Saturday, 13 December 2025
News from Calderdale
From Cllr Jonathan Timbers.
Happy new year! There are two significant matters coming up this month that concern Calderdale's core functions. The first is the budget consultation. See Cabinet's draft budget
Because of UK Government changes to local authority funding, this is the first budget in ages where we are not substantially cutting services. Instead. We can look forward to moderate growth.
It is still important to be cautious in how we manage our budget. Calderdale is a small local authority with an ageing population, rising homelessness and children needing support. So far, we have avoided going bankrupt and raising council tax by 10 per cent or more as many local authorities are doing. This includes Reform controlled Worcestershire County Council. Reform thought it could cut waste and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and found that the issues are much deeper than that. There are no easy answers, however glibly those tropes may play out on social media.
The key takeaways for me are:
- improvements to road maintenance (which will mean completely relaying some stretches of road that can no longer simply be patched up)
- more money to counter fly tipping
- funding to counter violence against women and girls
- a new council special school with 200 SEND places (this a capital investment which will save revenue expenditure in the long term because we won't be sending so many children away from the borough to expensive privately run special schools. We are also enhancing teaching hubs in schools to keep SEND pupils in mainstream education when their needs can be met there)
The consultation will take you through the considerations the council must take. This includes where the money comes from, what our statutory responsibilities are and how we spend the money currently. Please take time to contribute constructive suggestions.
We do not have discretion over about 70 per cent of our budget because these are statutory services, such as social care or looking after vulnerable children. What is important here is the quality of the services on offer..
This brings me to the second matter of note. There is a Ward Forum on 6 January at 6.30pm at Hebden Bridge Town Hall. The main substantive item on the agenda (aside from the budget consultation) concerns the recent Care Quality Commission inspection of Calderdale's adult social care services. They inspectorate rated Calderdale as 'good'. But that means that there are still areas needing improvement, as well as areas where Calderdale is excellent. There are lessons to be learnt from good practice as well as an obligation to tackle problems. The main issue for me is Calderdale's interaction with unpaid carers.
This is a problem I have had experience of, albeit briefly, as a local resident and council tax payer. It has left me with some bad memories, some of which I still struggle with. I am definitely not alone, as almost all of us will at some point be a carer or be cared for. It's also where most of your council tax money goes (alongside children's services).
This is not an occasion to have a pop at officers, who work very hard and are passionate about getting good results, but an opportunity for transparency and constructive dialogue.
There will also be an open forum where you can raise whatever local issues you wish.
Agenda for Ward Forum - Calder Ward on Tuesday, 6th January, 2026, 6.30 pm, Town Hall
Previously, on the HebWeb
News from Calderdale: Report of the November Calderdale Council meeting from Cllr Jonathan Timbers.
News from Calderdale: Report of the September Calderdale Council meeting from Cllr Jonathan Timbers.