Author Archives: JimfromOldham

This week’s announcement of £442 million to tackle rough sleeping is welcome, alongside the Government’s ambition to end long-term rough sleeping at the earliest opportunity. Greater Manchester has already shown what can be achieved through programmes like Housing First and A Bed Every Night. We need to build on that work and make sure peopleContinue reading “Ending rough sleeping”

Following representations to Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust and Oldham Council, there is now greater clarity about the proposed changes to Orchard House Day Hospital in Royton. It is welcome news that Orchard House itself is not closing and that existing patients will continue to receive support. However, direct referrals will stop from 28 August,Continue reading “Update on Orchard House Day Hospital”

A big congratulations to everyone receiving their GCSE results today! This is a milestone that deserves to be celebrated with a huge amount of work from students, families & teachers having gone into reaching this point. Whatever comes next, I wish you all the very best. Enjoy the celebrations and good luck for the future!Continue reading “GCSE Results Day 2026”

I hope we now turn a corner on the free for all to date, and it’s rejected by the planning committee. Official data shows the borough already has almost 400 HMOs, many of which are of a poor standard and contributing to the housing crisis by removing family homes from the market. Is likely nowContinue reading “Another application to turn a family home into a HMO”

Too many local pubs have been lost. While some will have reached the end of their use as a pub, many are simply lost because it’s more lucrative to convert them into flats, HMOs, or other uses, pushing otherwise viable pubs to closure against the wishes of local communities. Even when a change of useContinue reading “Tougher protection announced to save community pubs!”

When I visited Wrigley Head last year, work was underway to transform a neglected site into a source of clean, renewable energy. Now, Oldham’s first solar farm is nearing completion and will soon be generating enough electricity to power around 310 homes. A great example of putting unused land to good use and delivering aContinue reading “Progress on Oldham’s new solar project …”

Following my appointment to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) by the Prime Minister, I am delighted to have received confirmation of the portfolio I will lead as 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡. This covers local government finance (council tax, business rates, grants and pensions), policy, standards and intervention;Continue reading “Great to be appointed Minister for Local Government, Devolution and Regional Growth”