jacques spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Ibrahim spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Moores spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Harkness spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor H Gloster spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Mushtaq exercised his right of reply.

On being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in FAVOUR of the MOTION. The MOTION was therefore CARRIED.

RESOLVED that the Leader and Chief Executive of Oldham Council be asked to:

1.    Write to the Secretary of State for Education asking him to respond as a matter of urgency to all the above points.

2.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

(time limit 30 minutes)

Motion 1

Councillor C Gloster to MOVE and Councillor Williamson to SECOND:

Tracking Stalkers and Domestic Abusers

Council notes that:

·         Stalking and domestic abuse are crimes which are insidious and terrifying, the majority committed by men against women.  Offenders go from victim to victim, yet many remain undetected and unconvicted.

·         The evidence shows that domestic abuse has become more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.  Some stalkers and domestic abusers go on to commit murder, and tragically the domestic homicide rate, mostly of women, continues to increase.

·         Despite clear warning signs that such crimes are often repeated and follow a pattern, much offending behaviour remains undetected by the Police, probation and other agencies, and offenders are left at large.

·         Although the provisions of the Domestic Abuse Bill now before Parliament are welcome, the Bill is manifestly deficient in not addressing the importance of robustly tracking and apprehending these offenders.

Council further notes that:

·         Whilst the Domestic Abuse Bill would place Clare’s Law (the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme) on a statutory footing, this will place the onus upon victims to come forward to seek information about their partner or a family member and this can sometimes place the victim in danger.

·         There is no duty on police services to identify, track and manage stalkers and domestic abusers.

Council believes that:

·         It is imperative that serial stalkers and domestic abusers are prioritised and proactively identified, assessed and managed by Police, probation and other relevant agencies, so that intelligence can be shared about their offending behaviour to hold them to account and close down their behaviour.

·         The details of stalkers and domestic abusers should be included on the Violent and Sexual Offender’s Register and managed via the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements.

Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to the Home Secretary asking her to make these changes to more effectively track and apprehend stalkers and domestic abusers, and to copy in our three local Members of Parliament and the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester asking them to make representations to the Home Secretary in support of the Council’s position.

Motion 2

Councillor H Gloster to MOVE and Councillor Hamblett to SECOND:

Young Carers Action Day

Council commends the young people in this borough who selflessly provide care for others.

Council notes that:

·         Recent research shows that one in five secondary school children may be a young carer. For many, their caring journey begins at a much younger age. 

·         Caring for someone can be very isolating, worrying and stressful. For young carers, this can negatively impact on their experiences and outcomes in education, having a lasting effect on their life chances.

·         Each year, The Carers Trust has organised a Young Carers’ Action Awareness Day. In 2021 this will be renamed Young Carers’ Action Day and marked on March 16.

·         The purpose of the day is to raise public awareness of the challenges faced by young people and young adults because of their  ...  view the full agenda text for item 11.

Motion 1 – Tracking Stalkers and Domestic Abusers

Councillor C. Gloster MOVED and Councillor Williamson SECONDED the following MOTION:

“Council notes that:

·         Stalking and domestic abuse are crimes which are insidious and terrifying, the majority committed by men against women.  Offenders go from victim to victim, yet many remain undetected and unconvicted.

·         The evidence shows that domestic abuse has become more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.  Some stalkers and domestic abusers go on to commit murder, and tragically the domestic homicide rate, mostly of women, continues to increase.

·         Despite clear warning signs that such crimes are often repeated and follow a pattern, much offending behaviour remains undetected by the Police, probation and other agencies, and offenders are left at large.

·         Although the provisions of the Domestic Abuse Bill now before Parliament are welcome, the Bill is manifestly deficient in not addressing the importance of robustly tracking and apprehending these offenders.

Council further notes that:

·         Whilst the Domestic Abuse Bill would place Clare’s Law (the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme) on a statutory footing, this will place the onus upon victims to come forward to seek information about their partner or a family member and this can sometimes place the victim in danger.

·         There is no duty on police services to identify, track and manage stalkers and domestic abusers.

Council believes that:

·         It is imperative that serial stalkers and domestic abusers are prioritised and proactively identified, assessed and managed by Police, probation and other relevant agencies, so that intelligence can be shared about their offending behaviour to hold them to account and close down their behaviour.

·         The details of stalkers and domestic abusers should be included on the Violent and Sexual Offender’s Register and managed via the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements.

Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to the Home Secretary asking her to make these changes to more effectively track and apprehend stalkers and domestic abusers, and to copy in our three Members of Parliament and the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester asking them to make representations to the Home Secretary in support of the Council’s position.”

Councillor Chadderton spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Shah spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Al-Hamdani spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Ball spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor S Bashforth spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Shuttleworth spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Surjan spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor C Gloster exercised his right of reply.

On being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in FAVOUR of the MOTION. The MOTION was therefore CARRIED.

RESOLVED that the Chief Executive be asked to write to the Home Secretary asking her to make these changes to more effectively track and apprehend stalkers and domestic abusers, and to copy in our three Members of Parliament and the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester asking them to make representations to the Home Secretary in support of the Council’s  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Councillor Shah MOVED and Councillor Fielding SECONDED a report which provided an update on how the Council and its partners continued to monitor and manage the impact of COVID-19 in Oldham.

COVID-19 was still circulating across the UK and new cases continued in Oldham every day. The report provided a summary of activity and demonstrated how the Council collectively managed and prevented the spread of COVID-19 across Oldham’s communities.

The report detailed the four key themes which were: Test and Trace; Vaccination; Enforcement and Compliance; and Community Engagement and Communications. Test and Trace included local testing door-to-door testing, mobile testing units, care home testing, contact tracing and tracing in schools.  With regard to vaccinations, the United Kingdom had become the first country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine and the NHS was currently offering the vaccine to those people most at risk from coronavirus. Oldham was preparing to deliver the programme starting with the most vulnerable segments of the population. Pop-up mass/community vaccination sites would be established in each of the five Primary Care Network areas of the locality supported by mobile arrangements to ensure equitable access to vaccination. 

Enforcement and compliance included support to businesses, support grants and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The Enforcement Team (Environmental Health, Licensing, Community Safety and Greater Manchester Police colleagues) were working seven days a week visiting premises, responding to complaints, attending gatherings and serving fixed penalty notices. 

Community engagement and communications included public health messaging, self-isolation payments, winter grant payments and work was ongoing to ensure mechanisms were in place to support the distribution of vouchers.

Question received from Councillor Sykes:

“I welcomed the recent news that Oldham will soon be one of 67 areas to be the location of mass testing.  Mass testing enabled Liverpool to detect asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19 and to move from Tier 3 to 2. I hope that it will start soon and be placed in the hands of our armed forces who have done such a sterling job in Merseyside, rather than incompetent private sector companies.

My question is in two parts, relating to the priority that will be given to certain groups of individuals and the testing timetable.

Front line health, care and key workers leading the fight to save lives, alleviate suffering and deliver core services should be an absolute priority group in a mass testing programme, both for moral and practical reasons, but I would like to make a plea for a third category of our residents not be overlooked. 

In this pandemic, one of the greatest tragedies has been seeing the forced separation of the residents of our care homes from their loved ones.  For the residents of the care homes in our borough who have waited many months to finally meet up with family a visit cannot come soon enough.

According to a recent survey carried out by Age UK, seven out of ten people with a close relative in a care home have not seen them since the start of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

Councillor Fielding MOVED and Councillor Sykes SECONDED a report of the Director of Legal Services which informed members of actions taken following previous Council meetings and provided feedback on issues raised at those meetings.

RESOLVED that the actions regarding motions and issues from previous Council meetings be noted.

Councillor Moores MOVED and Councillor Mushtaq SECONDED an update on the recent Ofsted Focused Visit and progress related to Children’s Social Care improvement plans.

The report summarised the following:

·         The Children and Young People Services response to Covid-19 was found to be good because the Team Oldham response had been good.  It was a whole system judgement.

·         Good progress had been made on the improvement journey and the response to Covid-19 had accelerated progress and not delayed it.

·         The 2020 Self-Assessment of the service submitted to Ofsted was well founded – the priorities were the right ones and there were no surprises in the findings.

·         The Ofsted Inspection Framework for the visit was an exhausting and intensive 3-week programme and had put the service under extreme pressure.

·         The Council should not be complacent and there was still much to do, but the Council should assert the strong performance in Greater Manchester and the North West and be proud of the achievements.

Council were reminded that in November 2018, an investment of £12m had been approved across three years to strengthen the management across Children’s Social Care and provide the required number of social work practitioners needed to provide a good service as part of a new operating model. 

Council were informed of the Ofsted Focused Visit which had been conducted in October 2020.  The visit focused on three key areas: Help and Protection; Children in Care and Care Leavers; and Impact of Leaders.  The majority of findings were overwhelmingly positive and no immediate priority actions were identified. 

RESOLVED that the update on Children’s Services and progress to date be noted.

Councillor Jabbar MOVED and Councillor Fielding SECONDED a report of the Director of Finance which advised on the performance of the Treasury Management Function of the Council for the first half of 2020/21 and provided a comparison of performance against the 2020/21 Treasury Management Strategy and Prudential Indicators.

The Council was required to consider the performance of the Treasury Management function in order to comply with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA) Code of Practice on Treasury Management (revised 2017).  The report set out the key Treasury Management issues for members information and review and outlined the following:

·         An economic update for the first six months of 2020/21;

·         A review of the Treasury Management Strategy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy;

·         The Council’s capital expenditure, as set out in the Capital Strategy, and prudential indicators;

·         A review of the Council’s investment portfolio for 2020/21;

·         A review of the Council’s borrowing strategy for 2020/21;

·         Why there had been no debt rescheduling undertaken during 2020/21; and

·         A review of compliance with Treasury and Prudential Limits for 2020/21.

The mid-year 2020/21 treasury management position was scrutinised by the Audit Committee at its meeting on 3^rd November 2020 and was considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 16^th November 2020.  Both the Audit Committee and Cabinet were content to commend mid-year review to Council for approval.

On being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in FAVOUR of the recommendations.

RESOLVED that:

1.         The Treasury Management activity for the first half of the financial year 2020/21 and the projected outturn position be approved.

2.         The Amendments to both Authorised Limit and Operational Boundary for external debt as set out in the table at Section 2.4.5 of the report be approved.

3.         The Amendments to the Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) as set out in the table at Section 2.4.5 be approved.

Councillor Jabbar MOVED and Councillor Fielding SECONDED a report of the Director of Finance which advised Council of the recently approved 2019/20 audited Statement of Accounts and the External Auditor (Mazars LLP) Audit Completion Report (ACR) and Annual Audit Letter.

The report presented the Council’s audited Statement of Accounts for the financial year 2019/20 as considered by the Audit Committee on 21^st July 2020.  Delegated authority was given to the Vice Chair of the Audit Committee afters consultation with the Director of Finance to approve the accounts pending the resolution of two outstanding queries.  The first was assurance with regard to the audit of the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) and the second, the resolution of an outstanding item related to the Council’s investment in the Manchester Airport Holdings Limited.  The accounts were subsequently approved on 10^th November 2020, with only one change to the Statement of Accounts presented and accepted at the Audit Committee on 21^st July 2020, being additional wording required on the assurances of asset valuations highlighted as a result of the conclusion of the GMPF audit.

The report highlighted:

·         The overall revenue outturn position for 2019/20 was a surplus of £0.270m.  This was in increase on the favourable variance of £0.065m projected at month 9 that was reported to Cabinet on 23^rd March 2020.

·         The year-end variances that were attributable to each Portfolio.

·         Schools balances at 31^st March 2020 at £5.487m but offset by the deficit on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) of £4.916m leaving a net balance of £0.571m held within Other Earmarked Reserves.

·         The final Housing Revenue Account (HRA) balance was £21.796m.

·         The balance on the Collection Fund was a surplus of £3.295m.

·         The small reduction in revenue account earmarked reserves of £1.263m to a level of £79.360m, a decrease in other earmarked reserves of £4.431m to a level of £8.504m and an increase in the General Fund balance of £0.270m to £15.110m, reflective of the revenue outturn position.

·         Expenditure on the Council’s capital programme for 2019/20 was £54.383m which was an increase on the month 9 forecast expenditure of £52.497m.  The increase in expenditure required funding allocated to future years to be re-profiled to fully finance the Capital Programme in 2019/20.

·         Capital Receipts in year totalled £9.914m, all of which were used to finance the Capital Programme in year.

·         The significant items in each of the primary financial statements.

·         The preparation of the Group Accounts incorporating the Councils two wholly owned companies – the Unity Partnership Ltd. And MioCare Community Interest Company.

·         The performance of the Finance Team in closing the accounts.

The presentation of the audited Statement of Accounts provided Council with the opportunity to review the Council’s year-end financial position (following completion of the audit by the Council’s External Auditors, Mazars LLP). The Statement of Accounts was also presented to Cabinet at its meeting on 14^th December 2020.

RESOLVED that Authority’s final accounts position for 2019/20, the Statement of Accounts and the Audit Completion Report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

Councillor Fielding MOVED and Councillor Sykes SECONDED a report of the Director of Legal Services which sought approval for the nomination of Steve Hill MBE to receive the Council’s Civic Appreciation Award.

The nomination was in recognition of Mr. Hill’s significant voluntary contribution and dedication to the local community and borough of Oldham.

On being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in FAVOUR of the recommendations.

RESOLVED that:

1.         The nomination of Steve Hill to receive the Civic Appreciation Award be agreed.

2.         The ceremony for the award to take place prior to the Council meeting to be held on 24^th March 2021.

Councillor Fielding MOVED and Councillor Sykes SECONDED a report of the Director of Legal Services which sought approval of the draft Calendar of Meetings for the 2021/2022 Municipal Year.

On being put to the vote, Members voted unanimously in FAVOUR of the recommendations.

RESOLVED that:

1.   The Council’s Calendar of Meetings for the Municipal Year 2021/22 as set out in Appendix 1 of the report be approved.

2.   Approval of any outstanding dates be delegated to the Chief Executive in consultation with Group Leaders.