How much council tax is going up in Oldham
Oldham Council has approved a 4.99% increase in council tax, alongside £8.7m in cuts, to address a £14m budget shortfall. The tax hike will affect all property bands, with Band A seeing a £77 annual increase and Band H a £232 increase. The budget includes slashing 120 jobs, restructuring services, and reducing adult social care funding. Opposition parties proposed alternative budgets, but Labour's plan was ultimately passed after a heated debate.
Oldham Council last night approved a 4.99 per cent council-tax rise and £8.7 million of service cuts to plug a £14 million budget gap.
From April, Band A households will pay £77 more a year; Band H properties face a £232 increase, pushing their annual bill to £4,107.48 before police, fire and parish precepts are added.
Deputy leader Coun Abdul Jabbar, who moved the budget, told the chamber: “There is no choice but to put up council tax. I would prefer not to do this.”
Labour welcomed the first balanced budget in years that does not rely on reserves, with council leader Arooj Shah declaring the town “on the road to recovery” after 14 years of austerity.
Opposition parties failed to block the plan. The Conservatives’ bid to freeze tax and create a “Director of Greater Efficiencies” with power to “strike down” waste was rejected, as were Liberal Democrat and Oldham Group amendments that sought £3 million to expand temporary accommodation and curb £60-a-night hotel bills for homeless families.
Cuts include £4 million from adult social care—services will now be limited to “what is necessary” case-by-case—and £3 million from deleting 120 posts, 80 per cent already vacant. Smaller savings range from switching off faulty floodlights at Radclyffe Athletics Centre (£100,000 a year) to charging schools more for pool hire and billing residents for replacement recycling bins.
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