Two Oldham council directors to leave town hall
Two Oldham council directors, Sarah Johnston (Finance) and Paul Clifford (Economics), are leaving their positions to be closer to home. Johnston will move to Wigan council after completing budget work, while Clifford returns to Barnsley council. Their departures follow a leadership shake-up, including the recent exit of Oldham's chief executive Harry Catherall to Tameside council. Replacements have not yet been appointed.
Two senior Oldham council directors have resigned, triggering a fresh wave of uncertainty at the town hall as the authority struggles to close a £20 million budget gap.
Finance director Sarah Johnston and economic development chief Paul Clifford submitted their resignations on Friday, telling colleagues they want to work closer to home. Johnston, appointed only 16 months ago, will leave for Wigan council at the end of January once next year’s budget work is complete. Clifford, who joined in 2022, returns to Barnsley council as Service Director Regeneration and Culture after leading Oldham’s ‘Creating a Better Place’ programme that promises 2,000 new homes.
The exits compound a leadership vacuum created when chief executive Harry Catherall departed for crisis-hit Tameside last month, leaving Shelley Kipling as acting head of the Greater Manchester authority. In an email to staff on 6 December, the council acknowledged Johnston’s timing “at a crucial point in our budget preparations” but stressed she “has already done a lot of the preparatory work” and will remain until the government settlement arrives. No replacements have been advertised for either post.
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