Manchester Airport

The request was successful.

kathleen wilkinson

Dear Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council,

Please could you tell me if Oldham Council received its share of £36 million windfall, to be paid to the 10 Greater Manchester Authorities from profits made by Manchester Airport.

The announcement was made in December 2017.

How much did the Council receive and what was this money used for

Yours faithfully,

kathleen wilkinson

Information Manager, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Sir/ Madam

 

I acknowledge with thanks your request for information; this request has
been considered as a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

As such, your request may take up to 20 working days to be processed and
has been passed on to an appropriate officer.

 

Please be advised that if an exemption applies to the information that you
have requested, the statutory period may be exceeded in accordance with
the provisions of that Act.

 

Should you have any queries, please contact: 
[1][Oldham Council request email]

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Information Manager

Corporate & Commercial Services

Oldham Council

Level 11,

Civic Centre

West Street

Oldham

OL1 1UL

 

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John Hoskins, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Ms Wilkinson,

 

In response to your recent freedom of information request, I am able to
inform you that the £36m windfall mentioned in the FOI is the Financial
Year 18 interim dividend that was paid on 7th December 17. The Council
received £1.784m. This sum was used to support the overall financial
resilience of the Council and carried forward within the Councils
earmarked reserves.

 

I trust that this information will prove satisfactory. However if you are
dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask
for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted
within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original
letter and should be addressed to:

 

Paul Entwistle

Director of Legal Services

Legal & Democratic Services

Oldham MBC

Civic Centre, West St, Oldham OL1 1UG

Tel:  0161 770 4822

E-mail:  [1][email address]

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. Details are as follows:-

Office of the Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire   SK9 5AF

 

[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Tel: 01625 545700              Fax: 01625 524510

Regards

 

John Hoskins

Finance Manager – Corporate Control

Oldham Council

Level 14

Civic Centre

Oldham

OL1 1UH

T: 0161 770 1323

E: [3][email address]

 

*Please note: For satellite navigation purposes the postcode is OL1 1NL

 

Visiting the Civic Centre by Metrolink? The nearest stop is Oldham King
Street (2-3 minutes walk)

 

[4][IMG]

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.oldham.gov.uk/e-mail_strap_line
5. http://www.oldham.gov.uk/dataprotection

Joan Ward, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Ms Wilkinson,

 

In response to the recent appeal you made re the above freedom of
information request, I am able to send you the following response :-

 

As previously mentioned in response to the Freedom of Information request
reference – 12700,  the dividend received was used to support the overall
financial resilience and support the ongoing budgetary pressures of the
Council. The amount has been carried forward within the Councils earmarked
reserves

 

I trust that this information will prove satisfactory. However if you are
dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask
for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted
within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original
letter and should be addressed to:

 

Paul Entwistle

Director of Legal Services

Legal & Democratic Services

Oldham MBC

Civic Centre, West St, Oldham OL1 1UG

Tel:  0161 770 4822

E-mail:  [1][email address]

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. Details are as follows:-

Office of the Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire   SK9 5AF

 

[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Tel: 01625 545700              Fax: 01625 524510

 

 

Joan Ward - Accountant

Capital & Treasury

Oldham Council

Civic Centre

West Street

Oldham

OL1 1QJ

0161 770 2101

[3][email address]

 

Visiting the Civic Centre by Metrolink? The nearest stop is Oldham King
Street (2-3 mins walk)

 

[4][IMG]

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.oldham.gov.uk/e-mail_strap_line
5. http://www.oldham.gov.uk/dataprotection

kathleen wilkinson

Dear Joan Ward,

Thank you for your reply. However, I am still not clear on how this £1.784 million was utilised.

You repeated what I was informed of in the first reply ........"to support overall financial resilience and support ongoing budgetary pressures"........ I am having difficulty in understanding this phrase. What exactly does that mean. What comes under the "umbrella" of financial resilience.

Further, you speak of Council reserves......how much is in Council reserves? When do they expect to use them? What happened to previous reserves? Is there an audit trail for the public to see how, when and where reserves are used.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but is it not the case that Councils need to use the full Government budget within a given financial year or they may face reduction the following year. If so, why not use what they have received for the betterment of the Town.

Thank you for your assistance

Yours sincerely,

kathleen wilkinson

Joan Ward, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Thank you for your message but I will be out of the office until Monday
18th February 2019 and will respond to your e-mail on my return. If your
query is urgent, please contact one of the following people :-

 

Jit Kara              4318  [email address]

Paula Buckley  4247  [email address]

 

If your query is regarding freedom of information requests, please contact

 

John Hoskins   1323    [email address]

 

My normal working week is ;-

Monday        am & pm

Tuesday        am & pm

Wednesday  am

 

 

 

 

 

 

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.oldham.gov.uk/e-mail_strap_line
2. http://www.oldham.gov.uk/dataprotection

kathleen wilkinson

Dear Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council,

Hello
I received an automated reply on 14th February to say that Joan Ward was out of the office until 18th February.

I would be grateful for a full and informative reply to my query which has been ongoing for sometimes now.

Yours faithfully,

kathleen wilkinson

Joan Ward, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Ms Wilkinson,

 

In response to your recent e-mail, I am able to provide you with the
following information :-

 

Financial Resilience is a characterisation of the way successful
organisations deal with the inevitable but unforeseen interactions,
difficulties and opportunities that arise during its normal operations.
You may be aware that the highly publicised difficulties faced by
Northamptonshire Council last year was caused by a failure of financial
resilience i.e. the Council did not have sufficient reserves to deal with
the unforeseen financial crisis that arose.

 

The dividend received of £1.784m was carried forward within the Councils
earmarked reserves at the 31st March 2018. Subsequently, the value of the
dividend has been earmarked to fund work on the regeneration of Oldham.  
It has not yet been fully used and therefore is currently available to
support the financial resilience of the Council.

 

With regards to the Council's reserves, as at year end 31/3/2018 the
Council's ear marked reserves stood at £92.005m. Further details are
included in the Council's Statement of Accounts 2017/18, (note 15) Ear
Marked Reserves disclosure note which details the level of reserves held
by the Council and their movement in the year.  

 

The total estimated reserves as at 31/3/19 is £72.931m comprised of
£65.646m of earmarked reserves and £7.285m of schools balances and revenue
grant reserves.  Further details can be found in the report entitled
"Statement of the Chief Financial Officer on Reserves, Robustness of
Estimates and Affordability and Prudence of Capital Investments" that was
approved at the Budget Council meeting on 27th February 2019.

 

The Council currently receives general government grants to support the
services the Council provides however, it is not true that the Council is
required to full utilise the general Government Grant in year or they may
face a reduction in the following year.   It is correct to say that some
grants are allocated for specific projects (ringfenced grants) and must be
used for that purpose within a specific timeframe.  The Council ensures
that such specific grants are used in accordance with Government
requirements and the appropriate timeline.

 

I trust that this information will prove satisfactory. However if you are
dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have the right to ask
for an internal review. Internal review requests should be submitted
within two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original
letter and should be addressed to:

 

Paul Entwistle

Director of Legal Services

Legal & Democratic Services

Oldham MBC

Civic Centre, West St, Oldham OL1 1UG

Tel:  0161 770 4822

E-mail:  [1][email address]

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. Details are as follows:-

Office of the Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire   SK9 5AF

 

[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Tel: 01625 545700              Fax: 01625 524510

 

 

Joan Ward - Accountant

Capital & Treasury

Oldham Council

Civic Centre

West Street

Oldham

OL1 1QJ

0161 770 2101

[3][email address]

 

Visiting the Civic Centre by Metrolink? The nearest stop is Oldham King
Street (2-3 mins walk)

 

 

 

[4][IMG]

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. http://www.oldham.gov.uk/e-mail_strap_line
5. http://www.oldham.gov.uk/dataprotection

Information Manager, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council

Dear Mrs Wilkinson,

I believe that a final response has new been provided and this request is now closed.

Regards,

Vicky Davies
Information Management Officer
Corporate & Commercial Services
Oldham Council
Level 11
Civic Centre
West Street
Oldham  OL11UL

0161 770 8147
[email address]

Please note: For satellite navigation purposes the postcode is OL1 1NL

Visiting the Civic Centre by Metrolink? The nearest stop is Oldham King Street (2 – 3 mins’ walk)

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