Labour & Co-operative | Serving the communities of Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton
Exactly 10 years ago today, the Oldham West & Royton by-election took place and I was elected as its Member of Parliament. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve for all those in the communities of Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton for the past decade, and as councillor in the borough for 12 years before that.
So much has happened over those years, not least of all another three General Elections, the EU Referendum, the pandemic, a Labour government elected and much more! But today I just wanted to say Thank You to constituents who have allowed me to represent you in Parliament, and that however you voted and even if you didn’t vote at all, that I appreciate the many constructive and respectful exchanges over those years. I’ve always tried hard to represent everyone in every part of the constituency regardless of political views. I know once the votes are counted you only have one MP and it matters to me that we help anyone who needs it.
And through this role my team and I have been able to help many thousands of local people, often when the system has let them down and sometimes when it can feel there was nowhere left to go. I know the individual difference that has made to so many.
And so a Thank You to my team today, and those who have worked with me throughout the years and played their part. They are the people who make sure we see through the battles for local people and the wins are very often a result of their efforts. And to my own family for supporting me to do what is an incredible if not demanding responsibility.
Politics isn’t easy and in Oldham it is never dull, we know that gets a lot of attention, but what isn’t talked about enough is the amazing networks of decent people doing their bit in every corner of our borough, not for reward or status but for the care and commitment they have for the community. I see it every single week and it gives me hope our best days are ahead of us.
I spoke in the well subscribed debate on Homelessness today, and I was keen to put the human cost forward as well as the financial cost of failure.
In Oldham there are 517 households with 633 children living in temporary B&B and shared nightly facility accommodation. Though we call it temporary accommodation 10% have been in those facilities for 2-5 years, 32% for 1-2 years. These are formative years for children and the impact of low standard living conditions, distance from schools and support networks, are unacceptable.
And so is the gold rush it has presented to private landlords including in Oldham which is ripping off taxpayers and driving up prices locally. Room rates at a recently evacuated building at Kings Hall were contracted by the local authority at £7,000 a month. That’s £85,000 a year for what were attic rooms stuffed with mattresses in a building the council deemed to be unsafe.
But that is the tip of the iceberg.
The facility I visited in Oldham was run with mice which kept the children awake at night as they eat through the skirting boards. Residents were in single rooms with cooking hobs placed next to beds, extractors not working, and a dim single light to the whole room. Shared bathroom faculties across corridors meant even bathing children for school the next day was an event in itself. Again each room would draw thousands from the local council.
Around 1 in 5 cases were a result of an end in private tenancy, and the Renters Rights Act will finally deal with no fault evictions, something the Labour government promised and has delivered.
But we need to address the artificial market being fuelled by government itself; Local Authority temporary accommodation, Home Office asylum dispersed accommodation, Ministry of Justice follow on accommodation all act in competition in driving up prices, rewarding low quality housing and changing the face of neighbourhoods as family homes are lost to HMOs.
There is real human cost to this crisis and it needs all of government to work together to solve it. I want to see families housed in a safe, affordable and decent home and rogue private landlords who have exploited this crisis put out of business.
Head to my Facebook page to see a clip of my contribution to the debate.
Eton backed Star Sixth Form in Oldham was announced by the Tory government in August 2023. The Labour government announced a review of the national programme over a year ago to consider its value for money and added value in local areas of the overall programme (not Oldham specificity) and the priority of special needs provision and school places.
Since then I and others have been asking for updates by letter and parliamentary questions to no avail. I’ve raised in parliament to urge that whether it’s going ahead or not, for the government to make an urgent decision so that parents, the council and other sixth form providers know where they are up to.
The government minister confirmed a decision would be made soon.
I also used this opportunity to put on the record again the need to review apprenticeships in England so far more are advertised when young people are completing exams ahead of summer and well before the September term. At the moment the busiest month for apprenticeships to be advertised is February – six months after exams have finished! I’ll keep pushing on securing improvements to the scheme, especially as the budget will allow for employers to take free placements for apprentices under 25 years old. It has the potential to significantly increase the number available.
Great to be down at Wrigley Head Solar Farm with Cllr Jabbar today, seeing first-hand the progress being made to bring more clean, home-grown power to Oldham. This is one of the first projects of its kind in Greater Manchester, and it’s happening right here in our borough.
Under our Labour-led Council, we’re not just talking about green ambition, we’re delivering it. This project will help create good-quality local jobs, and once it’s switched on, it’s expected to produce enough power for the equivalent of around 750 homes.
Proud to see Oldham leading the way. Let’s keep going!
Working people keep this country running, but many are now having to pay out of their own pocket just to do their jobs. That’s because HMRC’s mileage rate hasn’t been updated for 15 years.
Unison and the RAC have both called for the 45p a mile rate to be raised, previously calling for the rate to be uplifted to 63p a mile. The then Tory government did nothing.
The cost of running a vehicle has gone up in every way over fifteen years. In 2010 petrol was 117p a litre, it’s now 135p, an increase of 15%. Car insurance has jumped by 56%, even higher in cities. Road Tax, determined entirely by government itself has jumped by 39%, and repairs and maintenance up by 40%.
I tabled Parliamentary question which found out the NHS has updated its own rate meaning that Doctors and staff covered by Agenda for Change will now get 59p a mile for the first 3,500 miles.
The NHS were right to take action. But the failure of HMRC to update rates across the board means that NHS staff will now be reimbursed over 25% more per mile than home-care workers outside the NHS who do the same kind of driving. With many home care workers paid at or just above the National Living Wage it means they are paying the tax office to work and left out of pocket by thousands of pounds, pushing them well below the cost of living.
The same applies for millions of workers across the country. A recent HMRC survey showed that 9 out of 10 of employers who reimburse staff for work mileage used HMRCs out of date rates.
Only 10% of companies make an independent assessment, but many are not in that position for different reasons and the evidence shows it.
The Tories allowed this highway robbery to go unchecked for the 14 years they were in office. Labour, as the party of working people, must take action, and it’s why I’m challenging HMRC to get its house in order.
Good to catch up with Oldham district’s Chief Superintendent Estelle Mathieson once again at Oldham Police Station. We had a really constructive conversation about the challenges Oldham, Chadderton & Royton are facing – such as youth knife crime, and organised crime – and the work already happening to keep people safe, by tackling both the crime and its causes.
A big part of the discussion was the new Oldham police station. I made it clear that this shouldn’t just be a rebuild. We need it to come with the right facilities for a modern police service and wider justice centre. That means custody cells and proper court provision returning on site, so we are not sending people all across Greater Manchester and slowing down the whole process. I will keep pushing for this because Oldham deserves nothing less.
We also talked about Operation Vulcan. It has made a real difference in Derker and we want to see a similar form of focused action extended to more parts of the borough, including places like Limeside which has some of the highest rates of Section 60 ‘stop and searches’ in our city-region.
This goes alongside the need to bring back community institutions which help those potentially vulnerable to criminal exploitation and offer a path to a better future. Local residents see the impact of crime & antisocial behaviour every day and they want to know that support is reaching every community.
As always, if there are issues you want me to raise directly, please get in touch at jim.mcmahon.mp@parliament.uk or 0161 652 8485. Keeping our community safe is a shared effort and I will keep working with GMP to make sure Oldham gets the attention and investment it needs.
Thank you to local people who came along to my advice surgery this week to raise concerns on a wide range of complex issues in our local area.
Our constituency is full of decent people doing amazing things and often in difficult circumstances. Away from meetings, visits and debates, it’s the one to one support not seen which often makes the most impact.
If you are a constituent in Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton and would like to book a surgery appointment, please contact my office at jim.mcmahon.mp@parliament.uk.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 