Author: stockportlibdems

In response to a media enquiry following Oldham Council’s recent decision to leave Places for Everyone, the Greater Manchester spatial plan, and criticism levelled by Oldham Council of Stockport’s earlier decision to leave the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, Cllr Mark Hunter, Liberal Democrat Leader of Stockport Council, said: “We make no apology for trying our very best to protect valuable Green Belt for future generations. It is what our residents want and expect. Stockport has always been a target for developers, which is why we chose to leave the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework in the first place.

“In July, after many months of delay caused by the chaos of the last Tory government, we were able to publish a draft Local Plan that was ready for consultation and was a true ‘Brownfield-first’ approach, using previously developed land and involved minimal use of green field sites.

“The Labour government have now changed the rules, introducing a new, compulsory housing target that effectively doubles the number of new houses they require us to build. This will require extensive development on Green Belt sites, but we still await government guidance on how this has to be done, stalling our plan yet again. The councils within Places for Everyone face a similar increase and will have to release even more Green Belt to satisfy this centrally imposed target. Labour nationally are simply giving developers carte blanche to concrete over our countryside.

“We have always accepted the need for new homes, but they must be the right homes, in the right places and central government targets should not trump local decision making.

“You might have thought that Oldham Council faced enough challenges of its own without the need to lash out at its neighbours with baseless and disingenuous attacks.”

Speaking in response to a press enquiry, Cllr Mark Roberts, Deputy Leader of the Council, said:

“Stockport Homes was formed in response to the Blair government’s move in the late 1990s to improve the quality of council housing after decades of underfunding by central government, resulting in very poor quality social housing nationally.

“Funds to bring properties up to the new “Decent Homes” standard were only accessible to Councils if they either transferred their housing stock into the hands of housing associations, signed up to complex private finance initiatives, or formed an arms-length management organisation (ALMO) such as Stockport Homes.

“Cllr Mark Hunter was Leader of the Council at that time and led an all-party delegation to Westminster to meet Geoff Rooker, the then Minister for Housing and Planning, along with members of the tenants federation. Following a ballot of all tenants, an agreement was reached that the best vehicle to access this desperately needed funding, which retained maximum control over the housing stock and housing policy within the council, was the ALMO route.

“As an organisation, Stockport Homes has always been high performing, and this has been reflected in the recent review that the Cabinet considered this week. It wins many accolades and awards and is considered one of the best housing organisations nationally.

“The main challenges seem to be around maintenance and availability of social housing.

“On the latter point, neither Stockport Homes nor the council can be blamed. There is currently a housing crisis, there are not sufficient funds available to councils to build enough social housing to meet need, and this can only be solved through central government intervention and funding.

“Funds for maintenance, repairs and capital works are also constrained. The last Conservative government invited housing providers to enter into so-called “self-funding” arrangements for their Housing Revenue Account (HRA) which were modelled upon rents increasing at a planned rate. Having entered into such an arrangement in good faith, the government then chose to make changes to rent increases which introduced huge shortfalls into the HRA. As with all areas of the public sector, social housing is suffering from underinvestment from previous governments and urgent need for injections of more funds.

“However, we do believe that Stockport Homes should and can deliver a better service for their tenants and have better liaison with local councillors. We believe that the measures set out in the report agreed this week will help with that. We need to ensure that there is the right level of control being exerted by the Cabinet to set the direction of travel for Stockport Homes, that there is the right level of information sharing with all councillors and of formal Scrutiny at both a central and an Area Committee level.

“We are at the start of a journey of improvement following this review. It will take time for the new structures to come into place, be tested and bed in. During this phase we need Members of all political Groups to do what we do best in Stockport, work constructively together in the best interests of the borough and its residents to deliver what we can within the constraints we face.

“Whilst that is happening it is imperative that Stockport Homes work hard with ward councillors to ensure that outstanding repairs and complaints are addressed, that progress is made with the large scale and long-standing issues such as Lancashire Hill, and that the faith some councillors have lost can be restored in short order.

“We are also very keen to keen to explore how we increase the accountability of all social housing providers across the borough.”

A 19 year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, after a GMP officer was seriously injured during an incident at a retail park on Wilmslow Road, Cheadle on Saturday.

According to GMP, they received a report of people acting suspiciously inside a vehicle in the car park. As the responding police officer walked towards the vehicle, she reported that the vehicle was driven at speed towards her, hitting her.

Leader of Stockport Council, Mark Hunter said

“All decent people will be appalled by this despicable attack on a Police officer just going about their normal duties over the weekend.

At moments like these, we are reminded of the excellent job done by GMP in looking after our community every day, often putting themselves in harm’s way on our behalf.

Our thoughts are with the injured officer and her family, we wish her a speedy recovery.”

Stockport Council Liberal Democrat group made a change to the ‘top team’ line up of its Cabinet members, as the Portfolio Holder for Communities, Culture and Sport, Cllr Frankie Singleton, stepped down due to increasing work commitments. After an internal election, the Liberal Democrat group of councillors has elected Cllr Helen Foster-Grime to replace her. Cllr Foster-Grime, who represents Cheadle Hulme South ward, has previously acted as a cabinet member until 2023.

Cllr Singleton Said;

“It’s been an honour and a privilege to serve on the Council Cabinet, I am grateful to the officers of the council that I’ve worked closely with over the last 18 months and I’ve relished the opportunity to collectively shape our borough’s bright future with my fellow Liberal Democrat councillors.”

Leader of Stockport Council, Cllr Mark Hunter said

“We’re very sad to see Frankie go, she has been a diligent and hardworking member of the Cabinet who has always put Stockport first. After the record-breaking successes of the Liberal Democrats in the last General Election, her day job of supporting campaigns within the party is set to vastly increase, she has decided to step down from her role on cabinet before both roles became too difficult to manage. We’re very grateful for all the work she has done and look forward to her continued support from the backbenches.“

During her time in cabinet, Cllr Singleton oversaw Stockport’s ‘Town of Culture’ celebrations, as well as the development of the highly anticipated Stockroom, due to open in spring. Her leadership to tackle inequalities and poverty has made Stockport award winning in this area of work and efforts to improve football pitches and access to sports for women and girls in particular will leave a lasting legacy close to her heart.

Previously, Cllr Foster-Grime served as the Communities and Housing portfolio holder until 2023, after being a member of the shadow cabinet and was a Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2019 EU elections.

“Whilst there are big shoes to fill, thankfully we have an excellent replacement. Helen was first elected in 2007 and has previously held a number of cabinet positions, her wealth of ability and experience leaves me with no doubts that she will fit seamlessly in to our ongoing work of preparing the budget. While there a huge challenges facing us all in local government at the moment, there are so many exciting things happening in Stockport. Helen’s appointment means that we can hit the ground running and continue to build on the foundations that Frankie has helped to create.”