Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
Encyclopedia : M : ME : MET : Metropolitan Borough of Oldham
- For the main settlement, see Oldham.
| Metropolitan Borough of Oldham | |
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| Geography | |
| Status: | Metropolitan borough |
| Region: | North West England |
| County: | Greater Manchester |
| Historic Counties: | Lancashire, part in Yorkshire |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 213th 142.36 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Oldham |
| ONS code: | 00BP |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total () - Density | Ranked {{EnglishDistrictRank / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 86.1% White 11.9% S.Asian |
| Politics | |
 Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council http://www.oldham.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | |
| MPs: | Michael Meacher, Phil Woolas |
| Coverage | |
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The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale lies to the west, the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees to the east, and the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside to the south. The city of Manchester lies directly to the south west.
The current borough was formed on April 1, 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 as one of the ten districts of Greater Manchester. It was created by the merger of the County Borough of Oldham along with the Chadderton Urban District, Crompton Urban District, Failsworth Urban District and Lees Urban District from Lancashire and the Saddleworth Urban District from the West Riding of Yorkshire.
The seven areas which together make the borough, are the basis for the civic logo, which has seven distinct squares.
Prior to the implimentation of the borough in 1974, it was proposed that the area be named the "Metropolitan Borough of Newham", or the "Metropolitan Borough of Milltown". These names however were strongly objected to, by local communities.
Parliamentary representation
The boundaries of three parliamentary constituencies cover the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. These are:
- Oldham East and Saddleworth represented by Phil Woolas MP (which also covers parts of Milnrow in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale)
- Oldham West and Royton represented by Michael Meacher MP.
- Ashton-under-Lyne represented by David Heyes MP (which predominantly covers the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, but also Failsworth of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham).
Local administration
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is locally administrated by the appropriately named Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, and was formed in 1974 by the conjoining of the following seven areas:
Unparished areas
Showing former status (prior to 1974)
- Chadderton (Urban District)
- Failsworth (Urban District)
- Lees (Urban District)
- Oldham (County Borough)
- Royton (Urban District)
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is divided into twenty wards each which elects three councillors who generally sit for a four year term. These democratically elected councillors together form the Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, a body with direct local administrative responsibilities. The twenty wards are:
- Alexandra
- Chadderton Central
- Chadderton North
- Chadderton South
- Coldhurst
- Crompton
- Failsworth East
- Failsworth West
- Hollinwood
- Medlock Vale
- Royton North
- Royton South
- Saddleworth North
- Saddleworth South
- Saddleworth West & Lees
- St James
- St Marys
- Shaw
- Waterhead
- Werneth
Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council has been known to be criticized, both by locals and by official commissions. In 2005, it was categorized as "weak" but "improving well" by the independent Audit Commission [link]. It was awarded only two stars, placing it within the bottom third of councils in the country according to perceived perfomance [link].
According to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council currently sets the highest council tax rates in Greater Manchester. It has the second highest council tax rates of the metropolitan areas, and is currently placed as the 16th highest rate of council tax in England[link].
In response to these findings, on the 30th March 2006, the Oldham Labour Group of Councillors took out a full page advertisement in the Oldham Advertiser. Among the claims of the advertisement were that they were providing the borough with a "star studded service" despite the fact they were awarded the second worst achievable rating by the commission. Furthermore, they claimed the social services were also "star rated" despite being classified as "weak". Council Leader David Jones was said to be pleased with the Commission's findings and is quoted as saying "It is just the beginning, but it shows we are on the way to being an excellent Council". However, one of the points of the advert was to contrast the position when the Liberal Democrats had control of the Council in 2002. Then the Audit Commission reported the council was "very weak" and in 2002 the Liberal Democrats raised Oldham's council tax by 12.3%.
Coat of Arms
The Coat of arms is the historic family crest of Hugh Oldham, Bishop of Exeter and founder of the Manchester Grammar School. They feature an owl holding a scroll bearing the letters "Dom", making a name-pun "Owl-Dom" typical of the medieval period. The pun reflects the original pronunciation of the name, and is still reflected in the local pronunciation of "Ow'dom".The pun is repeated in the town's latin mottos : the older one reads "Haud (pronounced "owd") Facile Captu" (meaning "Not easily caught"), and the current motto "Sapere Aude" (meaning "Dare to be wise" — the "Aude" also being pronounced "Owd").
Schools and colleges
- This is a list of secondary schools and colleges in the entire Metropolitan Borough of Oldham. For schools within the main settlement, see Oldham.
- Blue Coat School
- Breeze Hill School
- Crompton House [link]
- Counthill School
- Grange School [link]
- Hulme Grammar School
- Kaskenmoor School
- North Chadderton School
- Oldham Sixth Form College [link]
- Our Lady's R.C. High School
- Royton and Crompton School
- Saddleworth School
- South Chadderton School
- St Augustine of Canterbury R.C. High School
- The Hathershaw College
- The Oldham College [link]
- The Radclyffe School[link]
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Counties with multiple districts: Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside |
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