After two months of pressure from the Liberal Democrat group on the original application, confirmation has been reached that the business plan for the organisation will have to come to the Council’s group leaders meetings, and the Governance Scrutiny Board, for public feedback before it is signed off.
Oldham Lib Dem group leader Sam Al-Hamdani said: “The Mayoral Development Corporation can be a very positive thing for Oldham, but it is important that what it does is makes the work more efficient, not avoid scrutiny.
“When the project came to the group leaders, I insisted on additional transparency and oversight. The business plan will be subject to public scrutiny: anyone who wants to ask questions about it can submit them to the Governance Scrutiny Board. And it will come to that scrutiny board on a regular basis to report on how well it is meeting the targets in that business plan.”
The MDC is one of several coming forward across Greater Manchester, including one in neighbouring Rochdale covering the Mills Hill train station, with agreement being reached on Oldham Council being able to more easily submit feedback on that project, given that it will have major impacts on Oldham residents.
Councillor Al-Hamdani added: “If a project is to impact the people of Oldham, they must have their say. That’s why I insisted on public scrutiny, not just of Oldham’s work, but of Rochdale’s too.
“It has taken two months to push through agreement on the exact terms of this, but if that’s the time that's needed to make sure things are done correctly, that’s what we’ll do.”
