Sykes defends cuts during TV grilling

COUNCIL leader Howard Sykes took to the BBC’s Politics Show on Sunday to defend the implications of £41 million spending cuts in Oldham.

Broadcasting from the new Media City development in Salford, Councillor Sykes said councils must cut jobs in a way that minimises the impact on front-line services.

He sat alongside Manchester Council leader Sir Richard Leese and Mike Jones, leader of Cheshire West and Chester council.

When questioned by a Unison representative, he said: “I have only got ‘x’ number of pounds to pay the staff so I’ve either got to pay staff less or need to employ less.

“A job is a job, these people have families and it is not a decision any politician takes lightly.”

He reminded viewers that 100 compulsory redundancies would be made from the council.

However tensions mounted when Manchester Council boss Sir Richard Leese sniped at his fellow interviewees, claiming that departments such as adult social services must have been “pretty inefficient in the first place” if cuts on such a scale could be made without impacting services.

When questioned by Oldham care-home owner Charles Jones, Councillor Sykes said the council has pulled out of some services within adult social care services that can be provided by the private or voluntary sector.

He added: “I’m proud that no individual care package has been altered or cut back, we have more individualised budgets than any other authority in Greater Manchester pro rata, we’re a pioneer in that sense.”