It was a real privilege to speak to young people at National Citizenship Service supported by Oldham Athletic Community Trust, at the Primrose Bank Community Centre. It’s so important democracy is engaging.
I talked the young people through my journey in politics and how they can’t afford to sit back and assume that someone else will take the lead and speak up for the problems that their generation is encountering.
It’s my belief that anyone in that room at the Primrose Community Centre today could be a future Prime Minister, with hard work and a passion for serving your community you can go a long way.
And as always with these types of events there were fantastic and engaging questions from the young people involved.
The Manchester Evening News has reported that efforts are being made to establish a community patrol in parts of the constituency.
Nationally a number of similar groups have already been established, and it proves a source of tension for local councils and police forces in reconciling how to ensure the safety of volunteers and the wider public, and ensuring basic standards are met. I do not doubt that residents looking to organise community patrols are likely be well meaning, as will many in the wider community who want to offer support, but without clear regulation and basic standards such as training, governance and compliance being in place it remains my view that they should not be encouraged or facilitated by the police or local council. My concerns reflect those set out in July by Cllr Shah, Leader of the Council; “People’s concerns about the levels of crime in their area are very real and something all members hear about from their local residents very regularly.
“We would, however, question whether street patrols of this nature are the best or most appropriate solution to the issues residents raise.
“As a result, we don’t currently offer any support or funding to these types of groups and have no plans to do so.’
There has always been a role for community involvement to reduce crime. In most cases this will not be patrols but formalised Neighbourhood Watch schemes which are supported by the police, local council and often housing associations.
As a constituency MP I am regularly in dialogue with Greater Manchester Police and Oldham Council on community safety and crime issues. My postbag regularly receives concerns from residents about rising crime and the lack of resources to allow the police to respond.
I have written previously on the damage done by a decade of Conservative cuts. Our town has lost local police stations, both its County Court and Magistrates Court have closed, and not a single custody cell is operational in the Borough. All of this undermines public confidence. Though more officers are being recruited they will not replace all we have lost, nor will we see the support staffing replaced to the same level.
Even in this challenging context we must see a return to local and active neighbourhood policing, as set out by the Mayor and new Chief Constable, and for that to be supported by reporting lines which are fit for purpose. Residents have the right to expect active investigations into crimes which are reported. That also means that the iOps IT system must be sorted out once and for all, until it is victims will not get the justice they deserve and frontline officers will have a much harder job to do.
All this is essential to maintain and rebuild public trust and confidence.
I had a really interesting visit to Mellor Buses in Rochdale this morning hearing about how the Government’s zero emission bus funding is excluding companies like Mellor as they deal with buses at the smaller end of the spectrum – under 23 passengers – and holding back British manufacturing as a result.
We’re 18 months on from the Government promising four-thousand zero emission buses and they’re still massively falling short of their promises. This is just the latest in a long line of examples of the government talking a good game, yet failing to deliver.
Even if all four-thousand of these buses are delivered it still leaves twenty-eight-thousand buses polluting our roads. While we’re still waiting for the promised zero emission buses, cuts to bus services and rising ticket costs will push more people into using more polluting forms of transport.
The decade ahead is crucial. We must grow modern industries such as manufacturing electric vehicles to build a long-term economy that provides good jobs and is fit for the future.
Another successful community litter pick done yesterday, even with the foul weather we managed to get through the Shaw Street area of Royton and amass a fair few bags!
We’ve been out now a fair few times in Royton, the councillors are really putting in the hard work to make the town clean and well cared for, as always it was a pleasure to be out with them.
Team GB have as always been excellent during the Tokyo Olympic Games, and Matt Walls’ heroics on the cycling track have made all of us in Oldham incredibly proud.
Together with Debbie Abrahams and Angela Rayner we’ve written to Oldham Council to ask that Matt be given the Freedom of the Borough – the highest honour Oldham can bestow – upon his return from Tokyo in recognition of his outstanding achievements.
It was a pleasure to attend a visit to the Shree Swaminarayan Temple construction site with council leader Cllr Arooj Shah this week.
It has been two years since we met at the new temple site on Copster Hill Road at the ground-breaking ceremony in 2019.
However, when Covid hit it led to delays in the project. Contractors started on the site in July 2020, and work has been progressing at high speed; they aim to have the property watertight by September, with the opening planned for July 2022.
The quality of the materials, the attention to detail and the thought put into the facilities, which will include a community hall for all events including sports is impressive. This will undoubtedly be a landmark building which will serve the Indian community and beyond for generations to come.
This morning I met with Chief Inspector Trevor Harrison from Oldham Police Station today to discuss concerns raised with me about youth violence and knife crime following a number of high-profile incidents in the constituency.
The data shows there has been a recent spike in knife related incidents, though broadly it appears to be following the same path as the previous years.
Throughout my near 20 years in public service in Oldham there has always been an undercurrent of ‘turf battles’ between different areas, and that this can spike into serious incidents. This appears to explain the most recent incidents and I am pleased the police have an operation, codenamed Operation Cayman to address this, so far identifying around 25 young people involved, or on the edge of criminal activity.
It is vital we set out the path crime can take, and how young people can get drawn into trouble and quickly escalate into crime and the justice system. For too many opportunities and inspiration is in short supply and it is for all of us to work to put this right.
I am concerned that young people are being brought into criminality and the justice system through drugs and gang related activity. The control and use of drugs in the community is a constant battle, and it is important we address it with the seriousness it deserves. Beyond this, the whole system must work together and ensure young people do not fall in between the gaps, and I’ll be doing more work on this in the coming months.
Our #nhs workers are amazing, working around the clock to deliver the vaccine roll out – literally come rain or shine!
It was a pleasure to meet the mobile team at St Chads, Limeside, and to be talked through the work they do. At this centre residents can access the Pfizer vaccine.
They are here until 7pm this evening and back on Monday 12-7pm. No appointment needed
Jim McMahon OBE MP 