Sitting councillors don’t receive a salary, but get a set allowance each year. All 60 Oldham councillors receive a base rate of £12,212 – with those with extra responsibilities such as cabinet positions receiving more.
Basic allowances have been increased by between 1.7 – 11% year on year for the last three years. But an error seems to have led to councillors being paid more year-on-year than the intended increase.
It sparks concerns of a wider pattern of ineptitude
The council is carrying out an audit to figure out exactly what happened – and exactly how much has been overpaid. But council sources have predicted it to be a relatively small figure, amounting to around £2,000 across a maximum of 60 councillors (meaning just under a pound a month for each councillor on average, an amount that easily goes unnoticed) .
But the mistake has sparked concern that the councillors’ allowances are part of a wider pattern.
Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Al-Hamdani noted:
I understand the financial implication is pretty small. But the level of ineptitude it reveals is shocking.
My concern is that the payroll process [the cause of the issue] has been rated ‘weak’ or ‘inadequate’ for seven out of the eight last years. And it’s not being addressed.
We don’t actually know the scale of the problem – what if it’s affecting far more than councillors’ allowances?
It was flagged but not discussed
The issue was reportedly first flagged to political group leaders in an email and acknowledged at a private mayoral briefing just before the full council meeting on Wednesday, July 16. The meeting was supposed to include a discussion about allowances, which was withdrawn from the agenda in a last-minute change.
Conservative coun Lewis Quigg posted about the error on Facebook, saying:
The fact that it was not made public at the meeting smacks of a coverup, when it is clear it is a cockup. If someone has been overpaid, then they should pay it back. Residents who don’t pay their Council tax on time are not afforded the luxury of subbing out the decision.
Given the financial state the Council finds itself in, the Chief Executive should be transparent and open about the failure. It also begs the question how widespread is this cockup in Oldham Council?
Council denies cover up
A council spokesperson denied allegations of a ‘cover up’, stating that group leaders had been informed as soon as the error was discovered. They added:
As part of our budget monitoring process, we have identified an administrative error affecting the payment of members’ allowances. We’re in the process of fixing this to ensure it doesn’t happen again in future.
The council have pledged to publish the exact amount overpaid as soon as it is known. It is currently unclear what steps will be taken to recover the money, especially where councillors have left the local authority.
A press release by Charlotte Hall for the LDRS service
