02 Asian LEADER
15 Jan - 28 Jan 2014
LOCAL NEWS
‘Letshelpyou’ find
new private rented
accommodation
O
ldham Council is urging
residents to log onto a
website which provides
a new and improved way
of accessing private rented housing
in the Borough.
‘LetsHelpYou’ is free to use and
also offers a range of other benefits.
Oldham Council is the latest local
authority to sign up to the website
and many users across the country
have found new homes and landlords have been able to let their
properties at no cost to themselves.
The partnership with ‘LetsHelpYou’ is part of the council’s cooperative approach – supporting
residents in accessing the private
rented sector at a time of increased
housing need.
The
service
was
formally
launched to landlords at the end
of November and is now open to all
members of the public to access.
More than 35 properties have already been placed on the website
by landlords who are seeking local
tenants.
Councillor Dave Hibbert, Cabinet Member for Environment and
Housing, said: “This free service is a
good way for tenants to access suitable homes.
“I would urge anyone who is looking for private rented accommodation across the Borough to log on
so they can get in touch with responsible landlords who are advertising quality properties.”
To register and to find out more
about ‘LetsHelpYou’, visit www.oldCouncillor Dave Hibbert and John Rooney, Oldham Council’s Head of
ham.letshelpyou.co.uk
Housing and Response Services, promoting the website
Commissioner’s statement on CPS decision
Get online for
Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire Clive Grunshaw
Council services I
R
ochdale
Borough
Council has made it
easier for residents
to get in touch with them
to report some of the common problems that they experience.
There are now more
things than ever that you
can report or apply for via
www.rochdale.gov.uk without the need to pick up the
phone or visit the council
offices - saving residents
both time and money.
Councillor
Peter
Williams, cabinet member for
economic development and
customer service, said: “Everybody lives such hectic
lives nowadays that coming into a council office or
spending time on the phone
may no longer be an option.
So we are making it easier for residents to access
more popular services via
the website at a time that
suits them, so many more
issues can be reported, ser-
vices paid for or applied for
online, just by simply completing a simple form, without the need to pick up the
phone or visit us.”
There are now more than
20 services available from
the council website meaning you can do things such
as:
• Report a missed bin;
• Request a bulky waste
collection;
• Report littering or fly-tipping;
• Report graffiti;
• Enquire about fostering
or adoption;
• Report anti-social behaviour.
Free internet access and
a helping hand for those
without a home computer
is available at any library
in the borough. For information about setting up an
email account or joining a
course at your local library
that will help you to get online.
can confirm I have today been informed by
the CPS of their decision
not to take any action in respects of the allegations referred to them by the IPCC.
After more than 12
months of uncertainty, I am
delighted with this outcome.
I am especially pleased with
the view from the CPS that
the evidence supported my
version of events - which
is that I never deliberately
submitted any claims which
I knew to be untrue. Every
claim I made was genuinely
intentioned.
It has been a difficult year,
but I would like to thank everyone for the support they
have shown me.
Following the decision, it
is business as usual in my office, as it has been throughout the duration of this investigation. Over the next
week I will be continuing
with my budget consulta-
tion roadshows as planned,
and welcome this excellent
opportunity to be out in
communities, speaking to
residents. I would also like
to apologise to the people
of Morecambe who came to
see me at my planned roadshow this afternoon, which I
was unable to attend. I had
very little notice from the
IPCC that a decision had
been made, and I hope residents understand why I was
unable to be there. I promise that I will visit the town
soon.
I am proud of what has
been achieved since my
election, including maintaining funding for PCSOs;
the distribution of nearly
£30,000 through my Community Action Fund to help
projects across the county;
the award of Pioneering
Place status from the Early
Intervention
Foundation
and carrying out extensive
and ongoing consultations
around Business Crime and
the commissioning of Victims’ Services.
Now is the time to look
forward, and to build on our
achievements so far. There
is some exciting work ongoing as we continue to develop our early intervention
strategies, work with the
BME community and work
on the outcomes from the
Business Crime survey and
consultations. I am looking forward to welcoming
Baroness Helen Newlove,
the Victims’ Commissioner
for England and Wales, to
Lancashire for our Victims’
Conference on January 30.
Following that, later this
year we will also be drawing
up our vision for the future
of Victims’ services in Lancashire - this framework is
vitally important and an
exciting opportunity to really consider the views of
victims and where service
priorities should lie.
I want to assure Lancashire’s residents of my
commitment to getting the
best outcomes for them. I
want to move forward, continue the open dialogue I
have with our communities
and build on our achievements for the benefit of everyone in the county.
Pilot bin scheme saves taxpayers over £20,000
A
two-month pilot campaign by Rochdale Borough Council to help residents put the right waste in
the correct bin has proved a
success.
The Right Stuff, Right Bin
campaign, which was trialled by 1,600 households in
Newbold, Belfield and Wardleworth from 20 September to 15 November, led to
an almost two-thirds drop
in contaminated waste and
improved recycling rates by
half.
Councilor Jacqui Beswick
said: “The Right Stuff Right
Bin campaign raised awareness of contaminated bins
and recycling rates across
the borough, not only in the
pilot area.
“We are pleased with the
results from the initial pilot
and we will be carrying out
another Right Stuff Right
Bin campaign in February,
which will be funded again
by
Greater
Manchester
Waste Authority.”
As part of the campaign
officers left a green ‘thank
you’ tag on bins with correctly sorted rubbish, but
those bins found to be contaminated with the wrong
waste were given a red
‘wrong stuff, wrong bin’ tag.
Repeat offenders could have
faced £75 fines.
During the pilot contamination was reduced by 61
per cent in the green mixed
recycling bin and recycling
rates went up by 49 per cent.
Recycling rates for paper
and card in blue bins went
up by seven per cent.
Failing to sort rubbish
properly costs Rochdale
borough taxpayers around
£70,000 each year as fines
of £295 per tonne are levied for each contaminated
load. Across the whole of
Rochdale borough no loads
have been rejected since 18
November and, in the trial
area alone, £22,420 has been
saved so far. It is said that a
further saving of £2,478 could
be saved in the pilot area in
the next three months.