Two Oldham council directors to leave town hall

Oldham town hall has to plug a £20m gap in its finances

Two Oldham council directors are to leave the town hall.

Finance boss Sarah Johnston and economics chief Paul Clifford have handed in their notices.

They say they want to be ‘closer to home’, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands.

Their departures come amid a leadership shake-up in Oldham – and across Greater Manchester authorities.

Oldham chief executive Harry Catherall left for crisis-hit Tameside council – which is battling to turn around its failing children’s services department – last month. 

Shelley Kipling is acting chief exective. 

Ms Johnston, appointed in August last year, will move to Wigan council at the end of January, when work on next year’s budget is finished. 

Oldham town hall has to plug a £20m gap in its finances.

An email sent out to staff on Friday (December, 6) read: “In Oldham, we’re at a crucial point in our budget preparations.

"I’m pleased to say that Sarah has already done a lot of the preparatory work and will still be with us when the settlement comes through so that our budget plans can be fully developed under her expertise.”

Paul Clifford is returning to Barnsley council, where he was director of economy before he came to Oldham in 2022.

His new role will be Service Director Regeneration and Culture at Barnsley Council.

His two years in the town were focused on delivering the ‘Creating a Better Place’ programme, which includes 2,000 new homes.

Replacements are yet to be appointed.

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