Your council

Oldham: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council: Metropolitan district (unitary), England, North West; part of the GMCA combined authority. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code E08000004.

Council website

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Oldham for 2026–27: £2,156.22 of a £2,602.23 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Changes to schools in this area recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 8 opened (6 academy converter, 2 new provision), 6 closed (6 academy converter)

Corpus Christi RC Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 January 2026
Holy Trinity CofE Dobcross Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 30 November 2025
Ss Aidan and Oswald's Roman Catholic Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 30 June 2026
St Anne's RC Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 January 2026
St Joseph's RC Junior Infant and Nursery School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 January 2026
St. Theresa's RC Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 30 June 2026
Corpus Christi RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 February 2026
Holy Trinity CofE Dobcross Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 December 2025
Maple Leaf Primary School — open; reason recorded: new provision, 18 September 2026
Ss Aidan and Oswald's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 July 2026
St Anne's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 February 2026
St Joseph's RC Junior, Infant and Nursery School, A Voluntary Academy (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 February 2026
St Theresa's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 July 2026
Thornycroft School — open; reason recorded: new provision, 3 March 2026

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Oldham reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Oldham: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	£203.8 million
Highways and transport services	£10.7 million
Children's social care	£101.9 million
Adult social care	£104.8 million
Public health	£22.6 million
Housing services (general fund only)	£12.9 million
Cultural and related services	£18.1 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£14.1 million
Planning and development services	£4.2 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£23.0 million
Other services	£9.7 million
Total service expenditure	£525.7 million

Net current expenditure: net of sales, fees and charges; spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is excluded.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Revenue Account Budget 2026 to 2027, individual local authority data (part 1), updated 11 June 2026 (Open Government Licence).

Oldham in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population: 251,560 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 36 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £18,775 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £591 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 41.8% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count: 6.6% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £217,171 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 6.1 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Female healthy life expectancy: 56.7 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for females born in the given year
Male healthy life expectancy: 56.1 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for males born in the given year
Greenhouse gas emissions: 2.9 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 97.2% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers: 70.8 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses: 8,405 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

60 seats in 2026. Run by: no overall control: no single party or group has a majority. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Labour Party 18, Reform UK 16, Independent / Other 13, Liberal Democrats 6, Conservative and Unionist 4, The Oldham Group Party 2, Failsworth Independent Party 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 60 councillors, by ward

Shabir Hussain (The Oldham Group Party) — Alexandra
Zaheer Ali (Independent / Other) — Alexandra
Zahid Chauhan (Labour Party) — Alexandra
Elaine Taylor (Labour Party) — Chadderton Central
Mohon Ali (Labour Party) — Chadderton Central
Nazrul Islam (Labour Party) — Chadderton Central
Barbara Brownridge (Labour Party) — Chadderton North
Eddie Moores (Labour Party) — Chadderton North
Jon Ford (Reform UK) — Chadderton North
Graham Shuttleworth (Labour Party) — Chadderton South
Holly Harrison (Labour Party) — Chadderton South
Rob Jackson (Reform UK) — Chadderton South
Abdul Jabbar (Labour Party) — Coldhurst
Mohammed Mohib Abu Taleb (Independent / Other) — Coldhurst
Montaz Azad (Independent / Other) — Coldhurst
Dave Murphy (Liberal Democrats) — Crompton
Diane Williamson (Liberal Democrats) — Crompton
Peter Hanlon (Reform UK) — Crompton
Andrew Brooks (Reform UK) — Failsworth East
Brian Hobin (Failsworth Independent Party) — Failsworth East
Ken Rustidge (Labour Party) — Failsworth East
Mark Ruthven (Reform UK) — Failsworth West
Mark Wilkinson (Reform UK) — Failsworth West
Sandra Ball (Reform UK) — Failsworth West
Kamran Ghafoor (Independent / Other) — Hollinwood
Naseem Aslam (Labour Party) — Hollinwood
Robert Barnes (Reform UK) — Hollinwood
Junaid Hussain (Labour Party) — Medlock Vale
Sajed Hussain (Labour Party) — Medlock Vale
Umar Nasheen (Labour Party) — Medlock Vale
Dave Arnott (Conservative and Unionist) — Royton North
Lewis Quigg (Reform UK) — Royton North
Paul Robinson (Reform UK) — Royton North
Jade Hughes (Independent / Other) — Royton South
Maggie Hurley (Independent / Other) — Royton South
Tony Pinder (Reform UK) — Royton South
Garth Harkness (Liberal Democrats) — Saddleworth North
Ioan Williams (Reform UK) — Saddleworth North
Pam Byrne (Conservative and Unionist) — Saddleworth North
Graham Sheldon (Independent / Other) — Saddleworth South
Helen Bishop (Liberal Democrats) — Saddleworth South
Max Woodvine (Conservative and Unionist) — Saddleworth South
Mark Kenyon (Liberal Democrats) — Saddleworth West & Lees
Peter Klonowski (Reform UK) — Saddleworth West & Lees
Sam Al-Hamdani (Liberal Democrats) — Saddleworth West & Lees
Lisa Navesey (Independent / Other) — Shaw
Marc Hince (Independent / Other) — Shaw
Steve Eyre (Reform UK) — Shaw
Beth Sharp (Conservative and Unionist) — St James'
Gary Tarbuck (Reform UK) — St James'
Josh Charters (Labour Party) — St James'
Aisha Kouser (Independent / Other) — St Mary's
Arooj Shah (Labour Party) — St Mary's
Sonny Arstan (The Oldham Group Party) — St Mary's
Nadeem Iqbal (Labour Party) — Waterhead
Naveed Chowhan (Independent / Other) — Waterhead
Paul Taylor (Reform UK) — Waterhead
Fida Hussain (Labour Party) — Werneth
Nyla Ibrahim (Independent / Other) — Werneth
Shoab Akhtar (Independent / Other) — Werneth

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.