McMahon’s video blogs on budget

Jim McMahon

OLDHAM Council’s leader has used his first video blog to explain what the authority’s newly-adopted budget means to residents.

It shows Councillor Jim McMahon speaking from inside the council chamber to explain the financial decisions taken by the council for 2012-13.

In the blog — view it at www.oldham.gov.uk — he outlines the difficulties of identifying £24 million in savings and what it means for services in the future.

Councillor McMahon said: “This is the first time I’ve done a video blog but it struck me that it was important to give residents an opportunity to hear for themselves what lies ahead for our borough.

“We are committed to trying to tackle the ‘disconnect’ between residents and their representatives and this is just the latest part of a concerted effort to make Oldham Council’s decision-making more transparent, accessible and accountable to the people that we serve.

“I believe we should aspire to lead the national agenda here on improving democratic engagement and — while much more remains to be done — we are making good early progress.

“My weekly Leader’s Blog has now had more than 15,000 visitors, for example. And since we began streaming full council meetings live on the web — allowing residents to ask questions via Twitter, Facebook and email — we’ve been contacted by several other local authorities wanting to find out how to do it for themselves.

“We recognise that in 2012 only a small minority of people can or want to attend meetings in person and that means we need to offer a range of different ways for them to have their say.

“The video blog is just the latest step in trying to explain what Oldham Council is doing and let residents get involved in a time and a place that is more convenient for their busy lifestyles and commitments.”

In the blog, Councillor McMahon talks in depth about community pride and what Oldham’s move to become a co-operative council means in practical terms for everyone.

He also explains what investments will be prioritised in the future as part of plans to ensure the borough has the infrastructure it needs to capitalise when the economic recovery arrives.