Champions of the Big Society?

THE FRIDAY THING

HOW do we feel about Oldham Council becoming a championing council?

Will we feel champion, chuffed or cheesed off? And will somebody please explain to us just what it means.

The bad news is that either 600, 800 or 1,000 jobs are to go — depending on who you believe — which will certainly put Oldham in the champions’ league for making folk redundant.

The good news is that the big cheeses with the fat salaries and the holiday homes on some sun kissed shore are to be cut (careful now, no James Naughtie’s here) from six to four while the medium cheeses with caravans in Abergele and Knot End will be cut from 26 to16.

The master plan is to measure up to David Cameron’s Big Society (and yes, I know, Howard Sykes is there already) and chief of staff Clare Fish tells us that the council will become leaner (fewer butties at council teas and no puddings), stronger, resilient and more creative.

In other words bionic men and wonder women. They wish!

The whole operation is called — and here’s a euphemism for you — “repositioning” which seems to mean that they’ll do the jobs they can, let the private sector do some of those they can’t and position the rest in the pending tray.

Jackie Stanton, Oldham’s version of Joan of Arc, seeks an inspirational note when she says: “The borough will be at the front leading, not following,” but it remains to be seen just where they are leading us to and will we follow?




THE appropriately named Eric Pickles (otherwise known as Eric the Round) has jumped (well, clambered really as befits a man of his girth) on to the elected mayor bandwagon and wants the big cities, including Manchester, to set the pace.



If it works and if cities like Manchester would really like their own version of Boris Johnson (not a prayer) then towns like Oldham would be next.

The last time Oldham considered the prospect of an elected mayor the council fiddled the figures to make sure that it didn’t happen and the present bunch would be no more in favour of it than were their predecessors (although some of the fiddlers are still in the chamber).

So who would be a likely candidate? We can probably rule out Charlie because I can’t see him submitting himself to the vagaries of the ballot box. But what about Phil Woolas — he’s free.




FINAL WORD: Those of a certain mind — of which I am definitely one — will find a delicious and judicious irony in a Labour victory in the upcoming Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election. Phil Woolas’s election leaflets and fantastic comics certainly strayed on to ground more slippery than Oldham’s side streets these past few weeks, but there is no denying that Phil was a top-class constituency MP who will be missed.