Agenda item

(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 was advised that the questions would be read out by the Mayor.

The following questions were submitted:

1.         Question received from Nazrul Islam via email:

            “The Council announced that it had established a discretionary grant fund for businesses who were not eligible for the Government grants. How much has the Council paid out via this fund and how many businesses have been helped by it?”

            Councillor Jabbar, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Green responded that the Council was administering the Government’s discretionary grants fund.  At close of play on 13^th July 2020, the Council had spent £2.230m of the maximum £2.501m available to spend and had supported 234 businesses.  Applications were still being process and subject to completion of the review of applications, it was hoped to support around another 30 businesses.  The Council was making maximum use of the Government grant schemes before considering payment of grants to any businesses that fell outside of the Government’s arrangements.  The Secretary of State had been lobbied to give greater flexibility in the use of allocations received as part of the small business grants to support businesses in Oldham which fell outside the grant criteria and had not received financial assistance.  No confirmation had been received on the flexibility, but lobbying would continue as it was intended to support all businesses in Oldham who had losses due to the pandemic.

2.         Question received from Helen Norton via email:

            “I would like to ask when pools and gyms will be re-opening as I was a regular user of both Failsworth & Oldham Leisure centres and have missed not being able to attend. I am aware that other countries have re-opened theirs and wonder when we may be in a position to re-open our centres.  Thanks in advance.”

            Councillor Chauhan, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care responded that the Leisure Centres were operated by Oldham Community Leisure and the gyms would be allowed to open when deemed safe, it was assured that appropriate measures would be taken and following Government guidance the gyms would be opened.  Thanks were added to Oldham Community Leisure for the support provided to the residents of Oldham as OCL had opened centres to facilitate food banks for vulnerable people in the communities, car parks for testing centres and running online classes.

3.         Question received from Ian Manners via email:

            “My question is how is Oldham Council planning to address the gap in its finances caused by Covid-19?”

            Councillor Jabbar, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Green responded that the Council was still working through the full financial implications of the impact of COVID-19.  At this point there was a shortfall of £20.8m in this financial year and a projected shortfall of £41m for the next year.  This was still be working through.  The Council had recently received an award but had not yet received the allocation and exactly to understand what it would mean for Oldham Council.  There was no doubt that there would be financial pressure in both this and next year.  To address the potential financial challenge, the Council was reviewing both revenue and capital spending plans which included the Creating a Better Place programme with a view to reducing expenditure.

4.         Question received from Ceridwen Short via email:

            “I love walking in Daisy Nook, it is a real gem of greenspace in a part of Oldham that doesn’t have lots. I was very upset that an illegal rave took place in the area and the way that it was trashed with lots of rubbish being strewn all over. What action has the Council taken against those who planned this illegalrave and also to restore Daisy Nook to its natural beauty? I would also like to say thank you so much to the volunteers who turned up at short notice to help clean up.”

            Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture responded that concerns were shared on the recent illegal rave.  The Council had been working very closely with the police who took the lead role in the joint efforts to bring those responsible to account and would be best placed to provide any update.  An update on the clean-up operation, which benefited greatly from the help of many volunteers.  Cleaning teams had visited the area to remove litter and debris from alongside the river and generally cleaned the area.  The Council were also engaging with the canal trust to undertake a shared approach to cleaning the environment in a sustainable way.

5.         Question received from Connor Green via email:

            “School closures were the right decision to reduce the spread of COVID-19 but how have young people been supported so they do not fall behind from having missed weeks of education?”

            Councillor Mushtaq, Cabinet Member for Education responded that Oldham schools had continued to support children and young people throughout the COVID-19 situation by remaining open for vulnerable pupils and those of critical workers including during school and bank holidays.  Keeping in touch with families was a priority for schools at present and good communication had never been more vital.  Children could feel isolated in a house full of people and might be missing quality time with peers, space to work or a place to be quiet.  Many families were trying to work from home whilst providing education for their children.  Regular ‘check-in’ by schools staff created the opportunity to guide pupils to appropriate home learning opportunities and to support their emotional wellbeing.  Many parents required guidance on how to support children and some needed advice about additional family support.  Alongside this, schools were providing a variety of home learning activities that met children’s academic, physical, mental and emotional needs and provided support for parents.  Work and resources were being delivered in a variety of ways, in line with guidance provided by the DfE.  The use of technology has increased exponentially during lockdown.  Schools were using different mechanisms and platforms to share information and home learning activities with pupils and parents.  Schools were also striving to ensure that pupils without sufficient access to technology could still access their school’s learning offer.  Examples that were being used included:

·                     Hard copy packs of work, reading books and text books available for collection from school, posted or delivered to homes

·                     Technology equipment loans by schools and additional provision by DfE and GMCA

·                     Informing parents that the activities and websites could be accessed on mobile phones or that the BBC Bitesize lessons were on TV via the red button

·                     Setting activities that required no printing or screen time.

As children returned to school, teachers would adapt the curriculum plans to ensure that they met the demands of the national curriculum and took into account the different learning experiences their pupils would have had during this period.

6.         Question received from Nick Georgiou:

            “I am a member of the general public and would like to ask a public question for the council meeting on 17th July.  I'm interested to know how the council will develop its green credentials and what it's investment plans are for de polluting our area. One of the noticeable consequences of the covid pandemic has been the flourishing of wildlife and cleaner air. With further green projects added to hydro project at Dovestones and other green initiatives for which I applaud you. We could become carbon neutral at an accelerated pace. Solar farms, bike lanes, encouraging employers to allow their workforce to work from home are all initiatives I'd love you to pursue. Can you undertake to invest in schemes such as these?” 

            Councillor Jabbar, Cabinet Member for Finance and Green, responded that building on the Council’s previous achievements on climate change and the environment, Oldham Council had adopted the UK’s first ever Green New Deal Strategy in March this year – just before the lockdown.  The Council was now also looking at ways that the Council could help to make sure that the positive environment changes which had been since March were not lost by supporting residents and businesses to maintain the changes in behaviour which were improving the environment. The Council had enabled all staff to work from home except where it was essential that they were in the office or another place of work.  The Council was also looking at all of its buildings, land and car parks for opportunities to install solar power and energy efficiency measures, to make the Council more self-sufficient and cut energy bills and carbon footprint.  The Council was investing in cycling and walking infrastructure and would be delivering a number of Bee Network schemes over the next couple of years to help people make better travel choices for health and for the environment.  The Council was also looking at new ways to engage with residents online to find out how people would like to improve their neighbourhoods to make them safer and greener and to support them to make these improvements.  Oldham was already home to some first-class parks and green spaces, and with the new exciting new Northern Roots project, the Council was going to make sure the offer to residents was even better.

7.         Question received from June Roddison via email:

            “I have heard that Oldham Library will be opening on the 6th July 2020, with a limited service.  I understand the need to maintain social distancing and other health protection measures; I would however like to be able to access my local library, Crompton. Could the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods let me know when local libraries will reopen, and what services will be available? Also when it will be possible to browse the shelves.”

            Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture, responded that a phased approach had been developed for the re-opening of library services to:

·         Reflect and align the gradual easing of restrictions;

·         Ensure there were enough staff on site to operate safely.  Some library staff had been redeployed to essential Covid related activity which must take priority.

·         Ensure processes had been tried and tested that could be replicated and, if necessary, adjusted to deliver services safely at other sites.

All library site were being fully risk assessed and would only open when it was safe to do so.  If all went well and Covid cases continued to decline, it was oped to be able to introduce browsing at Oldham and start to open full-time community libraries between August and December.  The focus would, however, remain on access to books and IT with other services and programmes of activity being online for the rest of 2020.

8.         Question received from Glyn Williams via email:

            “Following Marcus Rashford’s brilliant work and subsequent victory on free school meals over the summer.  I was wondering how many children in Oldham will be receiving meals on a daily basis?”

            Councillor Mushtaq, Cabinet Member for Education, responded that all children entitled to free sschool meals, which was approximately 10,765, would receive a food voucher which entitled them to food over the summer.

RESOLVED that the questions and responses provided be noted.