A SADDLEWORTH Councillor wants more answers over a cabinet member’s non-attendance of committee meetings.
But Sam Al-Hamdani has been told Abdul Jabbar is not ignoring his finance role.
The Saddleworth West and Lees Liberal Democrat highlighted the Labour representative has not attended any of Oldham borough authority’s audit committee sessions this year.
It had repeatedly been questioning the council over the failings of the payroll, which has been rated weak or inadequate for seven of the last eight years.
Councillor Al-Hamdani, who questioned the administration on more than £100,000 of overpayments, said: “This is not a one off – Councillor Jabbar has not attended any meeting this year when we have been discussing the problems in payroll.
“His name appears on the reports, but there is no sign of him.
“People are rightly angry that these overpayments were made – as am I. It was shocking to me to find that no-one was taking responsibility when these mistakes were made.
I find it extremely telling that when the audit committee was taking issue with this poor governance, the cabinet member responsible did not see fit to attend or send a substitute.”
Cllr Al-Hamdani has written to the leader of Oldham Council – Cllr Arooj Shah, who did attend the most recent meeting on Wednesday, October 22 – to ask why cabinet members are failing to attend audit and scrutiny meetings directly tackling their departments.
He says while it is not compulsory for them to attend, it is good practice for them to do so.
And he continued: “I’m taking this very seriously.
“In my role on audit, I have been demanding action on what has been going wrong. Clearly, others don’t seem to be taking it as seriously.
“Frankly, cabinet members need to a step up take responsibility, not duck questions and leave their staff in the firing line.”
In response, Cllr Jabbar – who represents Coldhurst, is deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, corporate services and sustainability – said, “While I have not personally attended recent audit committee meetings, I want to make clear that the work to ensure the council’s finances are properly managed, monitored and audited takes place every day — not just in those formal sessions.
“Much of this work happens in regular briefings, internal reviews and meetings with senior officers, external auditors, and cabinet colleagues.
“My focus has been, and continues to be, on driving forward the necessary improvements to strengthen our financial controls and ensure lessons are learned.
“I remain committed to ensuring Oldham Council’s financial management is transparent, accountable and fit for purpose, and I will continue to work with both officers and members to make sure that happens.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.