Blast for sneaky bid to cut budget

OLDHAM Council is to protest to the government about its attempt to “sneak” an extra £5million worth of budget cuts into future funding.

Councillor Abdul Jabbar - the council’s cabinet member for finance - expressed anger at Oldham Council about the latest consultation on the Local Government Finance Settlement, which is projected to call for further reductions in the government’s revenue support grant over the next two years. The grant is paid by government to local authorities to cover the bulk of the cost of local services; council tax makes up the rest.

The council believed the government had offered only a technical consultation document, for general local authority discussion, in July, but later realised the document was actually proposing significant new cuts.

Councillor Jabbar said: “The democratic process was completely bypassed. The technical consultation was sent out during holiday time and recess. This is not acceptable; the impact these further cuts will have on services we provide will be absolutely devastating.”

Councillor Jenny Harrison added: “We are urging the Government to reconsider these cuts and to behave in the future in a timely and transparent fashion.”

The motion to protest received unanimous cross-party support. Council chief executive Charlie Parker will now write to Chancellor George Osborne demanding that further reductions be reconsidered and that future announcements are made more openly. The council will also ask local MPs to lobby central government for the changes.