Council does its books in record time

Improvements in Oldham Council’s financial arrangements have seen the authority close off the books for 2009-10 in record time.

The statement of accounts and annual report were approved on Tuesday by members of the authority’s Audit Committee.

The decision means Oldham is one of the first authorities in the country to close off last year’s books and — for the first time in five years — they are also free of material errors. The auditors’ annual governance report highlighted several key areas where significant progress has been made including a robust and prudent approach to identifying savings.

Councillor Lynne Thompson said: “Despite initially facing a forecast overspend, our final revenue position for 2009-10 actually shows a small underspend.

“In addition to tackling the budget reductions required during this year — we’ve also been able to invest £2million in what residents told us were priority investments areas, such as making Oldham a cleaner and greener borough. We have also recently approved a £33m capital investment programme for the next four years which includes £10m to be invested in our highways and £6m in our assets alongside further investments in Metrolink and the Coliseum among other projects.

She added the council were already taking steps to achieve the auditor’s recommendations for further improvement.