Budget blunder

EXPENSIVE: new centre

Chadderton Wellbeing Centre will cost EIGHT times more to run than first thought
A COUNCIL blunder has left Chadderton’s new £17 million Wellbeing Centre massively under-budget only days before it opens.

Oldham Council budgeted £100,000 a year for the centre’s running costs but has now discovered it will need £811,000 — more than eight times that amount.

Council chiefs say the Wellington Street building — boasting a swimming pool, fitness suite, library and meeting rooms — will open on Monday as planned.

But they are frantically trying to get more bookings to bring money in — and will have to meet the annual shortfall in next year’s budget.

For residents across the borough, that could mean council tax rises, price increases or budget cuts.

A Cabinet meeting tonight will consider an emergency report into serious financial discrepancies. A full investigation has been launched.

While Liberal Democrat leaders say they are focused on resolving the issue rather than laying blame, it’s been pointed out that the finances were calculated in April, 2007, and approved the following year when Labour were running the council.

Deputy council leader Jackie Stanton said: “It’s another problem we inherited. We will deal with it. It was not fully costed. It was a case of we will have one and sort out how we are going to pay for it later, which is not how you do business and not what we do. Everything is properly costed or we don’t do it.

“There is no question of us withdrawing our support for this facility — it is a landmark development which will bring a massive boost to the area.

“It will open as planned — but these reports have raised important questions, the biggest of which is clearly why the projected annual revenue charge now stands at £811,000, with no provision for it in the budget.

“Internal audit has now been commissioned to carry out a detailed review of this scheme which will examine a whole range of matters.

“It seems clear that the financial scrutiny and projections for this scheme have been deficient.

“A clear understanding of what went wrong is a must for this authority.”