Lib-Dem campaigner criticises council's local food spending

Liberal Democrat councillor Mark Kenyon

Oldham council's local spending has been criticised by a Liberal Democrat campaigner.

Council spending records show that of the £1.1 million spent by council bosses on food and drink since December 2019, only £12,500 was spent with businesses in the borough of Oldham.

Local Liberal Democrat campaigner, Mark Kenyon, said: “If these figures are anything to go by, that’s pie in the sky. £12.5K isn’t even 1%.

He continued: “Oldham’s Council could do so much good, yet fritters away easy chances to support local jobs and businesses.

"With Council backing, we could create a £1 million food business in Oldham - that’s at least 15 brand new full time jobs.

"It’s not enough for council bosses to only ask ‘can we buy this locally?’, they need to be asking ‘HOW can we buy this locally?’ and then get on with doing it.

“Labour are asleep on the job and, missing a chance to do good like this, proves it. Oldham deserves better,” he concluded.

Councillor Abdul Jabbar, Deputy Leader of Oldham Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Green, said: “Oldham Council are part of a Greater Manchester Collaboration for food supplies.

"As a result the requirements to serve all 10 districts is extremely high, which favours the National Suppliers, rather than the smaller local companies in the borough.

“This partnered approach achieves a greater commercial outcome for Oldham and the council than if we were dealing directly with our own local supply base.

“The GM Contracts are set to expire next year, and talks are already under way with Oldham Council’s School Meals Service, where the greatest demand comes from, to put in place local arrangements for fresh produce within the new contract.

"We are aware more needs to be done to support local suppliers and we’re working hard to achieve that. 

“Additionally, Oldham Council has established a Food Strategy Board to look at how we can engage with local food suppliers to maximise opportunities to keep as much spend as possible within the Borough for all food requirements.

“With the above initiatives I feel confident that moving forward we will see a shift in the amount of spend on food going out of the area.”

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