Devolution of power will ‘expose bad councillors’

Failsworth & Hollinwood District Partnership
MORE decision-making power is coming to Failsworth and Hollinwood as part of sweeping changes to all six district partnerships across the borough.

Changes will include each district partnership having a central hub and a satellite base — Failsworth Town Hall and St Chad’s Centre, Limeside, respectively.

Current area manager positions will be scrapped and replaced with new, more senior district co-ordinator posts.

Each area will have its own environment manager and a shared community development worker. And integrated youth services will be brought down to local level.

A £360,000 central pot will be available for large projects in all six district partnership areas. In addition, each ward will get its own £30,000 priority fund, as well as £25,000 for highways schemes.

The partnerships will also be able to bid for a share of £100,000 specifically for alleygating schemes, and £100,000 for Bloom and Grow projects.

Local councillors will also have to take part in a extra training.

Council leader Jim McMahon said: “This will separate good councillors from bad councillors and leave bad councillors exposed.”




Half of all children living in poverty



ALMOST half of all children in Hollinwood are living in poverty, according to a new report.



Figures included in the council’s Children and Young People Needs Analysis showed 42.8 per cent of Hollinwood children were living in poverty, higher than the boroughwide average of 29.3 per cent. In the Failsworth West ward, it was 19.3 per cent, and 13.3 per cent in Failsworth East. Other statistics showed there were reductions the number of 10-17 year-olds entering the youth justice system between 2008 to 2011 across all three wards.

However, numbers had started to rise again in the Failsworth West ward over the past year. There was a significantly higher number of under-18 pregnancies in Hollinwood than the borough average.

The report also showed the combined Failsworth and Hollinwood wards had the borough’s third-highest emergency hospital admissions for mental health among young people (427 admissions per 100,000).

The needs analysis report will now be used by the district partnership and other organisations as a way of identifying young people’s needs in the three wards.

John Norris, Failsworth and Hollinwood area manager, said: “It is an important piece of analytical data and a really important tool to help us move forward.”