Crunch busters

Armed with cash, council’s team is primed for action

THIS is war . . . a special credit crunch fighting fund has been set up by Oldham Council and partners to attack local job losses.

And a war cabinet will decide the tactics — beginning next week.

It will be armed with a £400,000 rapid intervention fund to support residents and businesses through some of the worst fallout of the credit crunch.

Senior representatives from the council and partners will form a special economic war cabinet, a small group studying economic intelligence and up-to-date figures, ready for quick action.

That could be helping business, assisting people made redundant by taking services straight to them, or giving benefits advice.

The initiative follows the worst unemployment figures for Oldham this century. For the first time last month more than 5,000 people were jobless, or 4 per cent of the working population.

There have been redundancies at Woolworths, Adams childrenswear, Paperstyle in Chadderton, the Oldham Evening Chronicle and 80 jobs are under threat at Diodes, formerly Zetex, in Chadderton. The council is shedding 455 posts, with more to come next year. The war cabinet initiative came from council leader, Councillor Howard Sykes, supported by the Oldham Partnership made up of business, voluntary, public and faith communities.

He said: “This about being reactive and inventive. It will be a small number of people able to make rapid decisions.

“When Slumberland closed in Royton last year we had a special team in there. We might have to decide to do something similar again to keep our skills base in the borough.

“We may have to choose where to help and they may be very difficult decisions.

“Some people losing their jobs at the moment have never been unemployed in their lives, where do they go?

“I want to assure people that we’ll step up to the plate and do everything we can to make things easier through these tough times.

“The £400,000 initially identified for the rapid intervention fund is just a starting point. We will work with our partners to identify other funding if required.”

Nick Brown, chairman of Oldham Partnership and principal of Oldham Sixth Form College, added: “The economic situation is changing so quickly — so our promise is to move just as fast, if not faster, for the people of Oldham.”