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After submitting the funding bid in March 2007 local councillor Jim McMahon has been battling with Oldham Council to get the planters installed.

Jim said "it is important to invest in our town, and the planters have made a real impact. We need to make sure they are maintained properly and following comments from residents I have requested litter bins for Roman Road to reduce the likelihood of the planters becoming unofficial litter bins."

The money, which would have been used to fund a new state of the art community centre under Labour would be raised through the sale of the current community site to Aldi, as well as income from Whitekirk Hall and other site such as the proposed site for a fast food take away.

Councillor Jim McMahon said "Asking for the this money to be ring fenced for Failsworth was always part of the deal - why else would the people of Failsworth have tolerated over a decade of disruption? Although the income from Tesco will remain to fund the Town Hall renovation, we estimate Failsworth will loose out on around £1.5million which it can not afford to miss out on."

The ball hall is run by private operators based in the South of England and has been the centre of much reported anti-social behaviour and disturbance to local residents. The plan will see the ball hall doubled in size and brought closer to neighbouring properties.

Councillor Jim McMahon said "we tried our best but in the end the decision was out of our control. I want to thank members of Oldham's planning committee who sympathised with our campaign, and of course to local residents for coming together to try and stop this. The best we can do now is to monitor the situation and ensure any crime or anti-social behaviour is dealt with quickly."

A series of press reports and letters to the press have questioned allowances to members of the council.

Councillor Jim McMahon said "you have got to be open about allowances and expenses. If you receive payment from the public purse then you have to accept that the public have a right to know exactly what is paid out, and for what reason."

Allowances in Oldham Council are set by an independent panel made up from local residents and is based on the average wage in Oldham. They are broken down as follows;

Basic Allowance which covers the cost associated with being a ward councillor and representing your constituents. This is not a wage and no employment rights are given although the payment is liable for Tax and National Insurance. This allowance covers costs such as telephone, travel and time off work in most cases. All members of the council receive this allowance and the amount is currently £8,710.

Special Responsibility Allowance is allocated to councillors with additional responsibility such as Chairs of Committees, Leaders and Cabinet Members as an example. The exact amount paid is worked on a percentage of the Leader of the Councils allowance which is currently £26,130, the lowest SRA is £615. You can see the full breakdown by clicking on the link below.

Expenses and other allowances are direct costs which can be claimed back, usually requiring a receipt. The system includes an evening meal allowance if attending a late meeting, travel outside the borough and an overnight allowance if staying out of town on council business.

Carers Allowance is used to cover the actual cost of care for dependants whilst on council business. The total claim is set at £5.00 per hour up to a maximum of £37.50 a week.

What isn't shown? Training and conference costs, Office costs, IT and staff support are provided by the council and are not attributed to individual councillors.

No expenses can be claimed for political campaigning activity. This website, and those of other parties are not paid for through the council.

Concluding Jim said "It is very difficult to talk about allowances and expenses without sounding defensive, especially in the current climate. It should be said that councillors on the whole work extremely hard both in time and commitment. I know the time and effort I put in to representing Failsworth East alone and the significant time as Leader of the Opposition which I do because I feel passionate about my area and about making a difference for the people I represent."

Failsworth Councillor claims (extract from published list published in Oldham Chronicle) rounded.

CLICK HERE to see the exact amounts claimed
CLICK HERE to see the breakdown of allowances by position
 

After the scheme was announced local Labour Councillor Jim McMahon wrote to the council to ask how much of the £200,000 would come to Failsworth, Jim explains "the response was clear, not one penny has been allocated to Failsworth. I find this astonishing given the council tax increase which paid for this came from the whole of the borough, including the hardworking pockets of the people of Failsworth. To spend money on flowers when hundreds are being made redundant and basic services are being cut shows just how out of touch the Lib Dems are, and to then leave huge parts of the borough out is very cynical."

Campaigner Nina Eden said "Labour has a strong track record in Failsworth in bringing funding for environmental projects including Failsworth Pole Gardens, Westminster Park, Failsworth War Memorial and planting at Ashton Road East to name but a few. The difference was that this was AS WELL as increasing funding to frontline services. There is at least a clear choice."

Shock figures released by Oldham Council clearly state that no money is being made available through the community safety unit, this is despite 311 alley gating requests sitting on the waiting list and 47 being added in the last 12 months alone.

Councillor Jim McMahon said "this really is irresponsible and shows how out of touch the Lib Dems are. People have a right to live without the fear of crime and securing alleyways has been proven to work because over 70% of burglaries are accessed from the rear of the property. We intend to fight this all the way."

SPEND ON ALLEYGATING IN OMBC COMMUNITY SAFETY UNIT

Across the country Labour struggled to get out our supporters to vote, following the parliamentary expenses controversy and ministerial resignations in the government. Turn out across the borough was 29%,

Group Leader Councillor Jim McMahon said "this was good news for us in Oldham borough, but clearly not good news across the country or the region as a whole. I am disappointed and saddened that the racist BNP have got a foothold although this was not because their vote increased massively, it was more that the turnout was so poor. In Oldham we are working hard to build trust, respect and to show the people of the borough we are on their side, this shows more than ever that together we are stronger, and divided are are weaker."

You can view the full breakdown across the region here