How much council tax will go up in Oldham – plus other changes

After receiving £5m more from the government than first expected, Oldham is in a better financial position than first thought.

But the local authority still needs to fill a £14m budget hole from this year, and make more than £8m in cuts to stay in the green.

To do that, council chiefs will increase council tax by the maximum amount. The 4.99 increase will see council tax bills rise by £77 to £1,628 per year for the lowest tax band, and a £232 increase for the highest who will now pay £4,883 per year.

Residents in Shaw and Saddleworth might pay more, if parish councils decide to put up their rates too. 
Unlike other Greater Manchester boroughs, Oldham has made the decision to freeze charges on waste collection services, but the LDRS understands a fee to replace recycling bins could be introduced.

The local authority also plans to raise charges on most of its services by an average of 4.5 percent, including wedding and funeral ceremony costs.  
Other proposals include taking over the management of the town’s car parks and switching off the floodlights at The Radclyffe Athletics Centre, which would save the council £100,000 a year.

The outdated lights were recently deemed ‘unsafe to use’ and would alternatively need to be replaced with more energy efficient models. 
The council is also looking at changing the ways it offers social care packages, slashing £1.6m from wraparound services and shedding £1.4m worth of ‘contracts and agreements’ with the council-owned care provider MioCare. 

Oldham Council leader Arooj Shah told her cabinet: “We’ve taken a huge step in the right direction but we all know that the level of demand in Oldham is among the highest in the country. When you factor in need, deprivation and demand, especially in social care and housing … Oldham has been hit harder than other places across the country. 
“It means that while the provisional settlement has been welcome, we do still need to make savings. And the harsh reality is that we have to prioritise those who need us the most right now.”