Great to be in the JR Clynes building last week to meet with stakeholders from across Oldham as the Oldham Town Board met to discuss work to oversee the delivery of Towns Fund projects and other activity in Oldham town centre as part of our ongoing regeneration plan.

To have a strong future, our strength and confidence comes from our past. Our heritage across our town centre should therefore be protected, regenerated, and brought into the modern day for community use and civic life. While others shy away from these due to financial struggles, Oldham council shows its commitment to place and to creating a future local people can be proud of.

The four Towns Fund projects benefitting from the £24.4 million Town Deal are the Northern Roots urban farm and eco-park, a new flexible workspace, a new performance space, and the relocation of Tommyfield Market into Spindles.

Fruits of this hard work is becoming clear with funding translating into meaningful investment, that builds on the work our Labour-led Council has been doing for Many years to regenerate Oldham Town Centre:

The soon to be opened 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 & 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 completes the transformation at Spindles after the opening of the new council offices and 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝘃𝗲 as Oldham’s engine for business growth with co-working space, meeting rooms and events space.

Completed the Old Town Hall jigsaw with the opening of the magnificent 𝗘𝗴𝘆𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗼𝗺, bringing together Parliament Square with the Odeon Cinema and adjacent food retailers.

Saving 𝗢𝗹𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘂𝗺 at its historic home on Fairbottom Street and refurbishing it ready for 2026 panto season.

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 to create a space more people want to come to for their shopping, including organising events and improving appearance & safety by painting vacant shops, deep cleaning bins, increasing police presence, and installing CCTV cameras along the street.

Continuing to transform Union Street with the opening of the 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗹𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 as the cultural & civic home of our borough, finding a solution to pavement parking concerns, and taking on the 𝗣𝗿𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 to stop it deteriorating into further ruin.

Brining more people to the town centre through the building of thousands of homes as part of the 𝗢𝗹𝗱𝗵𝗮𝗺 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸.

Regeneration is not just about the centre of Oldham, but town centres and high streets all across our borough.

It’s not just Oldham Town Centre that is benefiting from government regeneration funding managed by members from local institutions and stakeholders. As part of the plan for neighbourhoods, the Chadderton Town Board continues to meet to implement the 10-year neighbourhood plan after it was awarded £20m over ten years for the regeneration of Chadderton and the surrounding area, beginning in March 2025, replacing the Long-Term Plan for Towns programme.

At the time of attending the first Chadderton Town Board last year where we met to discuss the investment plan, I wrote to the then Conservative government to ask that Royton was also included but it didn’t transpire in the final list of towns which followed.

Royton deserves this attention too and we have been working locally to do what we can to regenerate the area with the recently refurbished Royton Town Hall & Library, along with ongoing work to end the service charges dispute at Royton precinct.

Investing in heritage and civic places for the long term gives a sense of local pride to residents but we know regeneration of our great town centre should not be being done to people but with people in partnership so that communities have control in getting the town centre they want.

It was great to see so many from a wide range of industries, sectors and institutions at the meeting, showing the passion so many have to deliver the better future local people want.

Lovely to see the new garden and public square coming to life at the old Gallery gardens, now the JR Clynes Building.

A job well done!

To See more photos, head to my Facebook page.

Pleased to have cast my vote for Lucy Powell to become the next Deputy Leader of the Labour Party.

Lucy has been endorsed by each of the three Oldham constituencies and by the Co-operative Party, and carries the support of many MPs, unions and affiliates.

If you are a member you should have been emailed the ballot link. Nominations close on 23 October.

I’m proud to have started my career as an apprentice, and my sons have followed the same path. I know the power it can have in transforming people’s life chances and delivering the services communities need. For too long skills haven’t been taken seriously and the Tories kicked away the ladder for working class kids by this lack of focus and by scrapping maintenance grants.

With a Labour government, the change begins. This has to be the start of that change and further progress follows, for instance on the disconnect between apprenticeship opportunities and the academic year leading to gaps, sometimes significant between young people leaving school and being able to get on into the world of work and training.

The start of this work includes:

a new target – 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 after leaving school

targeted 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 for disadvantaged students

More than 40,000 future builders, bricklayers, electricians, carpenters and plumbers will get cutting edge skills to get Britain building at state-of-the-art 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘀

Establishing 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 to ensure better coordination between different areas of education & industry and apprentices are best prepared for jobs of the future

Boosting local economic growth, 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴-𝘂𝗽 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀, and extending opportunity to all

The last Labour government set the ambitious target of getting 50% of kids to university which was met in 2019, when half of those under the age of 30 had gone into higher education. However, we know this target is no longer right for our times.

Putting both technical and academic pathways on a level playfield is right for the future of our economy and right for our young people. This target also includes seeing at least 10% of young people pursuing higher technical courses or apprenticeships by 2040 – nearly double the current level.

The Tories scrapped maintenance grants, kicking away the ladder for working-class kids and discouraging so many from going to university or college. That’s why we’re bringing targeted grants back.

We prioritised good jobs at the election for the people of Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton because we want local people to have more opportunities & drive up their living standards. From establishing Skills England, to ending fire-and-rehire, banning exploitative zero-hour contracts, and increasing the National Living Wage rising by £1400; Labour is committed to the providing opportunity to the next generation.

This government is ambitious for all our young people, no matter their background or what they wish to pursue in their career.

Work to transform technical education is not just being done at a national level. Mayor Andy Burnham’s plan to create an equal alternative to the university route in Greater Manchester called the Greater Manchester Baccalaureate will mean two equal routes at 14 – one academic, one technical. I pay tribute to the work here in Greater Manchester where the Mayor, Andy Burnham, has been leading the charge.

Our Plan for Change matches people’s desire for change and is working, shown by the fact the UK is the fastest growing economy in the G7 and our city-region is the fastest growing in the UK – these latest reforms will take that progress further.

Oldham Council have begun the consultation on greater powers over the increasing number of HMOs in the borough.

The Council is seeking comments on this Article 4 Direction from 6 October until 11:59pm on 16 November 2025.

It’s welcomed progress and I urge local people to have their say

https://bigoldhamconvo.oldham.gov.uk/oldham-hmo-consultation

Wishing everyone who was shortlisted and the ultimate winners congratulations for an amazing Oldham Business Awards at the QE Hall last night.

The spirit of the borough was on full display and the pride shown by everyone was really inspiring – and the huge successes life changing businesses are making to our community!

Well done to all and especially the hardworking organising team and their sponsors.