Agenda item

The following public question was not reached in the time allocated.

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 Mayor.

The following questions were submitted:

1.         Question received from Joshua Charters via email:

            “What action is the council taking to deter fly tipping across the borough, specifically in the Medlock Vale ward, where fly tipping has caused many streets to become an eyesore?”

            Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Culture responded that the Council took the matter of fly tipping extremely seriously and had in the last few years increased the staff to enforce and collect fly tipping with the need arose.  The district partnerships worked closely with local communities to educate people in doing the right thing which included how to dispose of waste through domestic waste streams, including recycling, to try to minimise the amount of waste left for others to collect.  The Council had also streamlined the reporting procedure which could be found on the Council’s website to make it easier to report and get information on the progress of how the waste had been dealt with.  In all cases where evidence was found, the Council issued a fixed penalty of up to £400 or if this went unpaid, the Council would prosecute.  If, as in some cases, those responsible could not be identified, the Council aimed to remove the waste at the earliest opportunity up to a maximum of 20 days.  It was assured that Oldham Council was serious when dealing with fly tipping and did all it could within the law to ensure that those irresponsible people were dealt with in the most appropriate way and would eventually see an end to the blight that such behaviour caused.

2.         Question received from Connor Green via email:

            “Work has finally started on Saddleworth School though many children who should have attended the new building are now grown up.  When is the new school expected to be open for pupils who deserve a much better learning environment than that in Uppermill?”

            Councillor Mushtaq, Cabinet Member for Education, responded that the Department for Education (DfE) had advised that Interserve, the main contractor for the new Saddleworth School, were due to handover the school by the start of March 2022.

3.         Question received from Mark Rooney via email:

            “Remembrance Sunday Services are due to take place soon and it is likely that we will still be under some kind of restrictions on social gatherings because of Covid 19.  Has the Council got contingency plans in place to commemorate the war fallen on Remembrance Sunday if services cannot take place in the usual way?”

            Councillor Shah, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Covid-19 Response responded that the decision not to hold parades or ceremonies at each memorial this year was not an easy one.  The Council looked very carefully as to whether gatherings could be arranged but came to the decision that people’s safety could not be guaranteed.  The Council was committed to keeping people safe and doing what could be done to stop the spread of Coronavirus while commemorating Remembrance Sunday.  The Council had planned to hold a special Church Service at Oldham Parish Church on Remembrance Sunday with Civic dignitaries, members of the Royal British Legion, Service Units and Organisations in a safe and social distanced environment.  The Government’s announcement for the national lockdown with restrictions on gatherings at places of worship had prevented the Council from holding the planned church service.  However, the service would still be streamed via the Council’s website.  Although not all of the service would be broadcast live, the new arrangements would hopefully ensure that the broadcast was as meaningful and respectful as it would have been if everyone was able to be there in person.  Residents were reminded of ‘Remember at Home’ and also that anyone was invited to lay a wreath and pay their own respects at any of the borough’s memorials, but to avoid the time around 11 am on either Remembrance Sunday or Armistice Day and ensure that everyone adhered to Covid-19 social distancing guidelines.  The Council would be lighting the Civic Centre tower and Oldham Parish Church with poppies, as a visual reminder that the sacrifice of so many would not be forgotten.  The Council also encouraged people to support the Royal British Legion by visiting their website, make a donation to the Poppy Appeal and download a poppy poster to display at home.  The Council knew that people would be disappointed by changes to the Remembrance events this year, but respects could still be paid together in spirit, if not in person.  Donations to the Poppy Appeal could be made online by visiting The Royal British Legion’s website – www.britishlegion.org.uk.  Additionally, tributes could be added to the online field of remembrance and an A4 Poppy post could be downloaded.  Donations made a huge difference to the lives of current and former service personnel, especially as support was given to those from all generations who experienced new hardships during the pandemic.  Residents were reminded to take care and more importantly to be safe and hopefully respects could be paid in the usual way next year.

4.         Question received from Glyn Williams via email:

            “Oldham Council has launched a ‘save our services’ campaign because it says that it has not received the money it needs to deal with covid 19 and might have to make further cuts to recover the money.  What kinds of things has Oldham Council had to pay for that it wouldn’t otherwise have done for which it wants to be reimbursed?”

            Councillor Jabbar, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Green responded that at the end of October, the Government responded to national calls for additional resources for Local Government and provided the Council with £6.508m of additional unringfenced grant.  The Council also expected to receive £1.282m as a first tranche of compensation for lost sales, fees and charges income.  This had therefore improved the financial position of the Council, but nonetheless there were still financial pressure being experienced that would not otherwise had been the case.  This related to both increased expenditure but also lost income.  Some examples included:

·         Purchase of additional beds and packages of care in care homes;

·         Purchase of personal protective equipment;

·         Additional costs of home to school transport due to social distancing requirements;

·         Additional costs of supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities;

·         Reduced income from car parking, school meals, licencing, commercial rents and investments.

Whilst the Government had provided increased support in this financial year, a key concern was that funding intentions for 2021/22 were not clear.  There was an estimated £30m budget shortfall for 2021/22.  The Council awaited the Government’s Spending Review announcement due at the end of the month.

5.         Question received from Nick Georgiou via email:

      “Oldham certainly needs a mix of new homes including homes for people who want to move up the property ladder without moving away but what is the Council doing to provide affordable housing for those who need it, particularly when the Government definition of affordable is not really affordable to the majority of people in Oldham who are less affluent?  The entry point of affordability is set to high I feel and I wondered whether the council could contribute towards the need for assisting the poorest in our communities who wish to remain.”

            Councillor Roberts, Cabinet Member for Housing responded that last year 575 new homes were completed in Oldham of which 176 were completed by Registered Providers and the Council and were classed as ‘affordable’.  The majority of these affordable homes were let at Affordable Rent which was set by government at up to 80% of open market rent.  Government rules meant that grant to support affordable new build was only available for homes let at affordable rent or shared ownership.  Funding was not currently available to build general needs homes for Social Rent (around 60% of open market value) in Oldham.  The new Affordable Homes Programme which runs from 2021 to 2026 did allow for homes to be let at Social Rent in areas such as Oldham, however, the grant levels would only be the same as for homes let at Affordable Rent.  Oldham Council was currently building 19 new homes at Primrose Bank and plans were being developed to deliver 48 new wheelchair accessible affordable homes on sites across the borough.

6.   Question received from Gareth Evans via email:

“Could you please let me know what is happening with Chapel Road 3G facility in Hollinwood.  This facility, is a million pound facility, which has been shut for nearly 3 years now and will run into ruin if not reopened soon.  There seems to be no urgency with reopening the facility even though it was a heavily used community facility that was funded out of tax payers money the SRB fund.  Whilst this facility is unmanned it leaves itself open to vandalism and worse and a community facility is just being lost and is a total waste of a resource.  I believe that this facility was transferred over to a successful bidder once 18 months ago, but the whole process had to be reperformed at a great expense of money, time and effort for all concerned due to a technicality.  I believe that the bids have again been submitted and we are once again way past the deadline with no progress made.  Can you please give me some undertaking as to when this decision will be made.  My football club used the facility since its inception right up until it closed and we have been nomadic for 3 years playing our football outside the borough.  Our football club is one of the oldest in the area and we have been going since 1968.  This facility was used by hundreds of children every week from the Oldham Girls league and Junior leagues on Saturday morning and adults on Saturday afternoon and I would please like to know the timescales of it reopening.  Originally the bids had to maintain its use as a community facility and the community is desperate for this facility having waited patiently for over 3 years.”

            Councillor Fielding, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economy and Skills responded that Oldham Community Leisure had terminated its contractual arrangements to operate the site in September 2017.  A sale marketing exercise was undertaken in July 2018 which resulted in a preferred bidder being selected.  However, this decision was legally challenged.  Therefore, the Council took full account of the challenge and cancelled the tender exercise.  Following this, a full review had taken place which considered the site status, the needs of the adjoining school and other users and disposal processes.  The pitch was assessed in February 2019 under FA guidelines and was failed principally on account of the poor condition of the pitch.  The Council had decided to proceed with the disposal through an open procurement exercise.  This would provide the Council with an opportunity to specify the scope and standard of works required to bring the facility back into use.  The property had not been remarketed yet and no new bids received. The occupation and use of part of the site by St. Margaret’s School would be regularised.  The lease to the school of part of the site and the disposal of the whole site, subject to the lease, would both be subject to the approval of the Secretary of State.  The Council was not in control of the timing and process of those consents which would be in the hands of the Secretary of State.  It was not possible to predict how long the process would take as the Council was only a facilitator which meant that the Council was unable to give a timetable of when a successful bidder would be able to proceed.  Officers would endeavour to expedite matters within the Council’s control and to keep interested parties informed.  It was unfortunate that the pitch had reached the end of its useful life which meant that on safety grounds it had been taken out of use.  It was accepted that the loss of the resource was regrettable, but the Council was progressing the matter with all due diligence.  It was also acknowledged that the site’s status in recent history had caused it to be a target for vandals and as a result, the Council had periodically carried out appropriate repair work.

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.