Keep up to date – and join the debate
VERTICAL BLINDS
3 FOR
£89 SALE 046 1502
Tel: 0800
01274 305 410
www.facebook.com/ThePressNews
ONE PAPER ... ALL THE NEWS from Dewsbury, Batley, Ossett, Mirfield, Liversedge, Birstall, Heckmondwike, Cleckheaton & Spen Valley
Friday January 29, 2016
12 MONTHS GUARANTEE
No. 722
50p
BIG KICK-OFF
ROBBERS JAILED
Rams and ‘Dogs are ready for 2016 campaign Sport
Long sentences for duo after store boss stabbed in raid
p5
Services slashed, jobs axed and a council tax whammy... and if you think that’s bad...
THERE’S WORSE TO COME By David Miller EVEN more council cuts, job losses and tax rises have been proposed – and budget figures show it will only get worse next year. Roads, street cleaning, dog wardens, youth offending teams, museums, public buildings and efforts to combat extremism are all in the firing line as local government budgets are slashed. Kirklees Council’s Labour cabinet is due to discuss the impact at a meeting on Tuesday. Tory opposition leader Coun Robert Light this week accused the ruling Labour group of
doing nothing for years – so the cuts needed now are worse than they might have been. His claims opened up a row with council leader Coun David Sheard about outsourcing some services to private firms. It comes after the authority was told in December that it would get £50m less than expected up to the year 2020. That is on top of the £34m of savings the council has to make over the same period. Some £84m has to be found in total, and while the 2016-17 financial year looks bad, 2017-18 could be even worse. In that year the whole £8.5m early intervention budget for families needing a social work assessment is proposed for the axe.
Continued on Page 2
Kirklees top guns turn fire on each other Conservative leader Robert Light:
Council leader David Sheard:
“We knew in 2008 the council would have to radically change the way it delivers services. “In the last six years they’ve done nothing and now the council has to make cuts that will really hurt. “And it doesn’t help that Coun Sheard would rather see a service close than let somebody else run it. “I think that’s fundamentally wrong.”
“If we don’t have any money so we have to stop doing something, how do we pay for outsourcing? “Many council services are already outsourced, such as nearly all social care, but we still have to pay for it. “We also share services with other partners, such as other councils and the NHS. “We assess each case on its merits.”