Council leader in the hot seat

HOWARD SYKES answers readers' questions

THE Chronicle puts Oldham’s leading figures in the hot seat and gives local people the chance to ask the questions that really matter to them.

This time the spotlight turns on Oldham’s Council leader, Councillor Howard Sykes, currently leading the Liberal Democrat-Conservative coalition.

Janice Barker posed the questions on behalf of readers.


Q What steps is the council taking to improve Oldham’s economy and safeguard or create jobs?

A How long have you got? We are involved in so many different schemes — some local, regional and national, some entirely public or a mixture of public and the private sectors.

There is no one single remedy to boosting the local economy, but we have been aware and planning for many months to make this borough ‘shovel ready’.

We have to be prepared and positioned to capitalise when the recovery comes and we examine all options carefully to ensure we invest in those that will work.

The Metrolink project will be vital to drive town centre regeneration. This is the linchpin of many of our plans and I believe the arrival of the tram will be the most important economic development here since the decline of the more traditional industries this borough was built on in the past.

We also know that businesses and inward investment are only attracted by a high quality and skilled workforce.

That explains our backing for the Regional Science Centre — to give future generations unprecedented new opportunities — and also why we lobbied central government day and night to ensure this borough got its three planned academies.

We’ve also established a Construction Network in partnership with the private sector to give local business advanced notification of potential public-sector contracts.

That includes changing Oldham Council’s own procurement rules to increase opportunities for local firms on schemes like Building Schools for the Future.

We know cashflow can be a huge problem for local business and we have made strenuous efforts to pay our bills quicker to help local firms, and provide other support for them and new business start-ups.

Independent town centre traders told us that on-street car parking charges were too high and deterring customers, for example, so we slashed them in half and it’s been a very popular measure.

For those people who are being made redundant we are providing a range of personalised employment and skills support to help them to adapt and move over into more resilient sectors.

I could go on, but suffice to say that if there’s a stone that anyone thinks we have left unturned, then I would be more than happy to hear about it from Chronicle readers.

The council doesn’t have all the answers here —and it has to work smarter on a reduced budget — but it also has a crucial leadership role to play and it’s one I take very seriously.


Q How will losing 800 Council jobs fit in with that?

A That’s precisely why the work I’ve just outlined with the private sector is going to be even more important — and why we’ll be redoubling our efforts in that regard.

This recession has hit the nation’s finances hard and Oldham Council was never going to be immune. Difficult decisions must be made and we won’t hide from them. But we are also not inhuman or naive and we totally recognise the impact on these to our staff, the local economy and service users.

What we can’t do is panic and make the mistake of thinking short-term. That’s why, for example, we’ll have more new council apprenticeships this year than last year — and even more in the next. That’s because we recognise the importance of providing opportunities for our young people and we can not lose sight of that.

The traditional answer in the past would also have been to raise revenue by putting council tax up, but that’s not an option. Not just because I pledged I wouldn’t do it — because I know local people’s pockets couldn’t bear it.

Historically when we’ve had redundancies most leavers have been voluntary and we’re committed to avoiding compulsory redundancies wherever possible. Any affected staff will also get a full assistance package, plus redeployment opportunities.

These are testing times but there’s no point moaning. Anyone who works at Oldham Council will tell you they are being made to work harder, smarter and faster — and that must continue in all areas because it won’t be any easier in 2011-2.


Q DO you agree councillors have a moral obligation to take a reduction in allowances?

A No, I’m afraid I don’t. Morality is deeply personal and something that differs from one person to the next.

To remove personal morality from the debate in Oldham we have an Independent Remuneration Panel which examines this matter. This decides what allowances each member is entitled to receive — and does it completely free of any political influence.

The panel did a three-year deal which tied any increases in allowances directly to what was received by council employees in their annual pay round, 12 months in arrears, which I think is right and proper.

This year there are no increases and the independent panel has also taken money away from some councillors and given it to others with certain responsibilities.

That is their gift and judgement to make. It shouldn’t be mine — and it shouldn’t be for any politician to decide.


Q Another reader questions what happens to allocations of Government money not spent by the end of the year. Does Oldham have a slush fund account where it is placed instead of returning the money. What happens to it and how is it spent?

A Well, if such a “slush fund” did exist I can assure you I would be moving mountains to try and get my hands on it right now.

What actually happens is that we get two different types of grant from government — revenue and capital. The reader is absolutely correct to say that some of these are ring-fenced and that they have to be spent on specific work.

Many of them are not time-limited though, and if there are funds unspent at the end of the year they can be carried forward to be used for that purpose in a future financial year.

Housing Market Renewal money, or funds for children’s services like SureStart, are good examples of this and we have a good track record of managing grant funding like this.

Some money is both ring-fenced and time-limited, and there have been few occasions where the full total has not been spent. I happen to know that about £225,000 of a £7.1 million New Deal for Communities budget was not spent in 2008-9. On the rare occasions where this may happen, the money has to be returned to central government.


Q Another reader, referring to the mosque which was built too high, asks why the council doesn’t use its powers and stop being so namby-pamby adding: “This isn’t the first time we have been taken for a ride.”

A Planning rules and guidelines are set nationally. I would like the power to set more rules at a local level because I think local citizens know best what is good for their area.

The mosque decision was taken by the cross-party members of the planning committee. They were fully aware of what the national guidelines on height are and mindful that if they turned the application down it would probably have led to an appeal unnecessarily costing the taxpayer thousands of pounds, and that we would — in all probability — have lost.

I can imagine what the headlines might have been then — that the committee’s decision was futile, posturing and a waste of money.

Planning is a tough climate. You need an incredibly robust argument to go against the national rules at present, and that means there are often some very harsh and realistic decisions to be made.


Q The policy of charging full council tax on empty properties is questioned by a reader who adds: “Derelict mills and shops pay nothing yet receive a full fire and police service.”

A A business property that has just become empty gets an exemption from paying business rates for the first three months — and that is up to six months for industrial properties, such as warehouses and mills.

Domestic properties also get an initial six-month exemption from when they first become empty. That can be extended for up to 12 months if they are carrying our important renovation work, like structural alterations, that will bring the property back into use.

I hope the reader isn’t seriously suggesting we should leave a mill blazing in a residential area just because our records show they are exempt from paying council tax!

But the really crucial point here is that right now we have around 6,500 residents on the council’s housing register.

Empty houses are a blight on communities and can become targets for vandalism and other types of anti-social behaviour. They are also a waste of potential and much-needed housing. I want to see these renovated and re-let.

We need to do something to encourage people who own these vacant properties to get them back into use and help us to help people get on to the property ladder. We are striving to use every tool at our disposal to tackle this issue, and I make absolutely no apologies for that.


Q Another asks why there are no changing facilities at Clayton Playing Fields and no flower displays in Chadderton town centre?

A Clayton Playing Fields was identified as a key site for football in the Local Area Plan written by the Football Association and the Manchester FA. The FA continues to aspire for the Clayton site to provide a sports village type facility but the considerable costs involved mean this can only remain an aspiration at this time.

At our last meeting the Clayton Playing Fields trustees approved a report to erect replacement changing facilities for the unsafe ones which had to be demolished in 2007. Ideally we’d like to see around a dozen changing rooms provided but there is very little funding out there at present to achieve that.

Officers are now working very hard to put a financial package together to provide six portable cabin-type changing rooms.

They hope to get the funding committed this month and then submit a planning application as soon as possible after that. This will at least provide us with an interim solution until the investment climate changes in the medium term.

I’m pleased that your reader has been impressed by the floral displays across the borough this summer.

Some of these were part of the second year of Bloom and Grow which we have received fantastic public feedback on — even from overseas visitors from Canada recently — and each year we’re now aiming to take this scheme into different areas.

On the subject of Chadderton, I would say that the reader needs to lobby the Chadderton District Partnership if they’re disappointed by the lack of floral displays there.

District partnerships have their own budgets from which they can opt to fund these kinds of activities to brighten up their communities. I know that is what has happened in Royton, Shaw and Crompton, for example and that parish councils can also fund them too.


Q A Chadderton reader wants to know why neighbouring Tameside is not called after Ashton under Lyne, so why couldn’t Oldham be called Medlockside?

A I have to say that I raised these issues when the new Oldham brand was consulted upon in 2008. I wanted this to be part of a full debate, and not just one about logos and aesthetics.

A number of different suggestions were discussed extensively at the time but they were thought to be impractical. As is often the case in emotive debates like this there was no clear majority either in favour of the change, or what a new name for the borough would have been.



TOMORROW: Your questions about Metrolink and more


The complete version of this story can be read in tonight’s Chronicle and online in the E-Chron (subscription required)