Lib-Dems bid to trim budget

A CLEANER, greener Oldham is the aim of the Liberal Democrats in their alternative Oldham budget.

Leader Howard Sykes says £700,000 can be shaved off the Labour proposals — even thugh he agrees with most of them

The Lib-Dem budget will go before the Performance and Value for Money Select Committee on Thursday and then to full council on February 27.

Among other measures, the party expects to make Oldham cleaner by cancelling proposed charges for bulky waste collection and will hire four new inspectors to police fly-tipping.

Councillor Lynne Thompson, the Lib-Dem finance spokeswoman, said: “We found over £700,000 extra. It is not huge relative to the budget but it shows what is still there. The three largest permanent savings are all without effect on services to the public.”