My Speech to Budget Council

Posted By: Alan Taylor
Date Posted: 25/02/2009

All Councillors know we face challenging times across the Borough. I am pleased that we are working together to improve services for the people that matter the most, our citizens.

I am delighted with the response to this year’s Big Clean campaign. The Big Clean is about improving the environment and appearance of local streets and enhancing the quality of life for residents. Everyone has the right to live somewhere they can be proud of, and the Big Clean should help make this a reality. We know from talking to residents that improving the way an area looks can have a positive impact on fear of crime. Over the past few months, people across the borough have been having their say as part of the Big Clean and telling us which areas they think should be tidied up with the extra £100,000 that has become available. Sites in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale have all been selected. Everyone who submitted a nomination form will receive a letter from the council explaining what action will be taken and the steps involved. Work has already begun and improvement works to the sites will continue to take place over the coming weeks.

Rochdale Borough Council has joined forces with the Energy Saving Trust (EST). The partnership will help local people, businesses and the council save money on energy bills and reduce the carbon footprint left by the borough. The council is one of 30 other local authorities across the UK that have been selected to work in partnership with the EST to carry out extensive programmes in order to produce carbon reduction action plans and reduce emissions.

We have also made a significant commitment by signing the Nottingham Declaration - a pledge by local authorities to take action on climate change. This marks a significant step towards improving the council’s own environmental impact in a number of different ways. We and our partners will now effectively co-ordinate our efforts to make the borough an even greener, cleaner place to live, work and do business.

We have unveiled a brand new fleet of recycling vehicles which will make the collection of recyclable waste much more efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly. The launch of the new vehicles follows news from the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority that the council is sending the least amount of rubbish to landfill out of all the authorities in Greater Manchester. We hope this will propel us towards our target of 50% recycling by 2011.

Rochdale’s streets now have two extra members of staff dedicated to taking action against people who drop litter. Two new enforcement wardens have been employed to cover just the Rochdale Township area – after local people said they wanted more action against those who leave their rubbish in the street.

It’s hoped the wardens will be a visible deterrent so that people think twice about dropping litter – as well as allowing their dogs to foul without picking it up. Those people who are caught for either offence could be given a fine of up to £75. At the moment, the council’s Big Clean campaign is leading a massive push to spruce up the whole borough – so this extra resource in the Rochdale township will play a key part of that.

Residents across the borough have set a new record for the number of real Christmas trees recycled by Rochdale Borough Council. The authority collected 3,513 real trees this year from Christmas tree ‘bring sites’ - beating last year’s record of 3,000. Residents have helped the council save 14 tonnes of real Christmas trees from going to landfill and instead put them to good use as mulch around the borough’s parks.

Additional Police Officers are now on the beat thanks to financial support from Rochdale Borough Council. The innovative new roles have been created as part of a Home Office led programme to introduce the police force to young people and focus on developing positive relationships, building trust and mutual respect.

Children and young people across the borough had their say about the future of their town as part of ‘The Big Listen’. Dozens of workshops and events were staged in schools, children’s centres and community venues.



Youngsters from the majority of secondary schools in the borough have attended a jobs fair aimed at showing them the kinds of careers available at the council. We are determined to reverse the trend of our talented youngsters leaving the borough by encouraging them to look at career options with the council. Our young people are the future – not only of the borough – but of the council itself and we want to do all we can to make sure they get the education they need as well as making sure there are good jobs for them at the end of that process. There is a bright future for Rochdale with more jobs being created – including opportunities at the new Kingsway Business Park – so it’s important that we give the next generation the best chance of getting those jobs.

Snow falls have led to a record number of residents logging onto rochdale.gov.uk to get the latest information. The website, run by the Communications Team recorded its highest ever number of visits last month, with nearly 9,000 visits on one day. During the adverse weather conditions the site was regularly updated with essential information on everything from road and school closures, to gritting details, recycling, libraries and refuse collections. The home page was regularly updated.

You can now listen to the latest news from your local council – as well as read it! Rochdale Borough Council has become only one of a handful of local authorities around the country to launch its own podcast – and the February edition is available to download for free now from the council website, www.rochdale.gov.uk. The ‘Local Matters’ podcast brings to life information and news featured in the magazine of the same name – which is distributed free to households across the whole borough. As well as mentioning local events and highlighting services provided by the council, the podcast reports on council news and initiatives.



In these challenging times we are making sure we offer as much help and support as possible to help local residents and businesses – with our ‘Beat the Crunch’ campaign. With many feeling the impact of the credit crunch it’s important to remember that support is available. Assistance for residents struggling with debt and advice on how to take the benefits to which they are entitled to is a top priority.

We have also agreed to pay invoices from small and medium businesses more quickly – with immediate effect. Businesses that employ fewer than 250 people and have an annual turnover of less than £40 million should receive payment for their invoices within 10 days of receipt, provided that there are no queries on the invoices.

240 Rochdale Borough Council staff who have ‘delivered exceptional service’ were honoured at a special awards presentation, part of National Customer Services week. Dealing with people is a crucial part of all of our jobs and it's important that we acknowledge this when it's done well.

There are now more exciting things for young people to do following the launch of a new youth bus. Rochdale Youth Council’s young people have funded the first bus, named ‘Where it’s at’ – a specially designed single decker coach packed full of equipment to entertain and educate youngsters that will travel throughout Rochdale, Heywood, Middleton and the Pennines. The aim is to provide positive activities in a high tech supportive environment in areas of the borough where there are few or no youth facilities.

Work on building the new £17.6 million St Anne’s Academy in Middleton has started. This new school is part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, which will see a radical transformation of secondary education in the borough. The new Academy on Hollin Lane, Middleton will accommodate 900 pupils and include the creation of new buildings together with the total refurbishment of one of the existing school blocks.

We have been praised by Ofsted in their annual performance assessment of children’s services departments nationwide. We were judged to be ‘Good’ and given a Grade 3 rating, with Ofsted concluding that the council provides a service that delivers above the minimum requirements for young people. In the most part, this is a pleasing result, but clearly we still have a number of areas for development. We will continue our relentless focus on doing the best we possibly can, at every level.

Residents of the borough can be assured of 5 star customer service from our Customer Service centres. All seven have been successfully awarded the Cabinet Office's new prestigious Customer Service Excellence standard. Rochdale is one of only 17 organisations in the North West to have achieved this standard, launched last year. On awarding the standard, the Assessor’s main observation was the very high regard that customers have for the Customer Service Centre’s and their service.

Live Life, the big public healthy living show will return to the borough in March. The giant health exhibition, held in partnership with Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale NHS and Rochdale Borough Council will have lots of ideas to help you lead a healthier lifestyle with a huge range of interactive demonstrations, exciting activities and presentations.

We are determined to put our customers first and we will strive to be the difference that makes the difference. We have taken some significant steps this year on the journey to a better Borough. I would ask all councillors to be part of that journey. I am not saying it is going to be easy, I am saying lets build on our recent successes to ensure a brighter future for all our citizens. Let’s show some of that pioneering spirit here in the Borough of Rochdale the home of pioneers and meet the challenges we face together head on. If you are passionate about making things better and I know that everyone here is then we can change and give our people a better quality of life.

I now look forward to next year and the difference we can all make to the people who live in Middleton, Pennines, Heywood and Rochdale.