Hebden Bridge News

Calderdale Seeks Input On Spending Priorities

Calderdale Council is asking people how they would like spending to be prioritised at public meetings across the borough next month. Everyone is welcome to their local Ward Forum, when people will be asked to identify which services they would like to keep, reduce or lose under new Government funding cuts.

The Government’s emergency budget this summer means the Council have had to make savings or reduce costs by over £2million. A further national spending review in the autumn may mean reducing spending by £50million, going from an annual budget of £266million to £216 million by 2013/2014.

This means the Council needs to find ways to provide services such as street cleaning, bin collections, road maintenance, social services, parks, libraries, youth clubs, sports, and many others, at less cost.

Ward Forums will be held in all 17 wards, or electoral areas, of Calderdale, during September and the Council wants people to come along and have your say. We’ll be asking questions like:

• What services should we protect?
• What should we stop doing?
• How can we cut waste and reduce costs?
• What new ways of working should we think about?

We will also put a questionnaire on our website at www.calderdale.gov.uk to make sure everyone has a chance to have a say. And if you can’t make the meeting, you can still phone us, email or write to us using the contact details below.

Meetings start at 7pm unless indicated otherwise and there’s a chance to chat informally and meet people over a cup of tea before the meeting starts. They are free to attend, open to everyone, and are often combined with the regular PACT (police and communities together) meetings.

To find details of your nearest meeting, go to www.calderdale.gov.uk/consultations, email wardforums@calderdale.gov.uk or phone 0845 245 6000. Or write with your comments to Community Services, Freepost HD82, Northgate House, Halifax HX1 1BR.

Councillor David O’Neill, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Safer and Stronger Communities, said:
“Our funding from the Government is reducing so we need to find ways of providing services to people at less cost. Over the next few months we will be asking local people to help us decide how we can meet this challenge. One of the ways we will do this is through Ward Forums. It’s your money, so please help us decide how it should be spent by coming along to your local Ward Forum meeting in September.”