THE SADDLEWORTH-BASED Mayor of Oldham has slapped down rowing Councillors by telling them: “We are not bigger than the public.”
After five attempts to elect a leader – and five failures – an interim way forward for the borough authority has been thrashed out with the threat of Government intervention hanging over it.
And at a meeting on Wednesday, September 16, Cllr Pam Byrne delivered a withering putdown to those at the centre of what has been described as ‘shenanigans.’
Ahead of the vote which finally sealed the breakthrough, the Saddleworth North representative said: “We are not bigger than the public.
“We are elected by the public and time and time again we’ve debated this, people have given a lot of time to it and have agreed that we ought to work together.
“It’s time, at this particular time, to give up on politics, to be pragmatic for the good of the town and what people see us not doing.
“So this discussion about working together has I think hopefully had some effect on everybody that we are not the biggest thing in this town. Our electorate is.”
The new arrangement will see lead members of the four biggest groups – Labour, Reform UK, Liberal Democrats – for whom Saddleworth West and Lees’ Cllr Sam AL-Hamdani will chair resources – and The Oldham Group – placed in charge of the four main committees.
The Conservatives, of whom Saddleworth South’s Cllr Max Woodvin is leader, will chair the Governance, Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Board.
But decision-making powers will rest with chief executive Shelley Kipling, who will meet with group leaders and their deputies fortnightly.
And she told all members this is not the ideal solution.
She said: “None of these proposals are a perfect solution to the situation we find ourselves in as a result of our inability to elect a leader.
“They are a set of proposals based on a principle of best endeavour and I need to be clear that the alternative to our best endeavours in keeping council services running is intervention by the government.
“Intervention is not a neutral act. It will have an impact on our finances as we find the cost of intervention having to be met within an already squeezed budget that funds essential services.
“It will have an impact on our workforce as people decide whether they wish to continue to work for an organisation under intervention and it will have an impact on you as elected members and your ongoing ability to decide and determine the direction of this council as you were elected to do.
“This is not an attempt to appoint an administration. It will not negate the unlawfulness of the council having no leader and no full lead member for children’s services.
“As a result of that, it is not a political agreement. It is not politically devised or developed.
“It is not a deal, not a coalition, and not a working agreement. It is simply a set of recommendations devised and developed by officers that seeks to strengthen and protect council services and decision making during this period of uncertainty.
“As things stand, I, as chief executive, am undertaking all executive decision making using my emergency powers. That is not how councils should function.
“The people of Oldham elected the 60 of you to represent them and their interests. Residents rightly have the expectation that those they elected are making the decisions that affect their local services and the future of the place they live.
“Without using these powers, the council would have been unable to make decisions that keep everyday services running for the people of this borough.
“We would have forfeited millions of pounds of funding. We would have stalled or in some cases halted our ability to provide services.”
Reform UK did throw a spanner in the works, with new leader Cllr Mark Wilkinson declaring they intend to abstain from the vote.
And after a 50-minute adjournment, it was not unanimous, with its deputy leader Cllr Gary Tarbuck – who once stood for election in Saddleworth North for the Proud of Oldham and Saddleworth group – voting against and leaving the chamber.
Cllr Brian Hobin commented: “It looks like shenanigans again from certain parties in this place and we seem to be forgetting who is supposed to be here for the benefit of our residents.”
Eventually, the motion was passed – although Royton Independent Cllrs Maggie Hurley and Jade Hughes and Reform UK Cllrs Paul Taylor and Rob Jackson abstained – and the measures will remain in place until a council leader is elected.
Ms Kipling added: ”The approval of these arrangements marks an important step in strengthening transparency, accountability and political oversight while the council continues to seek a longer-term leadership solution.
“By bringing representatives from the council’s largest political groups into clearly defined lead member roles, we are creating stronger links between elected members, residents and services while ensuring decisions continue to be taken effectively.
“I would like to thank all political group leaders for the constructive way they have worked together to develop these arrangements.
“While they are not a replacement for the leadership model set out in legislation, they provide greater democratic engagement and help ensure that residents remain at the heart of everything we do.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.