Agenda item

(time limit 15 Minutes)

1.    Question from Rita Ireland:

How does the Labour leader justify spending £460K on Alexandra Park's Conservatory then closing it less than 12 months after it was re-opened? 

Preferably without blaming the Government.

Councillor Goodwin, Cabinet Member for Don’t Trash Oldham, thanked Rita Ireland for her question but there seems to be some confusion or miss-communication, as the Conservatory at Alexandra Park remains open and is fully stocked with plants for the public to enjoy. There are no plans to close this facility. 

2.    Question from Lucia Rea:

In light of the current situation of uncertainty of the council demographics and division across our town, I pose this question to the council: Can we set aside our differences and come together to support a central program that embodies the spirit of community and collaboration? By each contributing just £50 of your allowance, you have the power to provide the Oldham Theatre Workshop with £3000, assisting them in their invaluable work with classes, workshops, and productions, that so many of our children, young people and volunteers are part of. 

This gesture not only demonstrates your commitment to supporting the arts and enriching our community, but also serves as a display of hope for our residents, showing that cross-party working is not only possible but essential in making Oldham a better place. 

Will you join me in this endeavour to showcase unity and solidarity for the betterment of our town?  Furthermore, would you commit to more collaborative work that benefits the town.

Councillor Shah, Leader of the Council, replied, thanking Lucia Rea for her question. I would fully support anything that seeks to bring people together in the spirit of collaboration and community and especially that brings the people in this chamber together in the spirit of collaboration and community. 

Oldham Theatre Workshop are an absolute gem in Oldham’s crown and I can think of nobody better to create something special that brings people from across Oldham together. 

As you know Councillors have individual control over how they spend their councillor budgets but I am more than willing to support you in putting this ask to all sixty of us in this chamber to see if we can make it happen. 

3.    Question from Peter Roberts:

As I travel around Oldham, I am frequently concerned by the speeding of both cars and motorcycles. I would like to know what measures the council are taking to ensure road safety for both road users and pedestrians.

Councillor Goodwin, Cabinet Member for Don’t Trash Oldham, replied, thanking Mr Roberts for his question. The Council takes road safety concerns very seriously, and we regularly work with Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to help ensure roads across the borough are safe.  This includes investigating reports after serious accidents or collisions occur so that any identified changes can be made to ensure safer roads across Oldham.   

The Council also undertakes regular traffic/speed assessments in response to concerns from local communities and where necessary, traffic calming measures are introduced.  Where significant concerns are noted, and there is sufficient evidence to confirm the installation, the Council has and will continue work with Transport for Greater Manchester to install speed cameras.

However, sometimes there is no engineering solution to solve the speeding or road safety concerns, so the Council always urges all road users to ensure they adhere to the speed limits, be mindful of the road conditions and provide a safe place for our local communities at all times. 

4.    Question from David Barber:

Whilst walking through the town centre it is pleasing to see the redevelopment of the new market hall progressing. Could I ask for an update as to how the project is progressing? and when it is due to be completed?

Councillor Shah, the Leader of the Council replied, thanking Mr Barber for his question. It is good to see the new market hall taking shape and the redevelopment work progresses. The stallholders have been to visit the new market and have seen the internal space which will be their new home from next year. We have more visits booked in for stallholders to view the space, as they choose their locations and plan the design of their new stalls. This work will continue through to early Autumn as we capture all the design and fit-out works for all the stallholders. This detailed process of individual stall fit outs is required for us to confirm the final completion and opening date of the new market.  

 It is also very important that we continue to support our local markets and we celebrated all our markets in May as part of the Love Your Local Market national campaign. This received great feedback from local communities as there were activities at Shaw, Royton and Oldham markets, and I encourage all our residents and members to continue to show their support for our market stallholders, and local businesses.

5.      Question from Leanne Munroe:

I have recently heard that Saddleworth School will shortly become part of an Academy Trust. I would like to ask in practice what will this mean for students? And why is this happening?

Councillor Mohon Ali, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, replied that the Saddleworth School governors had applied to become an academy and to join the Cranmer Education Trust. The final decision about academisation is for the Department for Education.  In due course they will publish information about this on the government website. 

Saddleworth Headteacher, Mike Anderson, has said that “Governors chose The Cranmer Education Trust because they feel it was the best fit for Saddleworth as a well-respected local multi-academy trust with lots of experience and expertise in the secondary sector.  The trustees at Cranmer are local people who are committed to improving the outcomes and experience of young people in Oldham.”  

The school has a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section on its website which will keep students, staff, parents, carers, and the wider community informed. 

6.    Question from Paul Scoltock:

Following the closure of Yodel in Shaw, what steps are the Council taking to support employment opportunities for those affected?

Councillor Fida Hussain, Cabinet Member for Enterprise, replied, thanking Mr Scoltock for his question, noting that the Council has been working closely with the management team at the Yodel Distribution Centre in Shaw as part of their formal consultation with the 373 affected staff.   

The Get Oldham Working team have offered careers advice and guidance through their National Careers Service team and the team set up and delivered a jobs fair on site on the 21^st June with 300 Yodel staff attending. 

This event included employers such as Stagecoach, DX delivery service, Royal Mail, Evri and Danish Crown. The Get Oldham working team will continue to support those affected. 

7.    Question from Dominic Wall:

I am pleased that our local bus services have been brought under local control as part of the Bee Network, but I would like to know when communities will get their chance to have a say over changes to the routes of services?

Councillor Shah, leader of the Council replied, thanking Mr Wall for his question, and noted that the Bee Network allows all bus services to be managed as a whole system, alongside metrolink, trains, and other modes of transport, to create opportunities for connected timetabling, simpler ticketing and information, and allowing fare levels to be set appropriately.  

The change over to the Bee Network had to pick up the current/previous bus service arrangements in March 2024, so there has not been any changes to routes, services or timetables yet.  However, we know that the Bee Network will soon be reviewed and this will be the time to make changes and amendments or to request additional services as part of the consultation process.  We understand that Oldham’s network review will take place in 2025, but at this time, we are waiting for further details of the process from Transport for Greater Manchester. 

8.    Question from Syed Maruf Ali

What percentage of young people between the age of 16 to 24 are doing apprenticeship?  Can you please break this by ethnicity:

There are number of educational risk factors contributing to young people’s NEET status but the most significant was that of low educational attainment at GCSE. 

How many pupils in Oldham received 5 GCSE including maths and English.  Please can this be broken down the figure by ethnicity and ward?

Can we please share the NEET figure in Oldham and ward by ward and ethnicity?

what intervention and strategies are in place to reduce the NEET figure in Oldham?

''We are all travellers from birth till death; we travel through countries, cultures and eternities.  Our journeys are shaped by the people we meet, the places we see and the moments we experience''.

Councillor Mohon Ali, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, replied, that there are currently 540 16 – 24-year-old apprenticeship starts for Oldham in the academic year 2023/24.  This equates to 2% of the 16 - 24 Oldham population.  GOV.UK does not publish this data by ethnicity so we are unable provide this requested data.  

In 2023 there were 55.3% of pupils in Oldham gaining 5 GCSE grade 5-9, including maths and English. The figures by ethnicity were as follows:  

·                     Asian 56.5% 

·                     Black 60.1% 

·                     Mixed 56.8% 

·                     White 54.1% 

I won't stand and read out the entire ward by ward breakdown because I don't think this would be a good use of anyone's time, but I can confirm this data will be published by Constitutional Services when they publish the answers to Public Questions.

The Mayor advised that any unanswered questions would be published to the Council’s website, with written answers, in due course.