Council Leader Defends Taking The Plane

Cllr Howard Sykes

The leader of Oldham Council has defended his decision to fly to and from a meeting with Government ministers in Bournemouth earlier this month. Cllr Howard Sykes said taking the plane was cheaper and faster than the equivalent train journey.

Cllr Sykes was responding to a public question at last week’s full council meeting, put by Saddleworth Parish Councillor Ken Hulme. Cllr Hulme queried the decision to fly, recalling that previous Lib Dem council leader and Saddleworth South member Cllr Richard Knowles had imposed a ban on domestic travel by air and first-class rail back in 2000.

Cllr Sykes and Cllr Jack Hulme, who holds the Cabinet portfolio for Children, Young People and Families, were at the Local Government Association meeting in Bournemouth to discuss the Government’s plans to end the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The decision to suspend the programme means several schools across the borough, including Saddleworth School, now seem unlikely to get the new buildings they had expected.

The Oldham Chronicle reported that Cllrs Sykes and Jack Hulme had to leave the meeting early to catch their plane back to Manchester, meaning they couldn’t hold talks with Education Secretary Michael Gove, who was himself running late.

In his question, Cllr Ken Hulme added, “Does the apparent failure of Cllrs Sykes and Hulme to stay to meet the Education Secretary… run the risk of signalling to the Government that they are not really serious about reinstating any part of the borough’s BSF programme?”

Cllr Sykes responded by clarifying the council’s travel policy. He said that, while air and first-class train travel was indeed banned in 2000, the policy was amended slightly in 2003. According to Cllr Sykes, “it was agreed by Cabinet that council policy would be that all travel would be standard class unless the member or officer could show good reason to use first class travel which would be authorised by the relevant chief officers and Cabinet member.  There is no mention of restriction on air travel.”

Cllr Sykes went on to say that, in this case, the plane tickets cost £170 per person less than the equivalent train tickets. He added that the journey took two hours less by plane, even allowing for the time taken to check-in at Manchester Airport: “Therefore on two counts to make this journey this way made sense – for council tax payers and for effective use of time.  The suggestion that these would not be paramount in our considerations beggars belief!”

On the issue of whether he’d missed meeting Mr Gove, Cllr Sykes said he’d never planned to hold talks with the Education Secretary at Bournemouth, having discussed BSF in a meeting with him in June. However, Cllrs Sykes and Jack Hulme did meet Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles and his deputy Andrew Stunell, and Cllr Sykes said they “forcibly made Oldham’s case” to the two ministers.

Cllr Sykes added: “So far be it from not doing what we can about the BSF programme I would argue we have done all we can and continue to do so.”