Oldham Council provides a wide range of services for the people of the Borough and manages an annual budget totalling over £300 million. The Borough is divided into 20 municipal wards each of which elects three Councillors who sit for a four year term. Each year one third of the Council membership is subject to re-election. There is no election in the fourth year.
Getting people interested and involved in local government is at the top of Oldham Council's priorities. The Council wants to listen better to its local communities. Many issues raised by residents are relevant to where they live, not the Borough as a whole, so the Council has set up thirteen Community Councils where local people have the chance to meet councillors and council officers face to face to talk about local issues.
The Borough has three Parliamentary constituencies - Oldham East and Saddleworth, Oldham West and Royton and Ashton-under-Lyne (which also covers Tameside Metropolitan Borough) - and is a part of the Greater Manchester East European Parliamentary constituency.
Parish councils with parochial and limited responsibilities also exist for the areas of Saddleworth and Shaw and Crompton.
All Councillors are governed by a Code of Conduct which Oldham Council revised on 23 May 2007. Find out more about the Council's Standards Committee.