As 2024 draws to a close, the Leaders of Kirklees’ political groups have shared their thoughts on the council’s priorities going into the year ahead.
It’s been another tricky year for Kirklees Council, especially where finances are concerned, with the local authority projecting an £12.8m overspend for the current year back in September, and working to address the difficulties. Tough, often unpopular decisions have been made, with historic assets sold off, charges increased and facilities closed to offset the challenges.
Though it hasn’t all been doom and gloom, with major regeneration projects gaining traction and millions of pounds being awarded to other schemes through initiatives like the government’s Levelling Up Fund, pressures are set to persist, with the council looking at a £29.3m shortfall going into the next financial year.
A Council Tax hike, up to 100 redundancies and reducing the size of every single grey bin across the borough are among the measures being considered as ways to save cash or generate more income, though the latter is now set to be axed.
However, Leader of the Council, Cllr Carole Pattison, believes the new year and new government present an “opportunity to put things right”. She said: “For 14 years the central government had a mission to reduce the state. This meant that local government was under attack constantly, reducing our budgets and taking away services, while at the same time, expecting us to maintain a level of responsibility towards our residents that was unfunded.
The Leader of Kirklees Council, Cllr Carole Pattison
“Funding has been squeezed but the demand for our services is higher than ever. And it’s communities who have paid the price through reductions in services and facilities.
“However, the New Year and new government give us an opportunity to put things right. In the next few months, we aim to fix those financial issues that have affected so many councils. We’re taking some tough budget decisions in the short term that will benefit vital services and residents well into the future.
“But our ambitions stretch further. In the New Year, we also want to make big changes to the way the council serves residents. We want to improve the experience people have when they deal with us, whether that’s calling for advice on social care or reporting a pothole online. It’s so important that we get the basics right for everyone, and especially people who need our help the most.
“For the long term, our priority is to continue to invest in our economy and our infrastructure. There’s already ambitious work going on in Dewsbury and Huddersfield in particular that will bring jobs, growth and prosperity in future years. The council needs to play a full part in delivering that investment. We’re committed to doing that.”
When we asked the leaders of Kirklees’ other political groups what they thought the council’s priorities should be going into the new year, they responded as follows.
Conservatives
The Leader of Kirklees’ Conservative group, Cllr David Hall
Councillor David Hall, said: “The cabinet’s number one priority must be to listen to residents, and understand what they are telling them. Too many decisions are being made by the Labour cabinet which to most people are either dangerous or plain daft.
“We are told of instances where the council has been losing money hand-over-fist for years – such as the district heating in Huddersfield. We know of Council Tax being wasted on refurbishing buildings which are then sold off or given away. Now it has been revealed that they are proposing to reduce the size of our grey bins so that we will produce less waste! The ultimate cost of all this Labour mis-management is that services decline and Council Tax goes up.
“There are genuine efficiencies to be found, and these need to be identified as a matter of urgency so that vital and valued services can be protected.
“The cabinet will also have to devise a plan very soon to cope with all the extra thousands of homes which their own government is demanding we provide. Our infrastructure is under great strain already, and we must not surrender our green belt.
“But above all, the cabinet needs to listen to the people, and they will soon then discover the people’s priorities.”
Lib Dems
Cllr John Lawson, Liberal Democrat group leader
Councillor John Lawson, said: “The Liberal Democrat Group in Kirklees Have become increasingly concerned with Council decisions since May, both the actual decisions and how they are being made give cause for alarm.
“The carving of services and assets around the borough, while at the same time borrowing vast sums to shore up a vision of Huddersfield dreamt up in a different era by people who are long gone from Council, shows a stark absence of the concept of community value.
“The understanding of that value, not just the price, of spaces like Dewsbury Sports Centre, Cleckheaton Town Hall, our Libraries and our remaining museums and galleries is vital when we come to supporting our towns and villages to thrive and not just get their, proposed smaller, bins collected.
“We understand that books must be balanced legally but the work that happens in these spaces is performed by our friends and neighbours. If someone doesn’t turn up to a group for retirees they’re missed and they’re asked after. Young people have safe spaces often with trusted older friends they can ask about the difficult stuff about growing up and help them assess risks.
“We’ve learnt to our cost in Kirklees that this work has to be done so we can be personally resilient and protect each other. Without it all our lives suffer in some form. The price of garnering this valuable free workforce should represent a bargain to us.
“In the year ahead we will work hard to bring significant changes to Kirklees that recognise peoples capacity to look after their own communities when we can give just the right amount of support.”
Greens
The Leader of Kirklees’ Green group, Cllr Andrew Cooper
Councillor Andrew Cooper, said: “My immediate priority is to try to protect council dementia care homes from privatisation by Kirklees. There are genuine concerns from relatives that the level of care residents receive may not be as of a high a standard as they receive from the council.
“More broadly, the Council’s finances are very precarious and so are the services that depend on them. I don’t care whether it is a Conservative or Labour Government running the country we need to ensure that local services are properly resourced. People are seeing the decline in services provided by the Council all around them.
“I will oppose the proposals from the Labour Cabinet to reduce the size of wheelie bins. I don’t believe this is an effective way to encourage recycling. It will just result in overflowing bins and at worst fly tipping.
“We need to protect our green fields and countryside from Government proposals to increase building, but we also need to encourage the construction of social housing on brownfield sites.
“Making our roads safer has always been a priority for Greens and we want the Council to reprofile their budgets to ensure we have an ongoing programme of traffic calming on residential roads.”
Community Independents
The Leader of the Kirklees Community Independents, Cllr Ali Arshad
(Image: Kirklees Council)
Councillor Ali Arshad said: “We possess numerous underutilised assets.
“Strategic private-public partnerships can leverage these buildings and spaces for mutual benefit, generating revenue in some cases and, at a minimum, ensuring responsible maintenance by our trading partners. This initiative would also facilitate business development opportunities during these testing times.
“Our current emphasis on cost reduction should be balanced with a more proactive approach to revenue generation.”
Community Alliance
The Leader of Kirklees Community Alliance, Cllr Cathy Scott
(Image: Kirklees Council)
Councillor Cathy Scott, said: “As Community Alliance Leader I criticise the Council’s proposed budget and would call it ‘reckless’ and warning that it prioritises numbers over the needs of residents.
“This budget is driven by outcomes rather than impacts, and I fear residents will pay the price in the long run.
“How can we ask people who already have nothing to dig into their pockets to prop up this Council? They’ve been left with nothing, and yet we demand more from them. My worry is the Council of abandoning its responsibility to the community by favouring austerity measures and outsourcing services instead of focusing on people-first solutions. Entwined into this is a greater North, South divide.
“Where are their socialist principles this Council claims to stand for? Exactly – there are none.
“Instead of fighting for fairness and equity, they are setting us on a dangerous path of outsourcing and commissioning that strips away accountability and risks turning essential services into profit-driven ventures.
“The Community Alliance also highlight the Council’s failure to learn lessons from the pandemic. The pandemic taught us that resilience lies in our collective humanity—frontline workers, families, and neighbours stepping up for each other. Yet this budget disregards that entirely.
“We call on the Council to rethink its priorities: true progress begins with putting people, not profits, at the heart of decision-making. The Community Alliance will continue to stand up for fairness, community, and long-term wellbeing.”
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