OLDHAM Council's Labour leader has rejected claims by the borough's Liberal Democrats that the local authority's strategy to tackle equality does not combat a number of problems, writes Kent Lawlor.

The borough's Equality Strategy was presented to the council at a meeting on September 9 and was broadly welcomed by Liberal Democrats, however the party said said it should do more to help working class people.

The opposition believe the strategy does not do enough to tackle socioeconomic inequality, mental health issues and the digital divide.

But council leader, Cllr Arooj Shah, said the issues have been addressed and questioned why these concerns were not raised by the Liberal Democrats earlier.

Cllr Shah said: “Our new Equality Strategy sets out how we’re going to make Oldham fairer for everyone, so we all have the chance to get on and live fulfilling lives.

"Our Covid recovery strategy also outlines our approach to addressing economic inequality and digital skills.”

Concerns regarding the strategy were raised by Liberal Democrat councillors Louie Hamblett and Sam Al-Hamdani, who said the report “completely misses out socioeconomic inequality”.

Cllr Al-Hamdani said: “I worry if you are working class in Oldham, you will have faced inequalities all your life, and yet if you look at this equalities strategy, you will not see yourself in here as one of the people that this is intended to benefit. That needs to change.”

However, Cllr Al-Hamdani said he believed the report did “an excellent job of addressing many problems that people in our borough face”.

Cllr Hamblett, meanwhile, claimed the issues around the digital divide and mental health were areas of the report that needed strengthening.

He said: “My personal experiences, particularly with regards to my autism, mean that I know how it feels to try and get support within a system that is not designed to be accessed by someone like me.

“I want to make sure that anyone else who has similar issues gets the support that they need.”

However, Ms Shah said that Cllr Hamblett failed to mention his concerns while the strategy was being put together.

Ms Shah said: “Cllr Louie Hamblett has been involved in the meetings that shaped both the equality and Covid recovery strategies.

“He’s had plenty of opportunity to contribute so I am surprised that these concerns were not raised during the development of these strategies.”