A SADDLEWORTH Councillor has blasted the ‘mismanagement’ of the Oldham borough authority’s finances.
Particularly, the failure to collect more than £60 million of owed council tax over the last 14 years.
Cllr Max Woodvine, leader of the body’s Conservative group, raised the issue at the last meeting of the full council on Wednesday, December 10.
He claimed almost £10 million of that amount had been written off and during the last financial year, more than £7 million was uncollected.
And the response of the cabinet member for finance, Cllr Abdul Jabbar, did not exactly leave him satisfied.
After saying: “I don’t know how to answer that,” he pointed out the previous Tory Government’s role and insisting ‘this council will not be bankrupt.’
He added, while highlighting some of the circumstances people find themselves in: “I don’t know how Cllr Woodvine can ask this kind of question when his Government bankrupted the country with Liz Truss on May 22, 2022.
“The country was brought to its knees and some of the consequences have been felt by millions of people across the country, including in Oldham.
“It’s a bit cheeky of Cllr Woodvine to accuse us of some of the issues he’s raised and collecting council tax isn’t easy.”
Cllr Woodvine, who represents Saddleworth South, said: “I have long warned of the effective bankruptcy facing this council, yet Labour have continued with tired tax and spend policies which have exacerbated the budgetary problems.
“If efforts to improve the annual collection rate and recoup unpaid council tax were made our services wouldn’t be under so much pressure and we’d be in a better financial position.
“£9.2 million of the debt has been written off, £7.4 million was not collected in the 2024/25 financial year alone.
“I asked, ‘What message does this send to the hard working, honest many who are paying more and more every year yet receiving less and less in return, while there are a selfish few getting away scot-free without paying?’
“I will continue to stand up for the hard-working residents of Oldham and Saddleworth.”
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