Leadership of council has no idea over the budget

“President Trump appears to have signed an executive order which seems to discriminate against individuals based totally on their religion or their nationality. We, as Jews, perhaps more than any others, know exactly what it is like to be the victims of such discrimination and it is totally unacceptable” ANYONE looking at the Kirklees Cabinet papers for a hint about what the Labour group are planning to cut the costs of running the council will get no hints from the published papers for yesterday’s meeting. In the hundreds of pages there is no explanation of the figures planned for the next few years.

The library service is a very good example. This year’s expenditure is stated at £5.4 million, though I do understand that savings will bring this down to £3.9m. The figure for next year, and beyond, is £2.2m. The workforce has already gone through a voluntary redundancy process. The spending figure is actually lower than the cost put forward, just a couple of years ago, to just keep open Huddersfield and Dewsbury libraries.

As an Almondbury councillor I have already witnessed the closure of the Lepton library. The Almondbury library was looking at a possible transfer of the building to the community. It, along with other small libraries, has seen staff cut along with the hours of opening.

If the council cannot promise a library service for the Almondbury library then what would be the point of taking over the building? I am sure other groups must be asking themselves the same question. The not so hilarious thing about all this is that the new financial year starts in only a few weeks time with the leadership of the council clueless as to how the budget will be managed.

Before I was elected, myself and others warned that 2017 would see Kirklees facing a financial cliff edge because not enough preparation had gone into long-term financial plan-