Kirklees Together

A team of experts in local government have completed a review which praises us for being passionate about long-term change and having the drive to make Kirklees “an extraordinary place”.

The team consisted of senior managers and councillors from across the public sector who spent four days in Kirklees and spoke to more than 300 people – including residents, staff, elected members and partner organisations – to gain a clear view of our direction.

Their visit was a ‘peer challenge’ organised by the Local Government Association (LGA) and was designed to both share good practice and challenge the progress being made.

Cllr Shabir Pandor, Leader of Kirklees Council, said:

“We welcomed the peer challenge because it gave us a completely independent view of our services, our support for local communities and our focus for the future.

We are delighted with the outcome. It shows that we are giving strong leadership to the area and being bold in transforming the way we work. We are ambitious for our residents and, whilst there is still a lot of work ahead, there is a powerful desire to continue transforming the district.

This council is delivering its ambitions for people, place and partners, including huge projects such as the Huddersfield Blueprint and the new £15million leisure facilities in North Kirklees. We can’t achieve our goals without energy, aspiration and strong relationships.

We will use the findings to further shape our work in creating an inclusive economy and society which benefit all local people.”

When is the report going to be published?

We have just received the final report and it will soon be published in full, along with a plan for how the LGA’s recommendations will be taken forward.

Jacqui Gedman, chief executive of Kirklees Council, said:

“The peer challenge has been incredibly valuable in providing advice and guidance on how we can develop as an organisation.

It has confirmed our view that we have the confidence to get things done and to meet major challenges, but it has also given food for thought about how we can do this in the future.

It’s fantastic that the feedback on our staff is so positive. I’m proud of the people who work here and proud of the difference they make to local people every single day.

We want to celebrate all the things that make Kirklees special whilst achieving our goal of serving local communities and being the best organisation we can be.”

What did the peer challenge team look at?

The peer challenge team examined our improvement journey so far and also looked at how well it is equipped for future challenges and opportunities. They gathered information and views from more than 50 meetings, visits to key sites and additional research.