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.
The Council recognises that whilst many of the issues that face us need to be tackled on a borough-wide level, many others are best taken forward at a more local level. Council agreed a new framework for area working in Oldham based around six District Partnerships supported by Ward Forums.
The District Partnerships will act as champions for their area in discussions about Borough wide priorities, and listen to the views of local people and feed back to them through the Ward Forums. The primary role of the Ward Forums (which will replace the existing Area Committees) is community engagement.
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.