Panel Report 11 December 2001 To the people of Oldham, whose warmth and generous welcome to us is matched by our confidence and faith in their future. Contents 02 Chapter 1 Introduction 06 Chapter 2 Objectives for a new Oldham 08 Chapter 3 Summary analysis and key recommendations 16 Chapter 4 Housing 23 Chapter 5 Education 32 Chapter 6 Employment and economy 37 Chapter 7 Health 41 Chapter 8 Policing 46 Chapter 9 Leisure, culture and community interaction 53 Chapter 10 Regeneration 56 Chapter 11 Governance 64 Chapter 12 The role of the media 67 Chapter 13 The way forward Appendices 69 Appendix 1 History 72 Appendix 2 Panel members 73 Appendix 3 Panel terms of reference 74 Appendix 4 Ethnic breakdown of population and population estimates by ward 76 Appendix 5 Regeneration programme spend by ward 77 Appendix 6 Myth busting 78 Appendix 7 Summary of public views 83 Appendix 8 Maps 86 Appendix 9 Acknowledgements 87 Appendix 10 Methodology 88 Appendix 11 Race and diversity strategy committee 89 Appendix 12 Racist Incidents Panel 90 Appendix 13 Summary of report recommendations Oldham Independent Review Report 2001 01 Chapter one INTRODUCTION David Ritchie, Chairman, Oldham Independent Review For three days in late May 2001 the eyes of the nation, and of a sizable part of the world, were In a more important sense, however, this report is written for, The situation remains serious, and the potential for organisations on Oldham. The town whose main historic claim to fame was that it was once cotton spinning and addressed to, the people of Oldham since it is they who such as the BNP to exploit people’s anxieties is a powerful capital of the world was thrust into the limelight for the less worthy reason that it was the scene need to find new ways to live together and our primary aim has factor. If anything, the 11th September and its aftermath of the worst racially motivated riots in the UK for fifteen years. Every news bulletin was dominated been to help them find ways of doing so. reinforces the need for Oldham to wake up to the by events in Oldham, for once eclipsing Northern Ireland as a story of inter-community tensions implementation of this report. and disorder. British and International media camped out in the town, turning the Civic Centre car 1.5 Some people have questioned our independence as a park into a forest of TV masts and dishes, with reports from Glodwick dominating the headlines panel, given that we were commissioned by three of the bodies 1.8 We did not see it as our task to make comparisons between and the pages of analysis inside the broadsheets. whose role we would be examining, and that officials of those Oldham and other places affected by disorder, although, it must three bodies were involved in supporting us. We can understand be said, on the face of it, similarities exist. The Government those concerns, but we reject them unequivocally. Our funding established a working group chaired by Ted Cantle to take a was provided by the Home Office. To supplement it, we did draw wider look at some towns that experienced violence and some on staffing support from the commissioning organisations as well that did not. Whilst we have not worked closely with the Cantle 1.2 On the 1st June the house of the Asian Deputy Mayor as from the Government Office for the North West, but the whole Group, we have met with them and made them aware of some of Oldham was fire-bombed, he and his family only narrowly of our team were fully aware that, during the time they were of our initial findings. We expect our two reports to appear at escaping. A week later the town was again in the news as the seconded to us, they worked for us and not for any other around the same date, at which time it may be necessary to British National Party scored its biggest success ever in a UK organisation. Only one of our team, in any event, had had re-interpret some of both our findings. General Election, taking over 6,500 votes in Oldham West and senior level involvement in any of the three commissioning Royton, 16% of the vote, and over 5,000 votes in Oldham East organisations and she was only involved in the initial, setting 1.9 Our conclusions are set out in a series of Chapters, and Saddleworth, or 11%. This confirmed the view of many that up, phase of our operation. reflecting the key areas relevant to inter-community relations something was seriously wrong in Oldham, that there was a in Oldham. This includes virtually every area of economic and community more polarised on racial lines than anything seen 1.6 This report represents our conclusions after four months social activity within the town. We provide our analysis of the before in the UK and that people needed to understand the or so of work, during which I am confident that the panel have causes of the recent disturbances, and a recapitulation of the causes and find a new basis to live together in peace and grappled effectively with the issues confronting Oldham, and events leading up to and in the immediate aftermath of the riots. harmony. have reached a good understanding of how the town works. The bulk of the report however is concerned with the future, and Our first decision was to open a drop-in centre in the Spindles the solutions to the many problems we have uncovered. 1.3 The fact that disturbances broke out soon afterwards in Shopping Centre, right in the heart of Oldham, to enable Bradford, Leeds, Burnley and other northern towns did not members of the public to give us their views. We had a team 1.10 Throughout our work, the importance of young people and reduce the significance of events in Oldham. If anything, it of interviewers available during shop opening hours to take their role in building a better, more united Oldham was never far reinforced the need to develop an understanding of the town, notes of people’s views, and between first opening the shop from our minds. At one point we considered including a separate what made it different from some areas which did not suffer at the beginning of August and closing, as demand dropped Chapter on young people. On balance we decided against disorder, what were the similarities with those which did, and off, on 19th October we interviewed a total of 915 people. because there is a youth dimension to virtually the whole of this whether there were issues of general application as well as Where necessary, we had interpretation service available. report and every Chapter makes recommendations relevant to those specific to the town. On 14th June, eight days after the In addition, panel members clocked up around 200 meetings them. General Election, the Home Secretary met a delegation from the with individuals or organisations in the town and many other town to discuss the issues and in the course of the meeting he informal discussions. We made a small number of visits outside 1.11 At the outset, we set out a number of principles which have asked them, and they agreed, to set up an independent review Oldham to see how certain issues were handled elsewhere. governed the recommendations we have adopted, and the most of what had happened and what needed to be put right. Home fundamental of these is that a system of separate development Office Minister Angela Eagle subsequently made two visits to 1.7 Part way through our work, the terrible events of the 11th within the town, in which people from different ethnic the town to see at first hand what had happened, and to meet September took place and there was real anxiety in Oldham backgrounds live lives largely separated from one another, is some of the people most involved in developing community about the likely effects of that on the attitudes of racists in the fundamentally unacceptable, and if not addressed will lead to relations within Oldham. At the invitation of Oldham Metropolitan town, and also the effects of the subsequent intervention in worse developments in the future. In the course of preparing my Borough Council, Greater Manchester Police and the Greater Afghanistan. There was heightened tension, there was damage parts of this report, I came across the following quotation by Manchester Police Authority I was appointed to Chair the to a Mosque in the town, and some attacks on individuals took the Christian spiritual writer Donald Nicholl. Describing the www.oldhamir.org.uk Independent Review on 18th July and the remaining panel place which seemed to have been triggered by world events, relationship between different parts of society in Germany after members (full list at Appendix 2) were appointed by 6th August. In the wake of the disturbances the Oldham and in which local Asian people were treated as scapegoats. the First World War he said “The different religious and political Independent Review has been established There have been some particular difficulties at Oldham College groupings in Germany were so deeply divided that it would have to enable all Oldham citizens to express 1.4 We are submitting this report in a formal sense to the between Muslim students and others which have been worrying. been almost unthinkable – even impertinent – for a their views on the future of the town. Council, the Police and the Police Authority, since they However, we were impressed by the responsible attitude of civic representative of one group to have spoken up on behalf of commissioned the Review, with a copy to the Home Secretary and religious leaders who did much to calm tensions.