Thank you to First Choice Homes Oldham and the Vistry Group for giving me a tour of the £15.7 million project to build a hundred affordable and energy efficient family homes off Rosary Road.

It was a pleasure to hear the pride in the project from its team, including local residents leading the now award winning scheme.

I’ve thought for a while now that Fitton Hill is a bit of a hidden gem in our town with such a rich history shown by the former Holy Rosary Church and now such a great place to live due to the amount of green space.

Mark Gifford has made a real difference at First Choice Homes Oldham to ensure developments are about more than just the brick and mortar, but also about building communities. This development is a great example of that with the neighbourhood centre, parks, schools and good sized gardens.

This is an end of week thank you to my amazing constituency team for once again delivering a great summer school this year, I know how much work goes into making it a success for months in advance.

And to the 12 fantastic young people who attended, thanks for the time you gave and the way you engaged and embraced the opportunity each day. I hope you come away from this week feeling you gained an insight into local and national politics, media, community work, and business.

We are lucky that our borough and the wider city-region have so much to offer to young people but too many are kept out by not knowing how to get their foot in the door and the contacts needed. That’s one of the reasons we try to fill this week each year with a variety of events and visits.

And to the organisations who gave time during week to support it including the Oldham GMP team, Ultimate Products, Downing Street, Parliament, the BBC, Oldham Athletic, Spark Oldham, Northern Roots, and Aviva Studios. Thanks also to Avanti for supporting the train journey down to London.

And of course, a thanks to my fantastic office team who made all this happen, it takes a lot of organisation to make it a success.

Good luck and best wishes for the future for all who attended!

Here’s a quick overview of my final week down in Westminster before the summer recess 

𝗗𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗔𝘀𝘆𝗹𝘂𝗺 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹
I spoke during the debate on the Immigration & Asylum Bill, making the case for reforms that ensure the system works properly. I also raised the need to end the use of the Victoria Hotel for asylum accommodation without simply shifting the pressure onto another part of Oldham’s already stretched housing market, and spoke about the case of Shabir Ahmed.

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿
One of the highlights of my week was welcoming this year’s Summer School group to Westminster. It was great to spend the day with them in Parliament, answer their questions and show them around before walking down to Downing Street together.

𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽
MPs voted on the final stages of the Steel Industry Bill this week which will nationalise the industry. The Bill has now received Royal Assent and is officially law, helping secure the future of the UK’s steel industry and the skilled jobs that depend on it.

𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗟𝗮𝘄
Parliament also voted on the Hillsborough Law, an important step towards strengthening accountability and ensuring bereaved families are treated fairly in their pursuit of truth and justice.

𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗯𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
I was proud to present my Ten Minute Rule Bill on reforming the stillbirth registration process. I was joined by Chadderton couple Ryan & Cassie Claydon who have campaigned tirelessly for change following their own experience, and afterwards we spoke together to Sky News about why these reforms matter to bereaved families.

There was also plenty of time this week for meetings with ministers, fellow MPs and stakeholders before Parliament rises for the summer recess.

I’m looking forward to spending the next few weeks back in Oldham, catching up with constituents and continuing work across the constituency over the summer.

Chadderton Day is this weekend, a chance to celebrate our town’s proud past and exciting future. It is a privilege to represent Chadderton and the people who make it such a special place.

From our industrial heritage and the Lancaster bomber to the fantastic work of the Chadderton Historical Society, we have so much to be proud of. With investment transforming Foxdenton Hall and more through the Chadderton neighbourhood board, we know Chadderton has a bright future.

A huge thank you to Chadderton Together for organising this year’s community festival including a classic car show and family fun activities at Foxdenton Park.

It is from 10am to 4pm on Saturday & Sunday

I’m so sorry to hear that Darren Pemberton has passed away.

He was a staple of Oldham Civic Centre for many years and he couldn’t do enough to help those who needed it.

I caught this old article from the Oldham

Times where he showed a photographer around the 1970’s bunker built under the Civic Centre. There wasn’t an inch of that building he didn’t know inside and out.

My thoughts are with his family and friends

https://www.theoldhamtimes.co.uk/news/23869769.oldham-inside-hidden-nuclear-bunker-civic-centre

The final day of this year’s summer school in Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton began with a visit to Northern Roots. It is a brilliant local project creating the UK’s largest urban farm & eco-park on urban greenspace in the heart of our borough. Oldham’s point of difference is that we are the town in the countryside and this project shows that in action.

Thanks to Elaine Taylor, Deputy Leader of the Oldham Labour Group for meeting with the students there and giving them an insight into the work of our local council.

It was great to then meet the students in Oldham Town centre for some dinner at Levers Chippy before heading back to my Chadderton Town Hall constituency office for a look back over the week the students have had.

Congratulations to all for completing the summer school, I hope it was a valuable experience!

Congratulations to Andy Burnham who has been confirmed as the new Leader of the Labour Party and is on course to become the first Labour and Co-operative Prime Minister on Monday!

Fireworks should be used sparingly and during major events, not throughout the year and at all times of the night.

It’s clear that young people gathering for wider antisocial behaviour are often the cause of fireworks being let off at all hours, and even if they are used to celebrate personal occasions the whole borough doesn’t need to be woken up by the loud bangs.

Even organised events cause distress to pets, wildlife and people with complex conditions including former veterans.

Please submit your views here https://ditresearch.eu.qualtrics.com/…/SV_eg0jcixPsRnv1NY or write to;

Fireworks – Sectors Policy Team
Office for Product Safety and Standards
Department for Business and Trade
Old Admiralty Building
Admiralty Place
London
SW1A 2DY