The 'secret letter' Oldham Council won't let anyone see
Reporter: Charlotte Hall, Local Democracy Reporter
Date published: 20 May 2025
It has now emerged that council bosses sent a second, private letter to Angela Rayner
A ‘secret letter’ sent to the government by Oldham council bosses sought to influence a major decision for the borough, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands.
Earlier this year, Oldham council wrote to the Secretary of State Angela Rayner with a request to withdraw from Places for Everyone(PfE), a ‘controversial’ Greater Manchester housing plan aiming to bring 11,500 new homes to the borough.
The request was mandated by an extraordinary vote won by a narrow majority of councillors, who fear the plans will result in a loss of green belt land.
It has now emerged that council bosses sent a second, private letter to Angela Rayner, directly opposing their own request to withdraw.
While the first letter was published on the council website on February 19, the second letter has remained unpublished.
Several official sources have confirmed the existence of the letter.
Council bosses initially agreed to share the letter with the LDRS – with sources stating it had ‘always been intended for publication’ but had been ‘forgotten’.
Yet despite a Freedom of Information request (FOI), which obliges the council to disclose certain types of information, a copy of the letter has still not been supplied to the LDRS or been made available to the public online within the deadline, which is 20 working days.
The FOI was submitted on April 16.
And despite having several weeks to provide a statement on the letter, council bosses have opted not to do so.
More than half of councillors (31 of 60) voted to request a withdrawal.
Many saw the government’s rebuttal as a ‘betrayal’, with Oldham’s Liberal Democrat group leader Howard Sykes claiming the verdict ‘went against the democratic decision of Oldham council’.
He added: “Time, I think, will show we were right, and I predict that we will be forced to provide more land including Green Belt for development in the very near future.”
But the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) claimed there was ‘no justification’ for the borough to leave the agreement.
Housing minister Matthey Pennycook, answering on behalf of Rayner, described PfE as ‘an example of authorities doing the right thing – adopting a robust local plan … which reflects strong cooperation between authorities’.
Labour councillors have always maintained that Places for Everyone actually affords greenbelt land greater protections.
Negotiations between Oldham bosses and Greater Manchester Combined Authority members resulted in several green belt sites being taken off or scaled down in the final PfE agreement, with the number of homes on protected land brought down from 4,600 to around 3,200.
Yet changes to the definition of greenbelt land brought in by the Labour government has left many campaigners and local politicians concerned these protections will be short-lived.
Oldham council has been contacted for comment.
Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.
