Greater Manchester Co-operatives are thriving

Today I spent the morning visiting some new co-operatives in Greater Manchester, it was fantastic to see how these enterprises are thriving even during hard times.

As Chair of the Co-operative Party I was keen to get out and visit co-ops within our movement to see how they were getting by and to highlight the great work of enterprise within our collective movement.

We need more co-ops to help build a fairer economic and social settlement for everyone.

Many thanks to the Chorlton Bike Delivery Co-op for talking me through your plans for development and to the Carbon Co-op and People Powered Retrofit for hosting me and showing off your model house!

You can read a more in depth blog post from me here on the Co-operative Party’s website: https://party.coop/2021/08/06/co-operatives-arent-just-surviving-in-this-crisis-they-are-thriving/

Mantra Learning and HGV Diver Shortages…

Had a fantastic time visiting the National Logistics Academy at Mantra Learning yesterday morning to see the brilliant work they’re doing to combat the huge HGV driver shortage that we face.

It’s clear that the Government should be doing much more to combat the driver shortage and come up with a clear plan that doesn’t just move a bottle neck from one part of the sector to another.

Yesterday I heard about how the Government’s plans to recruit more examiners means that places like Mantra are at risk of losing their highly skilled instructors.

Busk Community Litter Pick

Great to join the team out in Busk area of Chadderton. We are growing volunteers who want to improve our town all the time. We picked up serious dumping taking place off Chancery Street which will need a plan to sort out, and hopefully we will have news to report soon.

The Labour council are doing great work and have pledged an additional £1.27m to clean up Oldham.

✅ A ward by ward deep clean up, expected to start in September.

✅ Five new street cleaners – Dandy cart operators – employed to pick up litter and waste.

✅ Two new fly-tipping clearance crews – four staff in each team – who will remove dumped rubbish.

✅ Five new Environmental Marshals who will carry out enforcement work and engage with communities on other issues.

✅ Two new trucks to make sure street waste is picked up quicker.

Councillor Arooj Shah, Leader of Oldham Council, said: “Residents keep telling us they are sick of people fly-tipping, dumping waste and littering. That’s why when I took over as leader, I promised we would invest more money making sure our streets are clean, despite continued cuts to our budget.”

As Labour councillors and your local MP we don’t just want to say what’s needed to improve the town, we believe in rolling our sleeves up and getting involved.

Let’s all do our bit to help #loveoldham

Chadderton Day 2021

Wonderful community spirit for the annual Chadderton Day at Foxdenton Park with the Mayor Of Oldham Cllr Jenny Harrison, her consort Cllr Shaid Mushtaq and Chadderton Central Councillors’ Moores, Taylor and McLaren.

It was great to see the hard work of local councillors and community volunteers has paid off with the opening of a new café named after suffragist Lydia Becker, who lived at Foxdenton Hall.

The tea room is always looking for willing volunteers to help out.

Hollinwood Clean Up

After morning meetings it was a real tonic to attend one of our regular clean up events. Residents around Kimberley Street, Hollinwood mucked in to really make a difference.

I’m so proud of our town and the people who make it a great place to live. We know we have some people who don’t take the care we deserve, and littering and fly tipping has gone too far in places. But the vast majority of decent people shouldn’t have to live with it.

By working together as one community we can make big jobs like alleyway clean ups easier to do. But we need those landlords, residents and businesses who contribute to the mess to step up. If not the council will need to make an example out of more people whose actions ruin the town.

I am really pleased to see the council pledging more investment in street cleaning and getting the basics right. We all deserve to live in a clean and safe neighbourhood and every child should have somewhere to play safely too.

We’ll keep going, and I hope more and more join the march to clean up Oldham with us #loveoldham

We’re making progress combatting violence against shopworkers

Last November, Oldham West and Royton MP, Jim McMahon met with shopworkers from the Cathedral Road Co-op in Chadderton, during the meeting Jim promised to raise the increased violence against shopworkers with Deputy Mayor for Police and Crime Baroness Bev Hughes.

In January this year the first meeting took place, Jim and a group of cross-party MPs from across Greater Manchester met with the Bev Hughes to discuss how GMP can better deal with violence against shopworkers and retail crime.

Fast forward six months and there is now a dedicated Retail Crime Steering Group working within the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and GMP meaning that shopworker’s and customer’s safety is now a high priority.

The group of Greater Manchester MPs have met regularly with Bev Hughes for updates on the steering group and its plans going forward. After the most recent meeting last week Jim said, “I’m very pleased with the progress that’s been made in Greater Manchester in relatively short time, it may take a while yet before shopworkers start noticing the difference but I’m delighted with the leadership Bev and her team have shown on this.”

“I’m really glad that a meeting I had with staff from the Cathedral Road Co-op has turned into something that should make the lives of shopworkers easier.”

“The pandemic saw threats, abuse and violence against shopworkers almost double, it’s unacceptable and was frankly unsustainable. It’s not part of the job and hopefully we’ve now reached a turning point.”

“I’d just encourage everyone to follow the Shop Kind guidance, remember how important shopworkers have been in keeping our families fully stocker with the essentials we need, be kind to them and customers whilst shopping, and carry on wearing a face mask to keep shopworkers safe too.”

Update on Independent Oldham CSE review

This week the leader of Oldham Council gave an update on the assurance review of child protection currently underway. The only approach to a review of such importance is one of openness, transparency, and humility.

It is important all residents play their part in reporting concerns, and in understanding the different characteristics and patterns of abuse which take place.

In January I posted an article which set out the scale of the challenge currently in the borough, and it’s worth repeating.

According to published data there are 2,460 children in need in Oldham (2019/20), and a reported 400,000 children in need across England. Locally 386 young people were the subject of a child protection plan. 44% of those with a child protection plan were because of emotional abuse, 47% because of neglect, 3% physical abuse, and 6% sexual abuse.

In the same period there were 4,627 assessments completed by children’s social services, which are reviews carried out by social workers once a concern is raised.

At the meeting Cllr Arooj Shah said, “Our biggest responsibility as a council is to keep our children and young people safe. The review team are leading experts and I have no doubt they will identify areas where our work in the past has fallen short.

Nothing should be said today which seeks to either pre-empt or undermine the review. I am acutely aware that those who seek to make political capital will portray whatever is found as part of a conspiracy if it falls short of completely slamming all that was done at the time to protect young people. We must not allow that to guide us, or to blind us, in that we must take it’s findings even when it offers challenge and use that to ensure lessons are learned.

Nothing Madam Mayor, and I repeat nothing matters more than the protection of young people and bringing abusers to trial.

And so, I ask each and every one of you in order. Firstly, help us instil confidence so that victims feel supported to come forward. Help us educate and go into every community to teach young people what positive relationships are, and what signs of abuse to watch out for including control, grooming and inappropriate behaviour at home, in the community or online.

Secondly, there is no hierarchy of victim or offender based on race, religion, social class, gender, or anything else. All victims must be supported equally, and all offenders must be dealt with robustly and with the full weight of the law. I will not shy away, and I hope I have the support of the whole chamber and the wider community.

And finally, all of us in public service are here to serve the community to the best of our ability and judgement.

It is a fact, and a horrible fact that abuse does take place. Protesting, abusing or marginalising those of us fighting to put it right does not help victims, nor encouraging decent people into public service.

My personal commitment to you is honesty, hard work and accountability.”

If you have any concerns about child sexual exploitation you can report them and find resources at https://www.itsnotokay.co.uk/

If you have concerns about the welfare of children you can report them to Oldham Council Social Services on 0161 770 7777 or by email at child.mash@oldham.gov.uk