Hebden Bridge Web

Here anyway are the main budget commitments:

• £20 million to build a new Special School in Calderdale so children with learning disabilities can be educated near home and we can stop paying private schools outside the Borough to educate them.
• We are investing in enforcement teams which tackle fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.
• We've allocated more money for domestic violence services.
• We are upgrading children's playgrounds.
• We are expanding the Occupational Therapy team, personal assistants and improving assessments to make sure disabled people have the right support at the right time, and enabling people who want to live independently in their own home to do so for longer.
• We are investing £12 million into road resurfacing and infrastructure.
• We are increasing residential care capacity for vulnerable children.
  🎭 We are building on the success of the Year of Culture, by investing in CultureDale, to put on events for residents and visitors to enjoy, and support our creative sector. This attracts investment into Calderdale far in excess of what we put in.

These carefully costed improvements are possible because of an improved long term settlement from the Government, which is redistributing money from the South to the North, and to areas where there are concentrations of deprivation, such as Calderdale. However, after 14 years of savage cuts, this has not yet put us in a safe position financially.

As the leader of the council, Councillor Jane Scullion, said, "The Government has not immediately been able to sort out local government finance - what a surprise!".

Looking forward to 2027/8 and 2028/9. Like most councils in the North, Calderdale is gingerly stepping on a narrow path overlooking 'exceptional measures' (akin to bankruptcy). If we go into exceptional measures, we will have to agree a package including cutting services, selling off assets, increasing charges substantially (including parking charges), reducing Council Tax rebate scheme and increasing council tax by more than 5 per cent.

The same day that we were considering Calderdale's budget, Reform led Worcestershire County Council went into exceptional measures raising its council tax by 9 per cent. It found out what happens if you let political rhetoric overtake serious thinking and scapegoat minorities and diversity, equality and inclusion. The figures just don't add up.

Given this prospect, we have proceeded cautiously so we can stay on the narrow path of financial stability.

There were two amendments to Labour's budget. One from the Liberal Democrats and one from the Green Party. Both were submitted late in the process, so we didn't have any time to consider them or adopt individual suggestions.

The Liberal Democrat Budget included

• More community wardens
• Cutting support to the Piece Hall
• An extra 312k for gully cleaning and road resurfacing ( presumably on top of Labour's extra £12 million)
• Crowd funding for town improvements
• Modular housing for the homeless.

We disagreed about the Piece Hall. To cut a long story short, it is one of the few historic assets that does not charge entry fees (so that businesses can thrive inside). Under those circumstances, it will always struggle to break even. The question is, is it worth it for Halifax and the area including Hebden Bridge and Todmorden. What would be the impact of letting it decline? Councillor Issott, a Tory who clearly understands Keynesian economics when it suits her, pointed out that the subsidy from the Council equates to " 0.07 per cent of Calderdale's budget".

Crowdfunding was mocked, but actually I don't think it should always be ruled out. After all, many public buildings in Victorian times were built through 'public subscription'. The trouble is you can't really plan a budget around it because you can't second guess how much you can collect. In any event, parish and town council precepts are essentially forms of crowdfunding for local projects. You may be interested to see next year's town and parish council budgets – you may be surprised, or disappointed, who knows?

• Blackshaw 8,800
• Erringden 2,254
• Hebden Royd 524,013
• Heptonstall 26,315
• Ripponden 69,000
• Stainland & District 47,724
• Todmorden 513,137
• Wadsworth 21,758

On the Lib Dems modular housing, Cllr Patient pointed out that we have an effective homegrown Calderdale process to help those at risk of homelessness. It leads to a permanent home, not a temporary modular one. We would rather stick to that.

The Lib Dems also suggested banding Council Tax Reduction Scheme by council tax band and increasing it to 75% for residents living in council tax band A. I'd be interested in looking at that again next year, when we have more time to consider the proposal, and understand how much it would financially expose the council.

As many of you will know, I wasn't happy that we had to reduce Council Tax Reduction Scheme to 71% (max) last year. But understood the logic.

The Green amendment to the budget focussed on restoring the cut. To me, this is more rhetoric. After all, it is election year for Calderdale, but the Green Party had managed to put forward an amended budget that satisfied officers so that they could allow it to go forward.

Savings would include scrapping the planned Clifton Business Park. Those of you who work for Suma will know how Lowfields works well because of its proximity to the M62. Clifton Business Park will be another Lowfields. The Green Party want to scrap it (I presume) to help pay for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme. They say it is too far away from Calderdale's centres of deprivation in North Halifax and that Calderdale is providing a subsidy to developers.

However, the capital investment will bring more businesses and 1400 jobs to Calderdale. There are no other viable sites in Calderdale.

The Green party said that the jobs might go to people from outside Calderdale, but let's leave that dogwhistle there, shall we? Once the site is established, access buses could run workers from North Halifax to Clifton. And it's not as if that that part of the borough doesn't have poverty and unemployment.

Finally, I should mention the Reform fiasco. Reform had submitted a budget amendment at the very last moment to the wrong officer on the council. It included £6,000,000 worth of cuts and no council tax rise. Officers did not have time to check it so it couldn't be legally heard.
This allowed Reform's Cllr Sutherland to claim that they had been blocked by officers.

It is very rare for a legal officer to admonish a councillor in council meetings, but on this occasion, it happened. The Chief Legal officer said that what councillor Sutherland said was untrue. It hadn't been blocked. It had not met the threshold to be legally heard.

As Councillor Wilkinson (Sowerby Bridge) said afterwards, "Reform submitted their amendment just hours before the meeting, and to the incorrect officer. That meant officers did not have time to carry out the legally required checks to confirm the budget balanced. That matters.

Setting the council's budget is the most important decision we take all year. By law it must be balanced. The process takes months, including work by officers, public consultation, and finally sign-off from the council's finance officer.

Cllr Sutherland has been a councillor for 16 years and served in Cabinet. He understands the process. He knows when amendments must be submitted. He knows how long officers need to assess proposals. Presenting this as obstruction is a cynical tactic.

Submit a last-minute proposal.
Skip the scrutiny.
Then claim you were "blocked".

It was just a piece of what the late Councillor Mrs Geraldine Carter called "theatre". It wasn't a serious attempt to improve the Council's budget or help residents.

I found it deeply creepy because it relied on blaming officers, as well as the usual targets such as asylum seekers.

On a more positive note, I am delighted to see that Hebden Bridge Business Forum reads my posts. They have asked me to correct what I said about the park and ride from Mytholmroyd station. "While talking about the Mytholmroyd train station you say; 'along with the park and ride service that Cllrs Patient and Courtney organise at key times like Christmas'.

While the support from Scott and Sarah has been key to getting this project off the ground, the park and ride would not have happened without the hard work of the volunteers who make up Hebden Royd Business Forum. They are the ones who funded, organised, and volunteered to make the buses possible". 

I am happy to stand corrected. Hebden Bridge Business Forum is a wonderful positive creative organisation, we all owe a debt of thanks to. They demonstrate that healthy town centres and thriving businesses depend on co-operation more than competition. As a socialist, I love that.

Previously, on the HebWeb

News from Calderdale: Report of the Calderdale council meeting of 22 January

News from Calderdale: 16 Jan 2026 report from Cllr Jonathan Timbers.

News from Calderdale: New Year report from Cllr Jonathan Timbers.

News from Calderdale: Report of the November 2025 Calderdale Council meeting from Cllr Jonathan Timbers.

News from Calderdale: Report of the September 2025Calderdale Council meeting from Cllr Jonathan Timbers.