History in the making

Oldham Council leader, Councillor Howard Sykes, second left, at the historic signing with leaders of other Greater Manchester Councils, and seated, left, Minister for the North West Phil Woolas and Lord Peter Smith

Oldham Council leader Howard Sykes was among local politicians who watched a historic agreement being signed in Bury.

The document creating city region status for Greater Manchester was signed by Home Office Minister and Minister for the North West, Phil Woolas, and Association of Greater Manchester Authorities’ chairman, Lord Peter Smith.

It was watched by Councillor Sykes, who is also the vice chairman of AGMA.

The groundbreaking agreement between the 10 Greater Manchester local authorities and the Government means that Oldham and the rest of Greater Manchester will have more powers and responsibilities devolved from central government, giving the region more of a say in its own destiny.

Councillor Sykes said: “These new freedoms will be particularly important to for us as we work in partnership across the region to achieve an economic recovery more quickly than might otherwise have been possible.

“The City Region agreement has serious new powers, budgets and will give us unprecedented influence over our own affairs. Its importance to our borough is going to become increasingly obvious in the coming years.

“It may all seem fairly high-brow to ‘Joe Public’ at present, but this is certainly not a talking shop.

“Manchester — and our other neighbouring authorities — are just a few miles down the road.

“By working more closely together we can maximise the economic advantage of 10 authorities, rather than just one.”