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The Tameside Citizen is the newspaper of Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council Offices, Wellington Road, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside OL6 6DL, if you have a story to you'd like to feature in The Citizen, please Send a Message to Marketing and Communications.
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Meeting the difficult challenge together
Executive Council Leader Cllr Kieran Quinn gave what he said was his most difficult speech ever when he delivered an impassioned Budget address to a packed Full Council meeting.
He outlined the plans to tackle the unprecedented level of savings the council is being asked to make over the next four years, while also warning the chamber that the journey would be long and hard.
Announcing a zero per cent council tax rise Cllr Quinn said, although the council didn’t have to do this, in the current economic climate it was the right thing to do.
Under the headings: Tameside Works First; Innovation and Enterprise; Skills and Employment; Local Environment; New Ways of Working; and Tameside’s Big Society , Cllr Quinn gave the blueprint for how the council planned to take Tameside forward over the next few years (see below for more details on each category).
He assured the meeting that the council would not just stand idly by but would continue with plans to, among other initiatives, support and create new jobs in the private sector, increase the number of apprenticeships way past government-set targets, launch the Tameside Spring Clean Challenge and continue to support voluntary and community groups.
In his opening remarks the Executive Leader reiterated the same guiding objectives that are prevalent in all council decision-making:
- Safeguarding services
- Safeguarding jobs wherever possible and
- Promoting investment and growth
He started the address by saying: “In my annual address as Executive Leader to this chamber back in November I said this council was about to embark on a journey that would involve some extremely tough but necessary decisions; extremely tough decisions to deal with extremely tough times.
“The stark reality is that in the coming financial year we will have to save £35 million, our capital programme will be slashed by 58%, we will need to reduce the number of people we employ by 600 – and this is just year one of a four-year programme of cuts to local government funding.”
“What is already clear is that the sheer scale of these cuts are by far and away the deepest and most wide-ranging in public services, not just for a generation, but in almost a century. And coupled with that is the front-loaded nature of the cuts, meaning we will have to cut more deeply in this first year than anyone could have imagined. Thirty-five million is what we are being asked to save next year alone,” he added.
Cllr Quinn finished his speech with this promise: “This current climate is when the community leadership role of the council matters most and is tested to the hilt. We are clear that our first commitment is to deliver outcomes for people, in difficult times when people are being affected by a range of policy impacts including welfare benefit reform, service changes and unemployment.
“And we are clear about our commitment to our hard-working staff, to do all we can to maintain job security, defend public services and ensure that the most vulnerable and needy in Tameside will continue to receive the support and help that they need.”
Budget Outcomes
- 0% Council Tax rise
- The Tameside Spring Clean Challenge
- The £500,000 ‘You Choose’ campaign
- The Tameside Big Fund
- Supporting the borough’s residents and businesses
- Talent Tameside initiative
- Establishing the Apprentice Company
- Improving job security and stability
Budget Highlights
Below and over the page are just some of the highlights the Executive Council Leader, Cllr Kieran Quinn outlined in his annual budget announcement. His speech was littered with initiatives the council already have in place and will expand, or plan to introduce to support the borough’s residents as we move through the current economic climate. Tameside Works First focuses on what the council is doing to support local businesses, Innovation and Enterprise highlights what it’s doing to create jobs, Skills and Enterprise mentions the need to support apprentices, Big Society concentrates on the crucial work the council will be doing in partnership with communities and charities, while Local Environment and New Ways of Working are more self-explanatory. 
- £13.1 million of council spend has already been injected into the local area
- 91% of invoices were paid within 10 days
- £2.19 million Ashton Northern bypass funding has been earmarked for spending with local firms
- £10 million has been spent in Tameside with local businesses and a further £40 million within a 10 mile radius
- This has created 173 new jobs in the construction industry and safeguarded another 433 local jobs
- Over 1,200 firms are now members of the Business Family, benefiting from advice and support
- New key account managers will be introduced and a better, more comprehensive business website to foster better working relationships
- Policies will continue to be developed specifically targeted at supporting small and medium businesses
- Work has started with local colleges and businesses to better position local firms to exploit new markets in China, India, Thailand and Vietnam
- A new creative industry group is being developed to benefit from the growth in the region’s new media sector
- Talent Tameside is being developed to encourage talent, build confidence and self esteem and build closer working relationships between young people and local businesses
- This strategy will attract new investment and new jobs
- The 50/50 apprenticeship deal has been developed whereby 50 employers will receive £1,000 each for taking on a new apprentice
- The annual jobs fair saw hundreds of job seekers meet up with 22 employers who had over 700 jobs on offer
- Work with Tameside College is on-going to develop the Apprentice Company to find even more placements
- A target to get 25% of young people into apprenticeships by 2015 is on track. The government’s target was 20% by 2020
- Since the Future Jobs Fund was introduced almost 600 people (who couldn’t find work) have had six months employment
- Managers from larger retail businesses will meet to discuss the introduction of a unique voluntary code of conduct
- Each year the council spends £3 million cleaning graffiti, picking up litter and dealing with flytipping
- Providing bins is not the answer, it already has more than neighbouring authorities
- Tameside Spring Clean is being launched to tackle the problem
- The clean challenge will be a three-month concerted campaign to clean up the borough
- A zero tolerance approach will be in operation alongside awareness campaigns
- Key stakeholders, such as community groups, residents’ associations and churches will be brought in as partners
- The council will increasingly look towards prevention and early intervention to reduce costs
- Such schemes have shown that an integrated approach can reduce costs by over 20%
- Work on integrated offender management is delivering brilliant results
- Working with Tameside Hospital has led to the borough having fewer blocked-beds than all other Greater Manchester hospitals
- In the last 12 months, working closely with trade unions the council has reduced its workforce by over 450 by voluntary measures
- The books will be balanced, increasing job security and stability for the employees who remain if it continues with its goal of reducing the headcount by another 600
- There will be a commitment to provide real leadership to partners in the voluntary and community sectors moving forward
- There will also be a commitment to ensure that families, individuals and neighbourhoods that are most affected by government policies will be supported
- The role of communities and community and voluntary organisations will be central to this aim
- The Opening Doors Project, where for every £1 the council invests leads to £4 saved in health and social care costs, is a good example of this in practice
- The first round of bids for the £500,000 ‘You Choose’ fund will begin in April
- The Big Tameside Fund will also be launched, which will provide in excess of £500,000 funding for community groups
BWC Works
Buy With Confidence came to the rescue over the festive period when a Hollingworth man returned home to a burst pipe and a massive flood.
Chris Jennings from Greenwater Meadow was greeted by the early Christmas present as he opened his front door and saw gallons of water pouring from the pipe which had frozen in the icy conditions, caused by the coldest December on record.
But once the council engineer had turned off the stop tap, he clicked on Tameside’s website and looked up a local plumber on the Buy With Confidence (BWC) webpage.
Plumber Gary Beresford, from Hyde turned up at 8am the following morning to fix the problem; all the more impressive because it was Christmas Eve.
Chris explained: “The service was great and the plumber very easy and approachable. I was worried about the costs as you tend to think of this once emergencies have been attended to. But Gary’s charges were extremely reasonable, £60, which is well below the £250 excess I would have had to pay if I’d have gone through the insurers.”
Chris added: “He even advised me on further insulation I would need to my porch loft area to make sure it didn’t happen again.”
Executive Member with responsibility for BWC, Cllr Catherine Piddington said: “Stories like this don’t surprise me; it typifies what we’re trying to do with our Buy With Confidence initiative. All those who make it on to our approved list have done so because we are confident they can provide a service that is second to none.
“I would urge any resident who suffers a problem like Chris to go online and use the service. Particularly, in the present economic climate, finding an accredited and value-for-money service can make all the difference.”
People can now download BWC as an iPhone app as well.”
Sam's on the road to work
Trainee vehicle fitter Sam Hodgkiss has a vital role to play in keeping Tameside Council’s fleet of vehicles on the road.
Sam, aged 18, who is in the second year of an apprenticeship, is learning his trade in the council’s maintenance depot, in Stalybridge.
Tameside Council currently has 55 apprentices based in a range of departments with many going on to find permanent employment with the council at the end of their training.
Following a visit to the maintenance depot with Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds, council Executive Leader Cllr Kieran Quinn said: “Apprentices are an integral part of our workforce so it is right that we recognise the hard work they do on our behalf.
“The council has always done everything it can to promote apprenticeships in the borough which is why we’ve got such a flourishing scheme and an excellent track record in finding them on the job training with the council and beyond.”
Mr Reynolds added: “Each of the apprenticeship programmes at the council are structured to ensure apprentices can develop the skills they need in the workplace. And they are clearly valued by apprentices as an opportunity to develop those skills, at the same time as earning a wage for the job they do.”
Hungary apprentices
Three Hungarian apprentices are about to start work in Tameside as part of a European Union initiative.
Robert Zsiros, Agnes Keczan and Gabriella Buzda, who work in the Ezsack Alford Regional Development Agency in a range of economic development positions will each undertake a four-week placement in the run up to April.
The EU’s lifelong learning programme supports work placements and training opportunities in Europe’s regions. Tameside has been involved for several years alongside Montigny le Bretonneux, Denton’s twin town. It is now widening the placement opportunities to its new partner in Debrecen, Hungary.
The council has also submitted an application for additional work placements for Tameside’s apprentices in Hungary, France and The Netherlands.
In addition, Tameside is working with its Greater Manchester partners to develop a regional application.
Help to shape Tameside's future
Residents are being urged once again to make sure they fill in and return their census forms when they drop through the letterbox.
On 27 March all residential households in the United Kingdom will be taking part in a census, which is carried out every 10 years.
It provides an excellent source of information about the population which enables central and local government, health authorities and many other organisations to plan housing, education, health and transport services for years to come.
The statistics for Tameside will feed into the allocation of funding for the council, and play a major part in its ability to provide services, so it’s crucial the population estimate is as accurate as possible.
All the personal information supplied in the questionnaire is kept confidential for 100 years and is not shared with government departments, local authorities or marketing agencies.
The 2011 Census does not want anyone to fall behind – so there is a wide range of help options available (such as language guidance booklets, large-print format, Text Relay and census field staff on hand, as well as online help and telephone call centres). Residents can also complete the questionnaire online.
Councillor used census to unlock past
Councillor Jim Fitzpatrick has been discovering how the census can help take us forward in unlocking our past.
The councillor has been using the 1901 and 1911 census to find out about the life of his grandfather, Thomas Fitzpatrick, and his family in Dublin in the early twentieth century.
Thomas served in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and Cllr Fitzpatrick is now trying to establish whether he may have defended Winston Churchill during an attack in the Boer War.
Cllr Fitzpatrick, who is helping to raise awareness of the 2011 census which will take place on 27 March, said: “Although the census is very important for getting a picture of where we are now and what we need in terms of funding for local services, it is also a key record for the future. In 100 years time our descendants will be able to use it to find out about our lives and how we fit into their story.
“I have found the 1901 and 1911 census invaluable when looking into my family history and would urge everyone to make the most of this valuable record; not only in researching their past but also in making their mark on the future.”
For the 2011 census everyone in the UK will need to be included on a census questionnaire which they will receive in the post. Everyone is asked the same questions in order to take a snapshot of the population at a specific time.
The information provided is turned into statistics which the government, organisations and businesses use to plan facilities and services for the future. The first official UK census was conducted over 200 years ago, with the same aim as today: to better understand the nation and its needs.
Census returns are made public 100 years after collection. This marks the beginning of a journey for thousands of people to discover the lives, loves and lifestyles of their ancestors.
The census website has family history pages with an easy guide and tips for getting started in researching your family tree. There’s also a Facebook fan page - 2011 Census Family History – so people can get involved in story sharing and discussion threads to swap ideas.
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