Job losses cut as savings tightened

JOB losses at Oldham Council could be capped at 544 if consultants’ sums add up.

Consultants KPMG were brought in earlier this year to help the council bridge a £17.3m deficit amid fears that 850 council staff could lose their jobs.

Now the cost-cutting proposals are almost complete, KMPG, alongside the Unity Partnership, have identified almost £16m worth of savings, with 488 posts expected to go in 2009/10. A further 56 are set to lose their jobs between 2010 and 2012.

Councillor Lynne Thompson said: “It’s good news that we only have to find another £1.4m when we’re were previously looking to save £17.3m.”

Cuts considered so far include the closure of the High Barn day centre in Royton, reducing library services and closing some of the less well-used youth centres.

Councillor Thompson added: “We’re pleased that we have been able to identify huge costs without affecting major front-line services, which affect people in their everyday lives, like street cleaning and the community safety unit. The major areas we have looked at are reducing some of the management and administration posts and improving efficiency by streamlining services, such as by looking at where people in different departments have the same responsibilities and are possibly duplicating work.

“Overall, we’re a huge step forward from where we were in the summer.”

The Liberal Democrats have also made it clear that they want any council tax increases to be capped at 2.5 per cent. However, the cost of redundancies, including pensions, is estimated at £17.9m. The council will have to apply for a loan from the Government, known as a capitalisation order, to pay this off.

Councillor Mark Alcock, Cabinet member for the environment and infrastructure, said: “We could either deal with this cost by increasing the budget deficit or by taking a loan from the Government.

“This is a one-off payment, which will put the council back on an even keel. If we didn’t do this, we would be facing multi-million-pound budget deficits every single year. This way we can re-balance the books, which will increase job security at the council.”

Bringing in costly consultants has also proved to be a controversial step, with many believing that financial specialists at the council should be able to do the job without having to employ outside help.

Councillor Dave Hibbert said: “I have seen other areas where very expensive consultants have forecast massive savings and disappeared with their cash when those savings they predicted never materialised.”

But councillors insisted that KPMG, whose fees have not yet been determined, will only be paid a small percentage of the savings, and this would only be once those savings have been delivered.




Rent rise at First Choice



FIRST Choice Homes’ 15,700 tenants will see their rents rise by an average of 6.1 per cent next year.



Some might see costs soar even higher if the company chooses to ignore guidance from the Government to put a 7 per cent cap on rent increases.

If the council disregards the cap, the average rent increase will be 6.5 per cent, with some 100 tenants receiving an increase of 9 per cent and a further 2,200 receiving increases of between 8 and 9 per cent.

Tenants will also be hit with a 5 per cent increase in heating bills from April, next year, to meet anticipated additional energy costs.

Tenants in receipt of housing benefit will be unaffected by the rent increases.

A final decision on the rises is expected in February.




C-charge defeat ‘not the end of the world’



ALL is not lost for public transport in the borough, despite the crushing defeat of the congestion charge — that’s the message coming from the Cabinet.



Cabinet member for regeneration, Councillor Mohib Uddin, said: “We are working hard to try to look at other possible schemes, including the possibility of moving Mumps station closer to the town centre.”

Councillor Dave Hibbert agreed, saying: “It’s important that we remember it’s not the end of the world for Oldham. We musn’t forget that we are still superbly situated for motorways and trains.”




Academy plans to continue



OLDHAM Council’s Cabinet will press on with plans to present its controversial academy plans to the Government, despite a less than enthusiastic response to recent consultation on the issue.



Of 36,000 information packs which were sent out to parents, teachers and governors to gauge their views on the ambitious ‘building schools for the future’ (BSF) programme, only 246 were returned.

Despite the public’s reservations, the Cabinet agreed to go ahead with plans. The draft BSF outline business case will be presented to the Government by January 19, 2009.

Funding worry for volunteersvoluntary groups could see funds slashed from next April.

Most voluntary groups receive cash from the Priority Programme Funding (PPF). But financial pressures have forced the council to slash the PPF budget from £1.18m to £880,000. The move could spell problems for a number of organisations.

Councillor Rod Blyth said: “The other way of dealing with this would be to simply reduce the amount available to each group by 22 per cent, but we didn’t want to do this.

“We are working really hard to arrange alternative funding for the groups which might be affected.”