(time limit 30 minutes)
Minutes:
Councillor Sheldon, Leader of the Conservative Group:
Question 1 – Music Licence Refund
Council will be aware that businesses and places of worship currently hold a music licence. This used to be two licences from the Performing Rights Society (PRS) and the Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL). This licence enables all types of businesses to play live, recorded music and music heard on a television to their customers in their place of business. The cost of these licences varies depending on the size of venue and how the music is played in the venue. I would like to bring to your attention that all businesses can apply for a credit if the venue is closed during lockdown and they are unable to play television or background music. One of my constituents has waited three months for a credit note but I thought it was important to remind the businesses in Oldham town centre and in the area in general, that a refund is available in these difficult financial times.
Councillor Shah, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Reform, replied that she was grateful Councillor Sheldon had highlighted the availability of this refund and she would meet with him afterwards to discuss how best to communicate this to businesses.
Question 2 – Personal Responsibility for Raising Safeguarding Concerns
We are all seeing on the television in the last few days with utter disbelief the tragic circumstances following the death of a little boy and a baby girl that were killed and tortured by their parents and guardians. We need to raise awareness that, if anyone has a concern, they personally need to raise that concern and call our Safeguarding Team. I know the Team at the borough has an excellent record and I would like everyone to have the number 0161 770 7777. Please do not expect others to call. If you have a concern or suspect anything untoward is happening, you need to make that call. The Safeguarding Team will then decide to take any necessary action. Council is asked to consider whether a review is necessary and whether our laws and the penalty for such horrendous and evils acts should be revisited. Finally, I need to reiterate that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and tragedies like these must not happen.
Councillor Shah, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Reform, responded that all Councillors were aware of the recent tragic cases. There had been a lot of public concern about the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements arising from these cases and that was something she completely understood. She was also aware that the government had announced two reviews in response to these highly-concerning cases - a review of both cases by the National Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel and a joint targeted area inspection to look at the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements in Solihull. They had also appointed a Commissioner to conduct and independent review of safeguarding practice in Bradford and this additional scrutiny was welcome so we could all learn the lessons from these very sad cases. We could never be in a position to say we have got this right because we have not and there was always learning to be done. It was unfortunate that sometimes that was triggered by such tragedies. In Oldham we were committed to a strong Safeguarding Service to protect children and it was always deeply concerning when such a tragedy occurred. She wished to give her support to Councillor Sheldon and say we should communicate helplines and build public confidence in services. She was aware the work of social workers was extremely hard and there should be a constant review of the support they received whilst always holding the Council to the highest standards.
Councillor Sykes, Leader of the Liberal Democratic Group:
Question 1 – Hospital Car Parking
For my first question to the Leader tonight I want to look at car parking at the Royal Oldham Hospital.
The complaints that both I and my Liberal Democrat colleagues receive regularly from constituents, who are either outpatients or visitors to the hospital, is the difficulty they encounter in finding a car parking space.
Sometimes residents, myself included, drive around for an age to find a space as the minutes tick away for their appointment. Frankly the stress is just not needed, especially when you are awaiting life- saving treatment for cancer or rushing to visiting a sick relative.
In addition, car parking spaces are sometimes some way from the relevant ward or outpatient’s department, and visitors who are infirm or in ill-health can struggle to make the distance between their car and the building.
Can I ask the Leader, and through her the Cabinet Member for Health, if an appeal could be made to the hospital authorities to look again at visitor parking spaces to create more spaces in future development plans?
Can they also be asked to ensure that patient and visitor spaces, rather than staff spaces, are located closer to the wards and outpatient departments?
We also receive complaints about car parking charges. I have carried out some research about car parking charges at our hospital and there are a surprising number of concessions that would allow many patients to park for free or at a much-reduced rate – if only they knew about them and could find a parking space.
So, in a third part to my question can I ask if the Leader and Cabinet Member will work with the health authority and with relevant agencies, such as Healthwatch and cancer charities, to raise the public’s awareness of these concessions?
Councillor Shah, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Reform, responded that she shared Councillor Sykes’ concerns and frustrations around this. She was aware conversations were already happening between the Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care and the hospital. She would support working with the relevant agencies to effectively raise awareness of concessions.
Question 2 – Exploring Crowdfunding
My second question relates to Crowdfunding.
For councils up and down the country, it is becoming increasingly difficult to afford capital projects or provide for services or events that are outside statutory provision.
One innovation that more and more councils, from Manchester to Lewisham, are using is Crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding provides a new model for local authorities to connect with communities and residents.
It is a means by which local people become empowered to help deliver a capital project, service, or event that they want to see in their community by making an online financial contribution without the bureaucracy of funding bids.
Sometimes this contribution is made altruistically, sometimes in the expectation of personal gain such receiving an interest payment or an invitation to a launch event.
Plymouth Council was the first who launched Crowdfund Plymouth in 2015. Within 12 months, this initiative raised over £430,000 to back more than 100 projects in the city where 4,550 members of the public had themselves raised one-quarter of the money.
Several local authorities have used crowdfunding specifically to finance renewable energy projects. This is the number one area Oldham needs to look at in my opinion.
Swindon Borough Council raised £4.3m from the public to fund two solar parks; Warrington and West Berkshire Councils £1 million each through Community Municipal Bonds; and Islington Council is just currently doing the same.
Back in 2019, a report from the University of Leeds, titled ‘Financing for Society’ concluded that crowdfunding has ‘huge, untapped potential’ for public sector infrastructure finance with finance accessible at a comparable rate to loans from the Public Works Loan Board.
My question to the Leader is therefore that if we are indeed a Co-operative Council intent on engaging our communities in our work and in getting ‘everyone to do their bit’, especially in helping to make our borough carbon-neutral by 2030, shouldn’t we as a Council be at least investigating the merits of crowdfunding?
Councillor Shah, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Reform, replied that she agreed entirely and would ask officers to undertake a piece of work to explore the crowd-funding opportunities. She would also volunteer the Cabinet Member for Finance and Low Carbon, who was very passionate about this area to have a conversation with Councillor Sykes about this. She welcomed the idea and recognised the need for innovation, especially as it was known that the government would not be giving more and Councils would need to do more for themselves.
Councillor Hobin, Leader of the Failsworth Independent Party:
Question 1 – Leaks of Information
The Leader will be aware that my colleague Councillor Wilkinson has experienced leaks against him going out to the public and to a malicious blogger, who received details about a Committee before Councillor Wilkinson. This blogger had admitted in tweets that he had received information through leaked documents from this Council. This goes to the heart of what we do here and it should worry all Members if information goes outside that should not do, especially if it goes to people that are going to use it against us. Confidentiality should be paramount in this place, we should be able to trust one another. I know we are building bridges with each other, with the Leaders and other Members, and trying to work together at the Council as never before. Surely items like this and leaks like this will cause friction, and are being put out there for the very reason, to cause division and scupper the relationships we have. Even more concerning for me was that we recently found out that it was not just Members of this Chamber who were being leaked against, but a member of the public has had matters leaked against them to this malicious blogger, who has used them against him. This is private information. The Council itself has admitted that the leak has taken place. It is very concerning and surely an issue of GDPR. I know that Councillor Shah has made a statement on this during the earlier question but I would like assurance that the source of these leaks will be found, will be dealt with severely, with criminal action taken if necessary, and that contact with any malicious blogger from any Member in this Chamber should be condemned.
Councillor Shah, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Economic and Social Reform, replied that she did think this was important and she shared Councillor Hobin’s concerns. The issue of confidential information being shared outside the organisation had been brought to her attention. Local people should be able to trust that the Council would manage their data when they contacted us and manage confidential information in appropriate ways and keep it as safe as possible. That was the Council’s responsibility and duty. She had already asked officers to undertake an urgent review into the particular issue referred to and investigate who, if anyone, was inappropriately sharing confidential information. This review would conclude by the end of the week and the strongest possible action would be taken against anyone found to be leaking or sharing inappropriately. She was just as appalled as Councillor Hobin and promised that, if this was found to be happening, immediate action would be taken.
1. Councillor McLaren asked the following question:
Even before the pandemic, food poverty was on the rise nationally. Here in Oldham the Council recognised the problem and worked closely with its partners to tackle hunger amongst young children., unfortunately the pandemic made a bad situation worse, and many Oldham families will be worried about how they will cope during the summer. Could the relevant Cabinet Member please advise us what help and support was available for children, young people and their families during October half-term and what are the plans for Christmas school holidays?
Councillor Moores, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People responded that Oldham Council recognised it needed to tackle hunger amongst young children during school holidays. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently announced new funding, the Household Support Grant fund, which covered the period October 2021 to March 2022, the Council chose to use some of this funding during the October half term holiday to issue food vouchers for families with children eligible for means tested Free School Meals, families on low incomes with pre-school children, support for college students eligible for Free School Meals and vouchers for care leavers under 25. This funding will also be used to support children and young people in the same way over the Christmas holiday and during eh half term holiday in February next year.
In addition to this, Oldham Council, with the support of the wider voluntary sector, for these periods, are utilising the Holiday Activity Fund, to provide free holiday provision, including healthy food and enriching activities, for school-aged children who receive benefits-related free school meals.
2. Councillor Davis asked the following question:
Now the public consultation on the Oldham planning local plan has finished, which I encouraged members of the public to take part in as well as commenting myself, to request an Article 4 Direction which would remove the permitted rights to be able to convert properties in Oldham in to Houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs)
I have noticed a lot of these developments changing the make up of areas including my own area in Failsworth and the loss of family homes which there is a need for!
Can I rely on the Council’s backing for my suggestion?
Councillor Roberts, Cabinet Member for Housing replied that following the close of the recent public consultation on the Oldham Local Plan, the Council continued work on this. One of the matters the Council would address through the Local Plan was how best to manage the conversion of properties to HMOs across the borough. This would involve assessing whether an Article 4 Direction, to remove permitted development rights on the conversion of homes to HMOs for up to six people, could be justified in certain parts of the borough most affected by a proliferation of HMOs. It would also involve introducing a policy in the Local Plan for the Council to use when making decisions on planning applications for the conversion of non-residential properties to HMOs and the conversion of residential properties to HMOs of more than six people.
3. Councillor Goodwin asked the following question:
Recent figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities have shown that a total of 194,060 new build homes were constructed between April 1 2020 and March 31 2021 - a five-year low, and down more than 11% on the previous year. A contributing factor for this decline has been stated as being as a result of council approvals being slowed by staff working from home.
May I ask the responsible Cabinet Member to confirm:
How many homes have been built within the Borough, or are in progress, during the same 12 month period?
How this figure compares with the previous 12 months?
How many planning applications have been granted for housing developments in the Borough over the last three years?
How many such approved developments are yet to commence?
Councillor Roberts, Cabinet Member for Housing replied that she could clarify that the reduction in the number of new homes built both nationally and in Oldham between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 was not related to council staff working from home. Homes built between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 would have been granted planning permission before March 2020. Council staff, both nationally and in Oldham, only moved to home-working with the introduction of the first national COVID lockdown on 23 March 2020.
In reality, the reduction in the number of new homes built in 2020/21 was due to the fact that the vast majority of construction sites stopped work for at least part of that first national lockdown and, when they were able to re-open, had to introduce additional COVID safety measures that slowed construction compared to normal practices.
In answer to Cllr Goodwins’s specific questions:
The number of homes built in Oldham between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 was 373. The number of homes built in Oldham between 1 April 2019 and 31 March 2020 was 728, and that was the highest number for several years. The number of planning applications granted for housing developments in Oldham between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2021 was 254 sites granted planning permission, providing a total of 1,886 homes. The number of those planning applications granted for housing developments in Oldham between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2021 that had not yet started as at 30 September 2021 was 148 of those sites (providing a total of 1,034 homes). However, it should be noted that 81 of those sites (730 homes) were only granted planning permission in the last year. This lag between granting permission and commencing development was not unusual, given that there was often much pre-commencement work (including the discharge of pre-commencement planning conditions) to be done between getting planning permission and starting building.
4. Councillor H Gloster asked the following question:
Although asbestos has been banned, it can still be found in 80% of British schools, meaning our teachers continue to work and our children often continue to study in buildings containing this toxic material. Since 2001, at least 305 teachers and other education professionals have died of mesothelioma after exposure.
The campaign Airtight on Asbestos believes that the situation could be much improved if routine air monitoring takes place in our classrooms and if the CLASP and system-built schools of the 1950’s can be replaced.
Can the Cabinet Member for Education please tell me what checks are routinely carried out in our older schools to monitor air quality for asbestos particles, and what action is taken if these are found to be at an unacceptable level?
And can the Cabinet Member please tell me how many CLASP or system built schools we have in our borough and what is the current timescale to replace them?
Councillor Ali, Deputy Cabinet Member for Education and Skills replied that Oldham Council complied fully with Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, which obliged all organisations to effectively and proactively manage the risk from asbestos. From 2002, asbestos surveys had been commissioned to all Council Schools, to identify, as far as is reasonably practicable, the presence and extent of any Asbestos Containing Materials in the premises and to assess their condition in relation to the immediate environment.
The Unity Partnership’s BOHS registered asbestos competent consultants under the current Building Maintenance - Service Level Agreements, were regularly carrying out the necessary asbestos condition inspection and priority risk assessment works to ensure compliance with the Regulations. Asbestos installations remaining in-situ in occupied areas of the schools were in good condition and sealed and were recorded on the schools live asbestos register. Schools that did not buy into the SLA were monitored by the Council’s Health and Safety service.
As part of this work, site specific asbestos management plans had been created for each premise. The purpose of the plan was to set out how the risks from any asbestos found during the survey were to be managed and therefore to prevent accidental exposure to asbestos fibres.
This work by the Unity Partnership was repeated on an annual basis to assist in updating the Asbestos Site Management Plans. In addition to the annual reviews, the school site managers carried out a weekly condition inspection check of the asbestos material.
Previously identified CLASP or system built schools had now been demolished and new schools built. The same management protocols were in place for these buildings prior to demolition.
The ongoing monitoring of the asbestos management plans, demonstrated the Council’s on-going commitment to a strong and effective health and safety culture. The primary objective was to ensuring the safety and welfare of pupils, staff and anyone else who visit the schools
5. Councillor Arnott asked the following question:
On 24 November, The Oldham Evening Chronicle published an extremely disturbing article in relation to allegations of bullying and sexual assault (by a fellow pupil) at the Radclyffe School in Chadderton.
Three members of this Council are members of the Board of Governors at the school.
Although for obvious reasons, many details of the harrowing events that led to a pupil attempting to take her own life cannot be published, it is clear that there were significant failings in the processes and procedures that should have been followed.
Please could the Council Leader or appropriate cabinet member, reassure parents that all schools in the Borough have been contacted and reminded of their responsibilities and obligations when it comes to the physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of the children who are in their care.
Councillor Ali, Deputy Cabinet Member for Education and Skills replied that the Headteacher of Radclyffe School issued a statement saying: " We have acknowledged and apologised where failings have occurred, and we will be learning from this in the future”.
I can reassure parents that school leaders in the Borough were regularly reminded of their responsibilities for safeguarding of children in their care, through regular communications from the Portfolio Holders for Childrens’ Services and Education and from the Director of Childrens’ Services and Education. In addition, Headteachers and Chairs of Governors received a weekly update on pertinent safeguarding matters through the Education and Early Years briefing.
Oldham Safeguarding Children Partnership had an engagement model which was used to communicate with settings, schools, academies and colleges regarding keeping children safe in education matters. There was representation on the strategic safeguarding partnership from senior leaders in all education sectors and designated safeguarding leads were on key safeguarding groups. Termly network meetings were held to ensure information was shared from the partnership. Within the partnership business unit, there was a dedicated safeguarding advisor for education who was the link with schools on safeguarding matters and a training officer who worked with schools and colleges offering training and support on relationships and sex education topics.
A number of Council services were tasked with supporting schools on emotional well-being and mental health.
The Mental Health in Education team worked with schools to embed universal support for all pupils and all staff. Each school had an allocated advisor to address their needs through consultation, curriculum planning or training. The team worked with stakeholders to ensure that there was a consistent approach to Mental Health in schools and across the health sector. They offered bespoke support based on the needs identified through self-assessments and action plans. The core training offer enabled staff to have a wellbeing conversation, look beyond behaviour and support staff wellbeing.
6. Councillor Leach asked the following question:
It is more important than ever that young children are in school or in early years provision according to their age. Providers of early childhood development services in schools, in private and voluntary organisations’ settings, childminders, all are facing cost pressures. Claims against government COVID funds will no longer be available, but staffing absences continue and official staffing ratios must still be adhered to and so costs of temporary staff must be incurred or services closed. Providers are also reporting difficulties in recruiting staff and wage rates are rising. Given these staffing and cost pressures, can the Cabinet Member let us know what is the impact on the numbers of children attending early childhood development services?
Councillor Moores, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People replied he had a lengthy response that he would keep brief and ensure the full response was circulated later. Providers of early years education and childcare were facing a very challenging time as they strived to maintain quality services amid multiple operational and financial pressures. These included:
· Changing patterns of parental demand as a result of new ways of working;
· Additional operational demands associated with need for infection control;
· Staff absences due to illness and isolating.
· Staff recruitment difficulties due to unattractive wages.
With regard to attendance in Early Years Settings, the DfE estimated that current attendance was approximately 86% of the usual daily level.
The take-up of places in Oldham showed a slight dip from the levels of take-up of places pre-pandemic.
There were a number of financial implications. Providers would continue to face further pressures on their running costs. These included a legacy of slightly lower levels of funding in Oldham compared to other similar authorities, inflation standing at 5.1%, and a 6.6% increase in the living wage. Where the problem really lay was in the government’s failure to invest in early years provision. In the autumn budget, they announced a 3.8% increase in the hourly rate of funding to be paid to local authorities for free early education from April 2022, which was too little too late.
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.