‘Cannon fodder council’ blast

Oldham Council reports
OLDHAM’S ruling coalition is being used as cannon fodder by a government which has sent them over the top.

That’s the view of Councillor John Battye (pictured), a former council leader and mayor, who urged them to fight cuts as the first tranche of proposals to save £57 million and cut 800 jobs by April, 2014, were voted through.

Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors approved savings of almost £16 million next year, defeating an opposition motion which wanted possible adult social care cuts of £8 million removed from the budget until consultation is completed.

Councillor Shoab Akhtar said the adult social care changes — part of the council’s move to provide fewer direct services and commission more from companies and other organisations — would take away the dignity of the most vulnerable and damage services beyond repair. He added: “They will end up costing the council approximately £11 million in redundancies. This is £3 million more than the cuts being proposed. Some of the cuts are not thought through. They will hit the most vulnerable in our society, those who probably can’t speak up for themselves.”

But opposition councillors were told that no hard and fast decisions has been made and that people would be listened to.

Councillor Jack Hulme said: “Consultation has and is taking place and will continue to take place. What is being proposed is simply to bring Oldham Council in line with many other councils in Greater Manchester for the provision of adult social services. Many of these councils have a long record of providing care by the independent and private sector.”

Council leader Howard Sykes said the council was in a challenging position and added: “It is a challenge we anticipated. The early action we took, which included sorting the mess left by Labour, has put us in a much better place than in many areas of the country.

“However, the pursuit of reducing bureaucracy and delivering budgetary competence has led to regrettable, but necessary measures, which last year saw a number of job losses. The continuation of this work will require further job losses this year. The route we are taking is essential to deliver the goal of an affordable council delivering good services at a price we can afford.”

Councillor Lynne Thompson said whoever had won the election would have faced large cuts in the amount of money they received from central government.

She added: “Hand-wringing does not protect the vulnerable, waving placards does not protect jobs and saying ‘not our gov’ does not make the deficit go away.”