Oldham Council has managed to bring down a huge projected funding gap - but still faces a £21m overspend. The update was issued at a council meeting on Wednesday evening , where the council’s finance boss Abdul Jabbar was grilled on the state of Oldham’s accounts.
But on Wednesday evening, Coun Jabbar told the council: “Clearly, we’re in a very challenging situation and we’re dealing with it head on. I’m pleased to say that the measures that we’ve undertaken has reduced the projected overspend from £26m to just over £21m. I’m confident over the year that number will come down.”
The council is facing finance troubles as the demand for and costs of adult and children’s social care and temporary accommodation continues to rise. The issues are faced by many local authorities across the UK, with Manchester and Salford councils recently declaring they were looking at possible overspends of £17.5m and £6.8m respectively.