(time limit 30 minutes – maximum of 2 minutes per question and 2 minutes per response)
Minutes:
The Leader of the Main Opposition, Councillor Sykes, raised the following two questions:
Question 1: More Oldham Children Being Failed
“Tonight I would like to return to an issue that I have raised many times in the past – educational performance in this borough. Or to be blunt the lack of it! I was recently dismayed to hear that another school in Oldham has failed an Ofsted inspection – the Oasis Academy Oldham – and that both Oasis and Waterhead Academy still fall way below the minimum standards expected. Both schools are listed by the Department of Education as amongst the worst 346 schools in the country – hardly an accolade that the or we should be proud of. Oldham Council and its educational partners have had years to turn around Oldham’s academic performance. But, yet again, we see another negative report of an Oldham school rated ‘inadequate’ and in need of ‘improvement’ in several key areas, including the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. When the Oldham Education and Skills Commission Chair Baroness Estelle Morris stated in the publication of its long-awaited report in January 2016, that ‘we are on the edge of being able to achieve great things here in Oldham’, her words did not containe ‘but not yet’. Three years on and we are still ‘not yet’. This Labour Administration has promised time and again that the findings of the Commission, and the work of the Partnership that was established to deliver them, would bring about a transformation in our educational attainment, but we have yet to feel or see any real change. In his foreword to the 2016 Education and Skills Commission report, former leader Jim McMahon said: ‘We should not be satisfied with anything less (than a good education for all of our children) but, sadly, far too many children are still not reaching their full potential.’ What is most saddening and maddening is the case of Oasis is that the most able pupils are report to have ‘underachieved significantly’. It is not these children who have failed, it is we who have failed them for this represents a major failing on the part of the Academy, our education and this Administration. Can the Leader tell me tonight what has been done, will be done and when, to ensure that we do not fail any more children at the Oasis and Waterhead Academies, or indeed at any of our secondary educational establishments in this Borough?”
Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council, responded that he shared the passion for getting education right in the borough. The Leader acknowledged that standards, particularly in the secondary sector, were not in a place where the Council wanted them to be and had not allowed children to realise their full potential. The central focus of the new Administration since May was education. Considerable pledges had been made on turning around the fortunes of schools. The pledges were incredibly difficult to realise and achieve given the fragmentation of the education system and the pressure that both the schools and the Council faced in terms of funding school improvement. The two schools, Waterhead Academy, which had had a change of sponsor as a result of its performance being below what was liked and the Oasis Academy, as a result of its Ofsted Inspection and the results which had been given back in the summer, had been served with a termination notice to the sponsor and so the central focus of Oldham’s Labour Administration was to improve the educational outcomes in the borough. The Leader expressed regret at the focus on 2 academy schools because of the reality that the picture within Oldham, when considered as a whole, was much more positive. The three pledges on education which had been made less than 12 months ago were already reaping benefits in terms of the number of children that attended a good or outstanding school. There were more children attending schools in good or outstanding places than there were when the Leader assumed his role. A commitment had been made to invest significant amounts of money in improving the environment that young people were taught in as one barrier to young people achieving was the quality of their environment. The Leader expressed his pleasure regarding a recent visit to Saddleworth School that day after the Planning Committee had approved the planning application to build the new school facility the children had been waiting for. The Leader also referred to the commitment of every child being school ready prior to entering the schools gates on their first day of primary school. Oldham had been recognised across Greater Manchester for achievements on this front with more children making more progress than any other borough. There had also been recognition nationally, Propps Hall Primary School had recently been recognised as being in the top 3% of primary schools in the country. There was a positive picture of change in Oldham on Education and it was a picture that would continue. The ripples of that positive change would be ensured to reach Oasis and Waterhead Academies.
Question 2: Save Shaw’s High Street
“I am sure that the Leader will be well-aware of the recent incident around midnight on 20/21 February involving the partial collapse of the roof of the historic St. Paul’s Methodist Church in Shaw. The collapse led to masonry and brickwork being cascaded onto surrounding streets and on an adjoining nursery. For the record, I would like to place on record my thanks to those Council officers and emergency service staff who responded so quickly and professionally in assessing the danger to the public and in making the site safe. St. Paul’s is not, however, unique. It is one of several significant buildings in Shaw which now lie empty and forlorn. In addition to the church, there are our four former banks – Barclays, Midland, Yorkshire and the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Old Post Office and the former Butterworths building, once a thriving DIY store left for decades that is presently a haven for an increasing number of pigeons and anti-social activities. These empty buildings were part of our ward walk with the Chief Executive before Christmas. All the above buildings are in need of a new purpose and my worry is that as time passes their deterioration will escalate. We also have a market that is on its uppers and a high street that appears to be attracting more and more charity shops. I have written recently to the Leader in connection with the concerns that I have to save the shops on our high streets in Oldham town centre and in the district centres of Uppermill, Lees, Chadderton, Royton, and Failsworth as well as Shaw. Can I suggest to the Leader that the Council and its partners look to develop a Daytime Economy Taskforce to compliment the new Night-time group. They would work to devise a strategy to revitalise the daytime retail and leisure economies on our high streets. Can I suggest that we take a hard look at the recommendations of the recent reports published by Sir John Timpson and the Institute of Place Management and Manchester Metropolitan University. I have also suggested that we bid for monies from the Government’s new Future High Streets Fund. I am at least pleased that we are doing that, but I am disappointed that the Council has not chosen to bid for Shaw. With this money we could have returned the empty buildings back into use, possibly into much needed homes. This would also bring more footfall into our district centre. In light of this latest disappointment, can the Leader offer me any consolation in at least agreeing to assign senior Council officers to work with the Shaw and Crompton elected members and local partners to try to find a workable solution to Shaw’s empty buildings and improving the retail and high street offer?”
Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council shared the concerns of the changing nature of the high streets and the prevalence of empty buildings on High Streets throughout the borough. The Leader had made a significant pledge around improvements to town centres and in adapting them so that the centres could thrive and be successful with the decline of the retail sector. Shaw was not the only place to have a significant number of heritage assets for which a suitable alternative use had not yet been found. The Leader was keen to look at the opportunities for more leisure and dining in the town centres, opportunities for more residential to support the footfall at all times of the day to get away from town centres becoming desolate after 6.00 p.m. Significant plans had been drawn up to take forward regeneration intentions for the town centres, particularly in Oldham at this time within which residential development would play a major part. Outside of Oldham there had been significant investment in Royton Town Centre which had been nominated for the Mayor’s Town Centre Challenge and a range of support leveraged from the Town Centre Challenge. The Leader announced that a a very strong bid had been made to the £675m High Street Funds which had been made available by the Government. It was hoped to bring more money into Oldham to being empty units back into use and get more people choosing Oldham and the other town centres as a place to live and visit and a place to enjoy. The Future High Street Fund was not the only funding available. Consultation had recently closed on the Accessible Oldham Fund which was £6m of funding devolved down to Greater Manchester which was about improving connectivity around Oldham Town Centre so that people could get around more easily and visit a whole range of things on offer when the development was completed. The Leader shared concerns about the nature of the High Street. It was acknowledged that bids were submitted to every fund available. There were plans to ensure that the borough’s town centres continued to thrive and be successful places in the future.
Councillor Hudson, Leader of the Conservative Group asked if a satisfactory conclusion could be brought about regarding Dawson’s Field being handed over to the Saddleworth Parish Council. Councillor Hudson informed the Leader that Councillor Judd promised to speak to Councillor Sheldon regarding handing over the field. Councillor Hudson said that he would leave it with Councillors Sheldon and Judd to bring about a satisfactory conclusion.
Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council, responded with thanks to Councillor Hudson regarding his remarks and hoped that a positive response would be provided.
The Mayor reminded the meeting that the Council had agreed that, following the Leaders’ allocated questions, questions would be taken in an order which reflected the political balance of the Council.
1. Councillor Leach asked the following question:
“As part of its drive for greater efficiency, the Council is encouraging residents and businesses to use on-line facilities. However, there are many residents, especially older people and the most vulnerable, who may not be able to use on-line services. Would the responsible Cabinet Member please explain what will be done to ensure that everyone will continue to be provided the services they need and answers to any questions they may need to have answered?”
Councillor Jabbar, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Resources responded that he was pleased the councillor had attended some of the workshops on Resident First and seen the issues that were debated. The Council was committed to making sure anyone who could not access online services that there were alternatives. Those alternatives were available at various locations throughout the whole of the borough, but the main face-to-face service was at Access Oldham, based on the ground floor of the Civic Centre. Elected Members and service users would continue to be consulted on the roll out of Resident First, Members were encouraged to attend workshops and provide view on what was proposed.
2. Councillor Williams asked the following question:
Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economy and Enterprise agreed with concerns about premature announcements being made before certainty to deliver them. The Council exchanged contracts for a sale of the site at Prince’s Gate at Mumps with Lidl at the end of February. Lidl were currently finalising the terms of an agreement with a hotel operator which should be completed shortly. Following this agreement Lidl were aiming to submit a planning application for the scheme in late April. Subject to this being approved, works on site were planned to commence in the Autumn with the Lidl and the hotel opening in late 2020. This was the beginning of an exciting time and there would be no more announcements until it could be done. The area was a gateway to Oldham for people who travelling from the Saddleworth area, up Ripponden Road and form Shaw and Crompton. Something prestigious would need to be done as part of the development. As a result of conversations with a number of developers about possible residential schemes, other retail schemes or leisure schemes, there was significant interest particularly with the certainty on the deal with Lidl and the hotel. The new hotel at Prince’s Gate was the first step. The Leader responded that this was happening soon and would act as a catalyst for wider development in the area which included significant interest of other high quality hotel providers to set up in Oldham and take advantage of transport links.
3. Councillor Brownridge asked the following question:
“The Leader has expressed a desire to see residential developments take place in Oldham Town Centre as part of the revised plans for regeneration. Could the relevant cabinet member confirm the number of residential properties that are currently planned to be developed in Oldham Town Centre? Oldham Town Centre has a number of brownfield sites which could be brought online as part of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework to reduce the overall green belt allocation.”
Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economy and Enterprise responded that he would like to see more residential development in Oldham Town Centre and capitalise on the transport links and out location close to Manchester City Centre and being on the edge of the Peak District in the same way as hotel opportunities as stated in the previous response. Currently, the Council had found 2007 potential new residential dwellings that were located in Oldham Town Centre and recently concluded the consultation on Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) at which a number of those who had expressed opinions on that consultation not just in outright opposition to some of the proposals but there were also many constructive suggestions from residents about other brownfield sites that had the potential to be brought online as residential developments, many in Oldham Town Centre. The Leader was clear that the 2007 figure was an absolute minimum. Oldham Town Centre could be a fantastic place to live in the way that many other satellite towns around major cities already were, capitalise on assets and maximise the residential opportunities in Oldham to support the retail, leisure and dining economy and hopefully, a by-product of that would be a reduction of the pressure on the green belt which were a part of the proposals under GMSF.
4. Councillor C. Gloster asked the following question:
“According to the Office for National Statistics, knife crime last year has risen to its highest level for a decade up 8% 39,818 offences, and sadly 739 people have lost their lives to knives. One of the highest rates in offending is Greater Manchester with 112 offences per 100,000 population, about half as much again as the average rate for England and Wales. Like the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, I recognise that a chronic underfunding of Police numbers under this government reduce the chances of an offender being detected or apprehended, and so reduce the deterrent effect, but the fact is that people, mostly young people, for their own reasons are making a choice to go out equipped with a knife in the first place. Please can the Cabinet Member tell me what is being done to educate our young people about the dangers posed to others, and to themselves, when they choose to carry a knife?”
Councillor Ur-Rehman, Cabinet Member for Policing and Community Safety referred to the gross underfunding of the police forces across the UK which was affecting policing forces in dealing with not only knife crime but other crimes which were blighting society. In terms of the continued development of a robust offer of prevention, diversion for young people identified as being involved in the risk of serious violence including weapons related behaviour, was a priority for the Community Safety and Cohesion Partnership. Community Safety Services had a dedicated officer who was working with colleagues from the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and across the wider partnership to delivery input to young people through schools on the dangers and legal implications of carrying weapons. In addition to a universal education offer, more targeted prevention work was available and being delivered by colleagues in Positive Steps. A new service had been developed which would work to contextualise safeguarding principles. The service, which was being run as a pilot, would work with schools and within neighbourhoods and would be running parallel to the rollout of the new scheme being introduced in Oldham by Greater Manchester Police to ensure schools had access to police officers. Also, knife crime was the top priority for Oldham Youth Council and the Council would work closely with the Youth Council to address their concerns about the dangers of knife crime.
5. Councillor Moores asked the following question:
Councillor Mushtaq, Cabinet Member for Employment and Skills responded that the Council currently had 29 school crossing patrols in operation in Oldham, but there could be more as it was understood that some of the secondary school academy trusts had made their own arrangements to undertake this type of service themselves.
6. Councillor E. Jacques asked the following question:
“Following the recent Ofsted inspection of The Oldham College and consequent ‘GOOD’ rating along with the upcoming devolution of the Adult Education Budget can the cabinet member for employment and skills please tell me what the implications will be for the residents of Oldham.”
Councillor Mushtaq, Cabinet Member for Employment and Skills responded that the Council was committed to supporting all schools and colleges to be good or outstanding. The Council congratulated The Oldham College on being judged good – this was an important judgement for the College and the Borough. The Council was supporting The Oldham College as it embarked on a new strategic plan, which would hopefully be enhanced with a new Construction Skills Centre. The devolution of the Adult Education Budget meant that £92.3m of adult skills funding would be commissioned and managed by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority from August 2019. The Council would work with The Oldham College and other providers (including the Council’s Outstanding Lifelong Learning Service) and GMCA to create a new plan which would support the development and delivery of high quality adult supervision.
At this point in the meeting, the Mayor advised that the time limit for this item had expired.
RESOLVED that the questions and responses provided be noted.