Oldham, Chadderton and Royton are privileged to be blessed with so much heritage. From our town halls, to our historic parks: our borough has a rich and cherished history. While we look to the future, we must also remember what came before us and do all we can to protect and preserve these keystone buildings for the long term.

This is why I fully support the work being done by the Labour-led council to take ownership, invest in and then give back to the community our buildings of heritage; as has been done recently at Royton Town Hall and is being done for the Prudential Building, Old Library on Union Street, and the Coliseum at it’s historic Fairbottom Street site.

We want these buildings and monuments to have a future use which is for the good of the community. In very difficult circumstances, to prioritise works like these is massively to the Council’s credit. This approach achieves three goals in one: preserving heritage; bringing these buildings into the modern day so they are of value to the community; and avoiding chasing the modernist building of the day, which too often doesn’t stand the test of time.

We have so much to be proud of in our home town.

I am extremely concerned about the amount of nitrous oxide canisters I have seen littered across the constituency.

Following lockdown there was an increasing prevalence of nitrous oxide use in Oldham, particularly among young people. I am very concerned that this has not curtailed, and we need to raise awareness of the risks associated with laughing gas to both protect our young people and our wider community.

Potential harms include nerve and spinal cord damage, as well as associated long term red blood cell problems that result in anaemia. Misuse of nitrous oxide can have very serious implications that we can’t be naïve to.

In the past I have rallied Oldham Council in its capacity of overseeing public health, and Greater Manchester Police to raise greater awareness with young people and their parents. However – it is clear there is more work to be done and we must go further.

Our young people need to understand the full risks of laughing gas and we must stop its persistent use in Oldham. I will continue to raise awareness about the dangers of nitrous oxide and push for stronger action from our local authorities.

It’s time to protect our young people and tackle this growing problem head-on.

We pledged at the election to deliver two million more NHS appointments a year as our first step to bring down waiting lists. We have hit that target already – seven months early, thanks to a share of the investment of £22 billion set out the in the Budget.

Through the difficult decisions taken at the Budget local people will see improved public services for people in Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton, and our NHS beginning to get back on its feet.

We are well aware that much more needs to be done to build an NHS which is fit for the future, so we are taking this achievement in our stride and are going further and faster as a government.

The two million extra NHS appointments have included chemotherapy, radiotherapy, endoscopy, and diagnostic tests, and have driven down waiting lists by almost 16,000. Achieving this milestone early is a huge step to getting the NHS back on its feet and delivering efficient and reliable services.

We know there is a long road ahead, but this is exactly the start needed to deliver on our promise to fix the NHS and cutting waiting times to make sure people get the care they need, when they need it. Hard work is paying off!

It’s been another busy and productive week, with plenty of opportunities to get stuck into the work of delivering real change for communities. A key part of that has been meeting with experts to discuss the Government’s plans to improve local government standards for councillors. The vast majority of elected members are hardworking public servants, but we know that a small minority can undermine trust in the system. The last Tory government stripped councils of the powers needed to hold poor behaviour to account, and we are determined to put that right. The consultation on our proposals is still open, and we want to hear as many views as possible.

It was a real honour to return to the Labour Local Government Conference—this time as Minister of State for Local Government. As a former leader of Labour’s Local Government Association (LGA) Group, I’ve always known that councils are at the heart of delivering change, and they deserve the respect and resources to do the job properly. There is no path to giving communities more control over decisions that affect them—what we call devolution—that doesn’t go through local government. It felt like a real family reunion—Labour councillors standing together, ready to deliver.

This Labour government is serious about change, and we know that wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of Labour councillors on the ground. Any progress we make in fixing the system is a direct result of their hard work, and they deserve real recognition for it.

I also managed to break away from Westminster to visit Liverpool and Chester, meeting with Liverpool City Council Leader Cllr Liam Robinson and Mayor Steve Rotheram to discuss how we transfer more powers and funding to local areas. It was great to meet local leaders in Cheshire as well, where we talked about their priorities and saw the fantastic Eco House training facility at Cheshire College, where apprentices are learning the skills that will power the green economy.

But beyond local government, this was also a big week for national change. In Parliament, we passed crucial reforms to strengthen border security and restore order to the asylum and immigration system—despite the Tories and Reform Party voting against them. We set out plans to build the next generation of new towns, with affordable housing, GP surgeries, schools, and public transport, taking real steps to end the housing crisis. And we delivered the largest pay rise in over 20 years for our service personnel—the people who keep our country safe at home and strong abroad.

We know there’s still a huge amount to do to deliver the change this country needs. But we should also take confidence in the progress we’re making: inflation is down, mortgage rates are falling, wages are growing at their fastest rate in three years, business investment is at a 19-year high, and leading international financial experts predict that Britain will be one of the fastest-growing economies in the coming years.

There’s a long way to go, but under Labour, Britain is back on the right path.

Constituents are usually very kind when we’ve helped them, and I know our team really appreciate the feedback they get when a job’s well done and we get the result needed, and it’s lovely when someone takes the time to send an email, or a card in the post.

The vast majority of ‘wins’ in the constituency are due to the work of my team, they support around 8000 or so requests for support, help and campaign issues every year, so it takes some doing. It helps all of them are from the borough so have a stake in place and its people.

So thank you to all who take the time to say thank you when you don’t really need to. What a great way to brighten the day!