(time limit 15 Minutes)
Minutes:
1. Question from Roger Blackmore
Will Oldham Council’s plans for the former Saddleworth School site include space for social housing and genuinely affordable housing? This site is still waiting to be developed and its position close to the centre of Uppermill could provide a significant contribution to local housing needs. Residents in Saddleworth, especially young people, find it increasingly hard to find genuinely affordable homes. Will Saddleworth be receiving a reasonable share of the 500 social homes the Council is aiming to deliver in the next five years as part of the Housing Delivery Action Plan?
Councillor Shah, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member of Growth replied, thanking Mr Blackmore for his question, adding that whilst full demolition and a number of site surveys have now been completed on the former Saddleworth School site, there are certain property issues that are still being worked through before the site can be taken forward for disposal.
The site does however remain allocated for residential development, and as the property matters are resolved, specific plans with regards to the exact number or type of new homes to be delivered will be drawn up.
I can however assure you that this will include a significant proportion of affordable and social homes, as well as all properties being low carbon housing, thereby supporting the borough's pioneering Green New Deal, with all new homes on Council sites being built to the government’s Future Homes Standards on sustainability.
This is a very important site for Saddleworth, given how little land there is under Council control that’s suitable for housing in this part of the borough, and we will therefore do all that we can to ensure that we get the right type of housing that benefits as many local residents as possible.
2. Question from Magd Sachs
Six months ago Oldham Council committed itself to ensuring ethical investment by the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.
With reference to investment in fossil fuels, the urgency of action, in view of the increasing intensity of climate breakdown, is clear.
What update can you provide on the creation a plan for stepping up divestment in fossil fuel companies, and also on ensuring transparency on the investment decisions taken by the Fund?
Who is taking the lead on the actions in the motion?
Can you provide a timetable of actions taken and planned?
Councillor Jabbar, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Corporate Services and Sustainability replied thanking Magda for the question, adding that we all recognise that the climate emergency is one of the biggest challenges facing our times and everyone has a responsibility to do their part.
The Greater Manchester Pension Fund does invest in companies such as Shell and BP as part of its commitment to ensure the best return for members of the scheme. The Fund does recognise the need to ensure that it balances sound investment with an ethical approach and has committed to net zero by 2050. We can all agree that they should move faster towards this goal and align it better to the Greater Manchester target of 2038.
It believes in constructive engagement with the companies it invests with, arguing for greener practices.
They also invest in renewables which as we all know is the way to a sustainable future.
But we can all agree that they need to go further, faster and I will continue to make that case as Oldham’s representative on the body.
3. Question from Hannah Roberts
NHS England has pledged to eradicate cervical cancer by 2040 – it affects 3,200 women annually in the UK, and 800 die. Unfortunately, HPV vaccination rates are below the target of 90%, and the cervical screening target of 80% is also not reached.
Those who miss screening tests will receive home testing kits from January 2026. Can the Cabinet Member for Adults Health and Wellbeing confirm the take up rate of HPV vaccinations in Oldham and what the Council can do to encourage more young people to be vaccinated and to support those who receive home testing kits to use them?
Councillor Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health and Wellbeing replied that vaccinations are an essential approach to preventing and reducing spread of disease and infections. Although HPV vaccination rates are lower than where we would like, Oldham has seen an increase in HPV vaccination coverage for both males and females in Year 8 between 2022/23 and 2023/24. The service is commissioned through Greater Manchester but Oldham continues to promote the vaccine through our school nurses.
In the 2023/24 academic year, 71.1% of 12–13-year-old females in Oldham received at least one dose of the HPV vaccine, which is only very slightly below the national average of 71.3%.
In the 2023/24 academic year, 67.7% of 12–13-year-old males in Oldham received the HPV vaccine, which is also slightly below the national average.
Oldham continues to take a data led approach to identify groups with low uptake for screening programmes including cervical screening. In Oldham, uptake is lowest in some of our ethnic minority communities, and noticeably in our most deprived areas. Greater Manchester commissions the Answer Cancer programme delivered by a number of partners to increase cervical screening rates in areas of lowest uptake. When the home tests become available, the Council will actively work with partners and community groups to promote this.
4. Question from Jenny Harrison
The Oldham Times reported that Greater Manchester will receive a £2.5 billion boost to transport spending, including 1000 new electric Bee Network buses and a new tram stop at Cop Road, between Derker and Shaw and Crompton. Can the Cabinet Member for Transport give us any further information about how this funding will benefit Oldham and when we can expect the Cop Road stop to open?
Councillor Goodwin, Cabinet Member for Transport and Highways replied that on 4th June 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer visited Rochdale to announce devolved ‘Transport for City Regions’ funding for regional transport infrastructure. The Chancellor’s announcement confirmed that Greater Manchester is set to receive £2.5 billion of a national £15.6 billion pot – the full amount set out in the previous government’s indicative allocation in October 2023. This funding runs from March 2027 to March 2032 and will form part of Greater Manchester’s Integrated Settlement.
The indicative programme for Transport for City Regions funding sets out an aspiration to deliver 1000 new electric buses on to the network in Greater Manchester. This will include the continued deployment of more electric buses onto the network in Oldham, which will provide benefits such as reduced CO2 emissions and improved air quality. The investment will also improve the journey quality for residents through newer vehicles.
In terms of the new stop at Cop Road, council officers are supporting TfGM in progressing designs and a business case for the new stop. This business case will set out strategies for funding and delivery. The target date for the stop opening is 2030/2031, subject to successful completion of the design, approval of the business case and securing the necessary funding for delivery.
In terms of other projects, Oldham will benefit from projects such as the proposed Tram-Train Pathfinder, which will connect Oldham, Rochdale, Heywood and Bury. Oldham will also benefit from GM’s plans to integrate local rail services into the Bee Network, which will fully join up travel with buses, trams and active travel.
This newly announced funding commitment is just the start of work to deliver Greater Manchester’s integrated pipeline ambition. Work to identify, develop and deliver the specific infrastructure priorities in every area of Greater Manchester will take time and work will now progress at pace with local authority leaders. Priorities include:
· Works to enable local regeneration
· Highways maintenance
· Active travel infrastructure
· Vision Zero interventions (including school streets and crossings)
· Bus priority measures.
5. Question from Stephen Ingham
I'd like to congratulate Oldham Athletic on their win at Wembley and promotion back to the Football League. I recently saw an article about work starting at Boundary Park on 'SportsTown' - can the Leader of the Council confirm what benefits SportsTown will bring to the borough and young people in our community??
Councillor Shah, leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Growth replied, thanking Stephen for his question, adding that SportsTown is a public-private venture between the land owners around Boundary Park to provide enhanced educational, health and sports facilities for Oldham’s communities.
This includes new further education and higher education courses which specialise in routes to jobs connected with either health and / or sports – early examples include sports coaching, sports sciences, physiotherapy and other community health provisions like radiography as the facilities are developed.
SportsTown is also about ensuring the professional standard facilities are made available for community clubs and sports to provide enhanced facilities for Oldham’s young people aspiring to be the best in their field, and to allow a wider range of sports to benefit like netball, darts, and cricket.
As the works on site develop, I will ensure there is more information available for Oldham’s communities about what will soon be available as part of the SportsTown offer.