Kirklees Together

Cllr Shabir Pandor said that we are on course to become outstanding after an independent report outlined our recent progress and our ambitions for Kirklees.

The report, from the Local Government Association (LGA), came after national experts in local government carried out a ‘peer challenge’ and spoke to more than 300 people about the council’s direction. Their findings have now been published, along with an action plan for how further progress will be made locally.

Cllr Pandor said:

“The outcome of this review is incredibly positive and gives further proof of our ambition for the district and its people. The LGA have seen what we’ve already achieved and, even more important, they were impressed by our desire to keep on transforming Kirklees.

I want to personally thank residents, council staff, partner organisations and fellow councillors for their support in our ongoing journey. Together, we are building an exciting vision for our shared future.

We are passionate about delivering long-term projects to improve people’s lives, as well as their physical and social environment. There are great examples like the Huddersfield Blueprint and the transformation of Spen Leisure Centre, and we are developing plans for Dewsbury and Batley.

In recent years we have lost a lot of capacity in terms of skilled, experienced and talented staff. One of the challenges for me in delivering our ambition is to put that capacity back into the organisation to enable the plans to be delivered for the benefit of everyone in Kirklees.

This council is proud to be ambitious and proud to put people at the heart of everything we do. We’re making Kirklees an even better place to live, work and invest and we work closely with our partners to make sure we have an inclusive economy and society to support all local people.

I’m immensely proud of Kirklees and we will be using the LGA’s feedback, including their ideas for future improvement, to continue turning ambition into reality. We are well on the way to being an outstanding council.”

What was the outcome of the peer challenge?

The peer challenge team included senior managers and councillors from across the public sector who spent four days in Kirklees earlier this year. In addition to making recommendations, their report said:

• This is an exciting time for Kirklees Council in its improvement journey. There is a desire and civic pride to make Kirklees into an extraordinary place
• A fresh direction for the council has been taken over the past two years and this is fuelling ambition and energy in the organisation
• The council should be confident that it is, and can be, the catalyst for regeneration, development and investment for Huddersfield, Dewsbury and other towns across the district
• Residents, staff, partners and councillors are passionate about the council’s ambition. The ambition in Kirklees is exciting and palpable

More information

The full report, and the associated action plan, will be discussed at upcoming meetings of both the Cabinet and full council. More information is available on our website.