This year’s summer school in Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton has now come to an end.

To end the week of activities today, the students visited the 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 in Oldham Town Centre followed by a discussion at my Chadderton Town Hall Constituency Office.

In the Council Chamber, 𝐎𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐣 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐡 spoke to the students about her role, the work the council does for the borough, the mechanisms of local politics in Oldham, and how they compare with national politics that the students experienced on Tuesday down in Westminster.

To close the day, students returned to for 𝐚 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥 where we discussed politics in Oldham, what matters to them, what change they would like to see in their borough. and we discussed the activities of previous days.

I would like to thank all students who participated in this year’s summer school, all those wo hosted sessions this week in our local area & in Westminster, and for my team who have worked hard in the lead up to & across the week to deliver such a successful summer school. Those who hosted session gave the students further insight into politics on a local and national level, which has been appreciated. I hope it was an enjoyable and valuable experience for all!

As Parliament rises for the summer recess, it’s been another packed week – both in Westminster and out in the constituency. I started the week on the campaign trail in the Wirral, supporting our brilliant Labour team ahead of key local contests. It’s always energising to be out on the doorstep, hearing directly from residents and making the case for a fairer, greener Britain. Back in Westminster, I took part in the Leaders Council – a chance to focus on delivery, accountability and preparing for the challenges ahead as we work to deliver the change this country so badly needs. I also had the chance to attend a fantastic reception in Salford hosted by the Institute for Housing and Legacie – a great opportunity to talk about the role of housing in rebuilding our communities, and the need for serious long-term investment to ensure everyone has a decent place to call home.

One of the real highlights this week has been spending time with the young people taking part in this year’s Summer School. Over a busy few days they visited Westminster, the BBC in Salford, Oldham Council, Greater Manchester Police, and Ultimate Products – meeting with professionals, asking thoughtful questions, and getting a real insight into how our institutions work. It was inspiring to see their confidence grow with each visit. Programmes like this give our young people a chance to explore their potential and see that their voices matter – and I couldn’t be prouder of the way they represented Oldham throughout.

Now, as the summer recess begins, I’ll be using the weeks ahead to be out and about across Oldham – supporting local campaigns, meeting residents and continuing to work hard for the people I represent. As always, if you need anything, my office remains open and ready to help.

Today this year’s Summer School students went on a trip to the 𝐁𝐁𝐂 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲𝐔𝐊 on Salford Quays.

While there, the students were able to meet with producer Ryan Mills & reporter Kayleigh Watterson, who shared their insights into politics, the news, journalism & the BBC before giving the students a tour through the studios. They met and spoke to studio managers, graphic designers and reporters, & a special thank you to Roger Johnson, host of North West Tonight for taking time to out to talk to our students about his experience in news reading and share his journey through the BBC.

This was a fantastic and unique opportunity to go into the heart of the BBC, thank you to those who helped make it happen, the students found it invaluable!

Our city region is the second biggest media hub in the UK and gives access opportunities on programming such as Radio 5 Live, BBC Breakfast, and BBC North West.

Today’s visit emphasised the local job opportunities in the media for many local young people whose goal is to have a career in media and creative industries, sectors in which Britain is a global superpower. I hope the students found the insight into how national organisations like the BBC operate beneficial.

During day three of this years Summer School the students participated in a visit to 𝐎𝐥𝐝𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 to learn about the vital role the police play in the community.

The students had a brilliant day talking to the team at the station, they discussed 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞, different careers and roles that are done on a daily basis that they may not have thought about before. They had a question and answer session with the 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦, talking about community policing and working together within communities to deal with issues and stop crime. Finishing with a chat with the 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭, Estelle, about her role and responsibilities and the commanding officer in Oldham.

I do hope the students enjoyed this engaging day and thanks to the officers and staff who took time out of their busy days to host interactive sessions and for all the work they do to keep our communities safe.

For the second day of this year’s Summer School the students came down to Westminster.

We had a busy but rewarding day which started with a tour of Parliament, this included seeing Westminster Hall and going inside the House of Commons where the students had the opportunity to watch me answer an Urgent Question at the despatch box 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫. The students then had the opportunity to 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭, which is a brilliant and unique opportunity.

We then had “Pathways in Politics” session which involved a series of talks held by guest speakers from a range of jobs within politics. Thank you to the representatives from the 𝐂𝐨-𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐲; the 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 & 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, and 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭, as well as my friend Huddersfield MP Harpreet Uppal.

The session ended with a talk I gave about my route through the community into politics in Oldham, some further insight into the role of an MP and what we have been doing in government over the last year. The day then finished with a Q&A with the students.

I hope you all had an insightful & enjoyable day, and have a safe trip back home!

Today marks the first day of our annual Summer School for this year in Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton! Students from Oldham came to my 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 about the week ahead, the role of an MP and how my office works to help local people in Oldham.

In the afternoon, the students were welcomed into the fantastic offices at 𝐔𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥. The students took part in a talk with their deputy director, a tour of the offices and showrooms and students were able to participate in a Dragon’s Den style task whereby the students had to create a strategy to market a new product.

This was a great opportunity for the students to learn about Ultimate Products which is a successful local business that has been present in Oldham for over two decades. The location of their offices being Manor Mill is also an example of how we can modernise our mills and protect our heritage in Oldham.

Thank you to the team at Ultimate Products for hosting today and for some great insight and knowledge of a local business based in Oldham which has grown into an international brand.

Labour’s Football Governance Bill has now passed through Parliament and is set to get Royal Assent and become law, delivering on another manifesto commitment from last year.

It introduces an independent football regulator, which will:

Give clubs a stable financial footing

Put fans back at the heart of the game

Take on rogue owners

This government is protecting the game and its heritage at every level. Not only will it help clubs like Latics who have just been promoted back into the Football League, it will protect the game from the grassroots and restore the connection between the game and local communities.

We know how valuable football clubs are to fans, communities and local economies. We want to secure their long-term future and avoid financial sustainability issues many clubs have suffered from over recent years at every level of the pyramid.

We want more football clubs to have stable ownership which is rooted in the community – like Latics have had since the Rothwell family came in – and not suffer financial sustainability problems and instability like Latics have had in the past before the Rothwells came in and nearby clubs like Bury FC had, which ended up in them entering administration in 2020.

With the work we have done over recent years to secure Boundary Park as an asset of community value, give it security in the long-term with the ground sharing deal between Oldham Athletic and Oldham RLFC, and launch SportsTown at Boundary park a £70 million multi-sports centre of excellence from grassroots sport for all, up to elite performance Further & Higher Education.

Labour is delivering at every level of government on a shared priority: to safeguard heritage, community venues and local sports institutions through community ownership and robust regulatory frameworks.

One of the points of concern raised by owners of restaurants, bars, and independent & chain stores that operate on Royton Precinct at the meeting we held with the leaseholder London & Cambridge Partnerships (LCP) in May was crime and antisocial behaviour on the precinct during working hours and in the night.

One important way we can create stability for the precinct, ensure it’s long-term future, and provide confidence for local people who want to shop & spend time on there is to make sure it is a safe place by having retail crime, anti-social behaviour, & burglaries properly tackled and prevented.

My constituency team has followed up specific concerns raised by tenants of the precinct but we know more action is needed more widely.

The Royton neighbourhood team have made clear to us that they are taking this problem on the precinct seriously. They have confirmed to us in response to wider concerns we raised with them that the neighbourhood team continues to respond promptly to reports of crime and anti-social behaviour, through active engagement in addressing incidents as they have arisen and working closely in partnership with relevant local agencies.

They have said they are taking a firm stance against persistent shoplifting by targeting repeat offenders in the area. Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) are being pursued where appropriate to deter further offences and protect local businesses.

This reassurance is matched by the government’s desire to take back our streets, precincts and town centres from crime by legislating for a standalone offence for violence against shopworkers, creating tougher respect orders for anti-social behaviour, and introducing the neighbourhood policing guarantee – delivering on a local priority of ours at the general election to create a safe place in Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton.

The team has also confirmed that Neighbourhood Beat Officers and PCSOs are regularly patrolling the precinct, to provide reassurance, deter criminal activity, and engage with the community to gather intelligence and support.

It is great to hear the challenges associated with the night-time economy, particularly during weekends, are being taken seriously. The neighbourhood team have confirmed that they are liaising with other departments and have already increased patrols during weekend evenings to manage & reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour.

𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌, 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔.

Local people are encouraged to report any further concerns to my team at jim.mamchon.uk@parliament.uk and the neighbourhood policing team in Royton.

Let’s make Royton Precinct even better – into an even more buzzing, vibrant & safe place to be.