One Year until Oldham Coliseum Theatre Re-opens

Oldham Coliseum is set to re-open its doors a year from now for its Christmas 2025 Pantomime after the great work done by our Labour-led Council and other local organisations to save it at its historic site on Fairbottom Street.

There is a lot of work still to be done to transform this community venue but Oldham Coliseum has a bright future ahead. We want to put in the hands of local people through the co-operative model of ownership to secure the theatre’s great heritage for the long-term, fulfilling my local priority of community ownership that I set out at the election.

Labour in power locally, regionally and nationally are delivering for our creative and cultural sectors while safeguarding community venues: from saving the Oldham Coliseum, to restoring the Old Oldham Library, to legislating for new tax relief for British films.

Weekly Ministerial Round-up

Over the last week, we have continued in our efforts to rebuild local government and push power away from Westminster back into local communities.

As Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, I answered parliamentary questions on behalf of the government about how this government is continuing to deliver more devolution, empower local communities, and collaborate with local councils collaboratively to achieve better outcomes.

I’d like to thank the executive of the Local Government Association for the discussions we had ahead of the English Devolution White Paper and Provisional Settlement in the coming weeks. We are moving at pace to fix the foundations and we are determined to do that in partnership.

More widely, the government set out or Plan for Change with measurable goals to achieve the five missions which were set out at the general election in July, milestones which will transform the lives of working people and local people can judge the government on.

As the Prime Minister pointed to in his speech, Labour are fixing the foundations, repairing the damage, reforming government and rebuilding Britain for the long-term.

As our first Christmas back in office approaches, working people can be confident that we are delivering the change they have been crying out for and our country deserves.

Small Business Saturday Visits

Today is Small Business Saturday and I had the pleasure of visiting some local businesses in Chadderton which boost local growth and provide good jobs for people in our borough – a priority of mine at the election in July.

Businesses like these and the people behind them are the beating heart of our local economy and the pride they put into their work really shines through.

Thanks to the changes we made in our recent Budget, small businesses are set to benefit from investment and reforms with our priority being to rejuvenate high streets and power economic growth far and wide.

Please, if possible: this Saturday, shop local.

Pension Credit application deadline to receive the Winter Fuel Payment is approaching

Our Labour-led Council has worked hard recently to give support to people through the colder months that lie ahead, with targeted help for the most vulnerable.

It is great to see that the Council has secured a support package worth nearly £2.5m to be able to provide payments to people who can’t afford to heat their homes, food vouchers to families who have children eligible for free school meals over Christmas, and more resources to local community groups to help people.

On top of this, the latest figures show that more than 3,288 pensioners living in our borough currently miss out on their weekly income being topped up to £218.15 at the very least, with a huge total of £7.9 million being left unclaimed every year across Oldham by people eligible for pension credit.

The DWP deadline for applying to receive the £300 Winter Fuel Payment this winter by being in receipt of pension credit is rapidly approaching too, and I encourage all those eligible but not currently on pension credit to apply by 21st December in order to receive their Winter Fuel Payment.

Further support is available too so please do not hesitate to get in touch with my office at jim.mcmahon.mp@parliament.uk if you require assistance.

Weekly Ministerial Round-up

It has been another busy but productive as Minister of State as we have continued to deliver the change that working people across our country deserve, like constituents of mine in Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton.

It was great to speak at the Centre for Progressive Policy conference on the importance of delivering the governments missions, delivering wider and deeper devolution, rebuilding local government and reforming public services. There is a lot to do, but working as partners in power, central and local government will transform the country for the better.

I enjoyed speaking to councillors and officers at the District Councils Network as they celebrated 50 years. I heard many great examples of local prevention and reform, growth and neighbourhood services which show the difference local government makes every day.

We are working across Local Government to drive reform and prevention as the foundation of rebuilding local public services, tackling spiralling cost and delivering better outcomes. Working alongside Georgia Gould at the Cabinet Office and colleagues in local government as it builds has been great so far.

In my role as Co-operative Party Chair, I’d like to thank co-operators who joined us for the National Executive Committee in Manchester – a look back at a great year with excitement for the year ahead. I’m very proud of the staff and members for the tireless work they do for the co-operative movement.

In the week that public ownership of our railways become law again, we are continuing to deliver our agenda of change which we set out at the general election to end the chaos we had under the Tories, rebuild our public services and drive up living standards in every corner of Britain.

Oral Parliamentary Questions

Putting power back into local communities is a priority of mine and of this government.

Our government’s desire is to take power out of Westminster and give it back to local communities across Britain like Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton – while working with local councils collaboratively to achieve better outcomes for the communities they serve.

Head to my Facebook page to see more.

Railway Public Ownership becomes Law

This is an historic moment.

With yesterday’s enactment of the Passenger Railways Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024, this Labour government is already fulfilling its manifesto commitment from the general election in July to start the process of bringing train services back into public hands, a change which represents the biggest overhaul of our railways in a generation.

These reforms are rejecting continued failure of deregulation which has seen services cut, investment dry up, and quality decline in services constituents of mine rely on. Instead, we are choosing to have more affordable and more accountable railways which can better foster in our borough more well-paid and secure jobs in the long term, a local priority of mine at the general election.

Local people for too long have had to bear the brunt of deregulation failure. However, with this new law, the Bee Network continuing to be rolled out across Greater Manchester, its integration deepening, and commuter rail services being set to join the network in a few years; communities across Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton can be confident that their local transport services from now on will be run in their interest as passengers and taxpayers, creating a more comprehensive network which they can trust.