Agenda item

(time limit 30 minutes)

Motion 1

Councillor Hulme to MOVE and Councillor Briggs to SECOND:

Levelling down transport in Greater Manchester

This Council notes:

1.    The recently published Integrated Rail Plan (IRP)scales back the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project to such an extent it has effectively been scrapped. The lack of a dedicated highspeed line between Liverpool and Leeds will impact the service at Greenfield and other towns and villages on the Huddersfield Line. The lack of any funding for electrification on the Rochdale line reduces capacity and reliability.

2.    That the promise of an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly has been scrapped by the Government, potentially cutting billions from the local economy. This also raises concerns about the route of the new line running from Manchester to Marsden and how it may impact Oldham.

3.    The difference in transport costs between London and Greater Manchester. In London, someone can make as many bus journeys as they like in an hour for only £1.55 whereas a single bus journey in Oldham can cost at least double that.

4.    The excellent work of Mayor Andy Burnham in taking back control of our buses in Greater Manchester. The Government has shown support for The Mayor’s vision for travel in Greater Manchester with a £1bn package, however this does not make up for the billions now cut from transport in GM in the IRP.

This Council believes that the Government has reneged on its pledge to level up the economies of the north and the south: the difference in transport investment between London and the North is stark. Figures from the IPPR  show the North has an £86bn deficit in Treasury transport spending  compared to London. The North has received just £349 per person in transport spending since 2009/10 compared with £864 in London. The IPPR has also stated that to meet the challenge of the climate crisis, an extra £12bn a year must be invested. The Government promised repeatedly that they would build NPR and HS2 in full. This promise has been broken and the people of the north betrayed.

This Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to

1. Mayor Andy Burnham supporting his efforts to secure the future of Northern Powerhouse Rail and the additional investment needed to provide a modern, efficient and integrated public transport system in Greater Manchester
2. Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps demanding that the Government revisits the IRP to ensure that Oldham ,  Greater Manchester and the North West receive a fair share in transport spending in comparison to London and that  key projects such as the underground station at Manchester Piccadilly, HS2 and rail electrification are reinstated.

Motion 2

Councillor Moores to MOVE and Councillor Mushtaq to SECOND:

Supporting Oldham’s children with SEND

This Council acknowledges the incredible work done by teachers, parents, and carers in supporting and nurturing children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

SEND comes in many forms, early identification and intervention are vital in ensuring we deliver the best possible outcomes for children with SEND. In Oldham we work tremendously hard to ensure that children with SEND are offered the best opportunities to thrive and develop in our education system. This is not easy task when schools are required to fund the at least first £6,000 of support for a child with SEND in the face of cuts to schools General Budgets, local authorities are also struggling with increasing demand, increasing cost and a failure by Central Government to adequately fund SEND provision.

One area of particular concern is the lack of investment) Speech Language and Communications (SLC) needs, this is just one of the many classification categories and children can be identified as having SLC needs as a primary SEND need, but we know that children in the majority of the other SEND categories will have associated SLC need.

This Council notes:

• There are around 7800 children and young people in Oldham who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
• 2634 children and young people have an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP).
• Demand for SEND services is increasing rapidly and services are also responding to more complex needs. During 2020 - 2021 we saw a 100% increase in the number of EHC needs assessment requests between May and September.
• Oldham received Government SEND funding of £33,043,000 in 2019/20, but it spent more than £37m on services and in 2020/21 it received £39,189,000 and spent in excess of £40m
• The funding from Government has failed to keep pace with rapidly increasing costs, leaving big gaps in budgets for both the Council and schools.
• The Local Government Association estimated that councils in England would face a SEND funding gap of up to £1.6 billion by 2021.
• The requirement on schools to fund the at least first £6,000 of support for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, making caring for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities a financial burden on schools in the face of cuts to schools General Budgets.
• Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) services for children with SLC needs requires significant investment at a national level.

This Council believes:

1. We face a national crisis in high needs funding, but this crisis is hitting towns like Oldham harder than other parts of the country.
2. The Government have failed to invest in services to children at risk of not being able to speak or understand language at an age-appropriate level.
3. The Government is failing to fund SEND services properly and it’s falling to local councils and schools to plug the gaps.
4. That while the additional £6,146m of Government funding is welcome, it doesn’t even cover the gap we already face. 
5. Children and young people with special needs and disabilities are some of the most vulnerable in our society and it’s vital that the services that support them are funded fairly and properly.

This Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to:

1.  The Secretary of State for Education urging him to urgently invest SEND services and ensure that Government funding keeps pace with rising demand complexity of need, including Speech and Language Therapy Services and to end the requirement on schools to fund at least the first £6,000.

Motion 1

Councillor Hulme MOVED and Councillor Chadderton SECONDED the following MOTION:

Motion 1 - Levelling down transport in Greater Manchester

This Council notes:

1.            The recently published Integrated Rail Plan (IRP)scales back the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project to such an extent it has effectively been scrapped. The lack of a dedicated highspeed line between Liverpool and Leeds will impact the service at Greenfield and other towns and villages on the Huddersfield Line. The lack of any funding for electrification on the Rochdale line reduces capacity and reliability.

2.            That the promise of an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly has been scrapped by the Government, potentially cutting billions from the local economy. This also raises concerns about the route of the new line running from Manchester to Marsden and how it may impact Oldham.

3.            The difference in transport costs between London and Greater Manchester. In London, someone can make as many bus journeys as they like in an hour for only £1.55 whereas a single bus journey in Oldham can cost at least double that.

4.            The excellent work of Mayor Andy Burnham in taking back control of our buses in Greater Manchester. The Government has shown support for The Mayor’s vision for travel in Greater Manchester with a £1bn package, however this does not make up for the billions now cut from transport in GM in the IRP.

This Council believes that the Government has reneged on its pledge to level up the economies of the north and the south: the difference in transport investment between London and the North is stark. Figures from the IPPR  show the North has an £86bn deficit in Treasury transport spending  compared to London. The North has received just £349 per person in transport spending since 2009/10 compared with £864 in London. The IPPR has also stated that to meet the challenge of the climate crisis, an extra £12bn a year must be invested. The Government promised repeatedly that they would build NPR and HS2 in full. This promise has been broken and the people of the north betrayed.

This Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to

1.            Mayor Andy Burnham supporting his efforts to secure the future of Northern Powerhouse Rail and the additional investment needed to provide a modern, efficient and integrated public transport system in Greater Manchester

2.            Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps demanding that the Government revisits the IRP to ensure that Oldham, Greater Manchester and the North West receive a fair share in transport spending in comparison to London and that key projects such as the underground station at Manchester Piccadilly, HS2 and rail electrification are reinstated.

AMENDMENT

Councillor Hindle MOVED and Councillor Wilkinson SECONDED the following AMENDMENT:

Motion 1 – Note 4 

To remove first sentence of above Note 4 “The Council notes the excellent work of Mayor Andy Burnham, in taking back control of our buses in Greater Manchester”.

The amended motion to read:

This Council notes:

1.            The recently published Integrated Rail Plan (IRP)scales back the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project to such an extent it has effectively been scrapped. The lack of a dedicated highspeed line between Liverpool and Leeds will impact the service at Greenfield and other towns and villages on the Huddersfield Line. The lack of any funding for electrification on the Rochdale line reduces capacity and reliability.

2.            That the promise of an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly has been scrapped by the Government, potentially cutting billions from the local economy. This also raises concerns about the route of the new line running from Manchester to Marsden and how it may impact Oldham.

3.            The difference in transport costs between London and Greater Manchester. In London, someone can make as many bus journeys as they like in an hour for only £1.55 whereas a single bus journey in Oldham can cost at least double that.

4.            The Government has shown support for The Mayor’s vision for travel in Greater Manchester with a £1bn package, however this does not make up for the billions now cut from transport in GM in the IRP.

This Council believes that the Government has reneged on its pledge to level up the economies of the north and the south: the difference in transport investment between London and the North is stark. Figures from the IPPR show the North has an £86bn deficit in Treasury transport spending compared to London. The North has received just £349 per person in transport spending since 2009/10 compared with £864 in London. The IPPR has also stated that to meet the challenge of the climate crisis, an extra £12bn a year must be invested. The Government promised repeatedly that they would build NPR and HS2 in full. This promise has been broken and the people of the north betrayed.

This Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to

1.            Mayor Andy Burnham supporting his efforts to secure the future of Northern Powerhouse Rail and the additional investment needed to provide a modern, efficient and integrated public transport system in Greater Manchester

2.                  Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps demanding that the Government revisits the IRP to ensure that Oldham, Greater Manchester and the North West receive a fair share in transport spending in comparison to London and that key projects such as the underground station at Manchester Piccadilly, HS2 and rail electrification are reinstated.

A vote was then taken on the AMENDMENT, which was LOST.

Councillor Woodvine spoke against the motion.

Councillor Sykes spoke in favour of the motion.

Councillor Shah spoke in favour of the motion.

Councillor Hulme exercised his right of reply.

On being put to the vote, the MOTION was CARRIED.

RESOLVED that the Chief Executive be asked to write to

1.            Mayor Andy Burnham supporting his efforts to secure the future of Northern Powerhouse Rail and the additional investment needed to provide a modern, efficient and integrated public transport system in Greater Manchester

2.            Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps demanding that the Government revisits the IRP to ensure that Oldham, Greater Manchester and the North West receive a fair share in transport spending in comparison to London and that key projects such as the underground station at Manchester Piccadilly, HS2 and rail electrification are reinstated.

Motion 2

Councillor Moores MOVED and Councillor Ali SECONDED the following MOTION:

Motion 2 - Supporting Oldham’s children with SEND

This Council acknowledges the incredible work done by teachers, parents, and carers in supporting and nurturing children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

SEND comes in many forms, early identification and intervention are vital in ensuring we deliver the best possible outcomes for children with SEND. In Oldham we work tremendously hard to ensure that children with SEND are offered the best opportunities to thrive and develop in our education system. This is not easy task when schools are required to fund the at least first £6,000 of support for a child with SEND in the face of cuts to schools General Budgets, local authorities are also struggling with increasing demand, increasing cost and a failure by Central Government to adequately fund SEND provision.

One area of particular concern is the lack of investment) Speech Language and Communications (SLC) needs, this is just one of the many classification categories and children can be identified as having SLC needs as a primary SEND need, but we know that children in the majority of the other SEND categories will have associated SLC need.

This Council notes:

·         There are around 7800 children and young people in Oldham who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

·         2634 children and young people have an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP).

·         Demand for SEND services is increasing rapidly and services are also responding to more complex needs. During 2020 - 2021 we saw a 100% increase in the number of EHC needs assessment requests between May and September.

·         Oldham received Government SEND funding of £33,043,000 in 2019/20, but it spent more than £37m on services and in 2020/21 it received £39,189,000 and spent in excess of £40m

·         The funding from Government has failed to keep pace with rapidly increasing costs, leaving big gaps in budgets for both the Council and schools.

·         The Local Government Association estimated that councils in England would face a SEND funding gap of up to £1.6 billion by 2021.

·         The requirement on schools to fund the at least first £6,000 of support for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, making caring for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities a financial burden on schools in the face of cuts to schools General Budgets.

·                     Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) services for children with SLC needs requires significant investment at a national level.

This Council believes: 

1.    We face a national crisis in high needs funding, but this crisis is hitting towns like Oldham harder than other parts of the country.

2.    The Government have failed to invest in services to children at risk of not being able to speak or understand language at an age-appropriate level.

3.    The Government is failing to fund SEND services properly and it’s falling to local councils and schools to plug the gaps.

4.    That while the additional £6,146m of Government funding is welcome, it doesn’t even cover the gap we already face. 

5.    Children and young people with special needs and disabilities are some of the most vulnerable in our society and it’s vital that the services that support them are funded fairly and properly. 

This Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Education urging him to urgently invest SEND services and ensure that Government funding keeps pace with rising demand complexity of need, including Speech and Language Therapy Services and to end the requirement on schools to fund at least the first £6,000.

Councillor H Gloster spoke in favour of the motion.

Councillor Williams spoke in favour of the motion.

Councillor Moores exercised his right of reply.

On being put to the vote, the MOTION was unanimously CARRIED.

RESOLVED that the Chief Executive be asked to write to the Secretary of State for Education urging him to urgently invest SEND services and ensure that Government funding keeps pace with rising demand complexity of need, including Speech and Language Therapy Services and to end the requirement on schools to fund at least the first £6,000.