It was an honour to attend and lay a wreath at the Royton Remembrance Service this morning in remembrance of all those who have sacrificed for our freedom.

Thank you to the Royal British Legion and all those who volunteered and helped in organising this service and those across the borough, the work you do is inspiring and is a credit to you all.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.

Today I wrote to the Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, Steve Barclay MP, with regards to the current situation with the Royal Oldham Hospital and the identified concerns regarding the use of RAAC within elements of the roof of the building.

RAAC is a lightweight material that was used mostly in flat roofing, but also in floors and walls, between the 1950s and 1990s. It is a cheaper alternative to standard concrete, is quicker to produce and easier to install. It is aerated, or “bubbly”, this means that it is less durable and has a lifespan of around 30 years.

With this issue, the safety of patients and staff in the hospitals today should be the highest priority, their safety and well-being need to be the top of the asking price when considering the impact of RAAC and the cost of bringing the buildings up to standard.

The potential consequences of not taking timely and adequate action risks the safety of staff and patients, so the government must act immediately to rectify the affected roof section.

I expressed that the news that the government will be taking action to address this is a step in the right direction, however I am concerned that the scale of the works required will need a robust plan and timescales to be completed with minimal disruption to patients and staff members daily lives.

I have therefore requested that the government make a robust and publicly available work plan with reasonable timescales for completion of the work and that this is published as a matter of urgency alongside a commitment that those in hospitals, including staff and patients have a managed plan to nullify or avoid large-scale disruptions in their work or treatment plans.

Finally, I asked that the government provide all funds needed for the project direct from central government and that this will not directly affect local health service budgets.

It’s been a hectic few days at Labour Party Conference in Liverpool and it’s straight back to constituency business today.

I had the opportunity to speak in a number of discussions on building a coalition across the country to win across our towns, rural and coastal communities; doubling the size of the co-operative and mutual economy, and on skills, drawing on my experience as an apprenticeship who left school at 16 and straight into the world of work.

The mood was very positive but also realistic about the challenges ahead and what is needed to rebuild our country after a wasted decade which has left households on the brink, the national debt now a trillion pound more than when the Tories took office, and inflation still running at a 40 year high with all of us feeling it’s impact.

As a former councillor and now supporting the local government association and the cooperative council innovation network I was really pleased to hear a clear ambition for devolving power to communities; for too long things have been done to people and not by and along them. That has to change.

But that can only be done with a solid economy which can grow and create decent working class jobs in all parts of the country, and public services which are there when you need them.

Today I have written to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities following the announcement that Chadderton will be included in the “Long-Term Funding” scheme, which will include the setting up of a Town Board similar to that in Oldham town centre.

Our constituency is made up of three towns in Oldham, Chadderton & Royton, therefore I find it striking that we now find ourselves in a position whereby Royton will miss out on the same level of attention and investment as a result, I have therefore asked the government to include a scheme for Royton.

Oldham, Chadderton and Royton all have distinct heritage and cultural assets that lay the foundation for funding and they all have district centres. This is an opportunity for all three to come to par and have success in the coming years.

The council has already set out on the road well in Royton with investment in the town hall and library, and local people are self organising to invest their own money into small businesses which is creating great places to meet and socialise in the town centre.

It also has significant employment sites, housing development is planned alongside a new tram stop, as well as it having wonderful natural assets like Tandle Hills.

Let’s see what the response is!

Last month the Boundary Commission for England released its updated proposals for new constituency boundaries across the country. The recommendation by the Boundary Commission is that the boundaries for both Oldham West & Royton and Oldham East & Saddleworth will stay the same- a proposal both myself & Debbie Abrahams argued in favour of. You can find my full response below.

Dear Commissioner, 

I write to you today in my capacity as the Member of Parliament for Oldham West and Royton to respond to the consultation on the Boundary Commission England (‘BCE’)’s 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies. 

Broadly speaking, I am pleased with the Revised Proposals, and particularly their proposal to retain the Royton Seats in the Oldham West and Royton constituency. The proposals much better reflect both the Boundary Commission’s criteria and the natural geography of the constituencies in Oldham than the alternative proposals suggested in the Initial Review. 

It remains the case, as with my response to the Initial Proposals, that there is no other combination of wards in the borough that would have the effect of meeting all the BCE’s criteria in a better way.  

The current constituency is well designed to maintain the special geographic consideration of the importance of practical transport connectivity achieved by the spine road of Broadway which, together with Manchester Road, connects the constituency together. As I will go into below, it also contains 3 distinct areas, two of which in their totality, and does the minimum amount possible to break any local ties. 

Therefore, in the absence of any other combination of wards, the most sensible criteria to prioritise are the inconvenience attendant on any changes and the boundaries of existing constituencies. This suggests that it is paramount for BCE to prioritise maintaining the existing constituency boundaries and I am pleased to see that this has been done. 

There is just one further issue that I feel needs to be addressed in the final consultation. It is an issue that both myself and, at various times throughout this and prior boundary reviews, my predecessors and all major local political parties have raised – namely, the addition of the name Chadderton to the constituency name in the form of Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton. 

While the BCE has previously rejected this name change, this should not prevent it looking at it again. Nor should the fact that no changes are being proposed to the overall make up of the constituency. 

There is no legal guidance as to name but the BCE considers that the constituency name should normally reflect the main population centre(s) contained in the constituency. In this respect, the proposed Oldham West and Royton constituency is misnamed in missing Chadderton out. The reasons for this are as follows: 

• Chadderton residents make up 1/3 of the constituency. 
• Chadderton is the second largest population centre and is completely within the constituency. 
• Chadderton is a clearly defined historical township and areas of Chadderton are to be found in eight of the nine wards in the current constituency. 
• There are three wards in Chadderton (with a population of 33597) and two in Royton (with a population of 20742), yet Royton gets included in the name and Chadderton doesn’t. To be clear, we are not asking for Royton to be removed because it is its own clear community. 

While it is accepted that it is unusual for constituency names to have three places named within them, there are two examples in England – Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford in Yorkshire and Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner in London. There are a further 8 in Scotland – Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.  

In each case where three places have been named in the constituency, this is because they all have prominent populations, as is the case with Oldham West, Chadderton, and Royton. The BCE are required to take into account special geographical considerations and changing the name would fulfil this particular criteria.   

It is also worth pointing out that another factor that the Boundary Commission England is required to take into account is the inconvenience attendant in making any changes. As an MP, I regularly refer in communications to representing the people of Chadderton, Oldham West and Royton in order to reflect the distinct identities of each area. There would therefore be no inconvenience at all to such a name change, at least over and above a regular constituency name change, while having the positive effect of recognising a distinct and historic community that has long felt left behind. 

Throughout the years, the inclusion of the name Chadderton has received widespread cross party support in the area, as demonstrated by Chadderton Historical Society in their response to the BCE’s Initial Proposals. This suggests that it would also be politically uncontroversial and provide low levels of inconvenience. 

Thank you for your consideration of these proposals, I strongly urge you to adopt them as such. 

Yours sincerely, 

Jim McMahon MP 

Oldham West and Royton 

Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 

Chair of the Co-op Party