Employing money gurus doesn’t add up

Alexandra Area Committee reports

OLDHAM Council’s decision to employ expensive consultants to help them identify savings and plug a £17 million budget shortfall was condemned last night.

Interim finance director Peter Timmins, told the meeting about the work that consultancy giants KPMG were doing to help pull the council out of a financial black hole.

He said that they will only be paid if the council makes savings, and in that case, they are expected to scoop around 10 per cent of the savings made, earning them a potential profit of up to £1.7m.

Area committee co-optee Malcolm Wardle said: “Why don’t we have staff within the council who are capable of identifying where we could save money?

“You could say that some officers in the council have failed.”

Mr Timmins countered that the consultants bring in a wealth of experience from the many different councils they have worked with giving them an invaluable insight. 

Grot-busters in action

GROUNDWORK will be sweeping into Alexandra for week from December 15 on a clean-up mission.

The week will be spent sprucing up the area and forms part of the 20 ward challenge, an initiative to spend a week cleaning up each ward in the borough between now and March.

The team is looking for suggestions of any particular grot spots residents want targeting.

They are also looking for community groups and volunteers who would like to help out. Anyone who is interested is asked to phone Jo Fullman on: 0161-624 1444 or 07516 150 763 or email: Joannafullman@groundwork.org.uk