Executive Summary of a detailed study into Oldham MBC’s planned Strategic Service Delivery Partnerships with HBS and Mouchel Parkman. The key findings include: The job creation figures are highly questionable, many are not new jobs because they are part of planned major infrastructure projects in Oldham and Mouchel Parkman’s plan is to create a monopoly supply of professional and technical services. Despite the rhetoric, the contribution of the SSDP to community cohesion is minimal. The regeneration effect of a Business Centre is overstated. The SSDP will make a very limited contribution to Oldham’s economy. The SSDP is designed to meet the needs of the market rather than the strategic social and economic needs of Oldham – a point admitted by the Council’s advisers. (January 2007)
