Labour urges Lib-Dems to defect

RULING Liberal Democrat councillors were urged to defect to Labour to stop cuts to Oldham’s services.

Opposition leader Jim McMahon said that they would be welcomed with “open arms” as he outlined his party’s alternative budget.

The call came as the control of Stockport Council was hit by the the defection of three Liberal Democrats over cuts.

Labour also seized control of Rochdale Council in November when six Lib-Dems quit.

Councillor McMahon said that the Lib-Dems could stop the the closure of care homes and cuts to frontline services and support Labour’s proposals.

Urging them to cross the floor from joint administration with the Conservatives he added: “You now have a choice. It would take two members from the controlling group to come across and this would be the budget. The power to stop the cuts taking place to these council services is in your hands. Labour’s arms are open.”

Labour would stop the planned £3.3 million cuts to adult social care and frontline services. It would save £5 million by reducing the communications team, axing the council magazine, reducing members’ allowances and ditching the current administration’s priority projects such as entering Britain in Bloom.

Councillor McMahon said resources should be spent on services rather than “propaganda” and added: “We can either try and convince people that what the council is doing is right and works, but the vast majority of the public do not believe that. What we can do is demonstrate through service delivery that the council is delivering good services.”

He told a cross-party scrutiny committee that areas would get their own Town Hall-type district offices and teams to deliver local services and cut duplication, while councillors would be given more local powers.

Co-operatives would be able to run council services such as cleaning and catering, rather than private companies, or take over facilities such as youth centres.

Other proposals include better support to attract businesses to Oldham, free wireless broadband across the borough, refurbishing the old Oldham library and art galley to bring them back into use and creating a university campus.

“The focus of the budget is about investing in our future,” said Councillor McMahon.

“Even when budgets are tight and money is tight, in places like Oldham it is important to continue investing in the infrastructure that will take us out of the recession and hopefully put us in a better place than before the recession started.”

But Councillor McMahon was quizzed on the proposals which also include reviewing library book spending and replacing casual library staff with volunteers.

Defending Britain in Bloom, Councillor Philomena Dillon said: “This borough really needs to up its image because we need to attract business, big businesses, decent businesses. We also need to attract people to move here, bring their families here.”

Borough treasurer Steven Mair said that both the ruling group and opposition budgets were robust and deliverable.

The budget will be set by the full council on February 23.