The Liberal Democrats will be fighting for more cash for our markets at the Calderdale Council’s annual budget. The Conservatives are proposing to spend more on “Heritage and Cultural buildings” and local Lib Dems are suggesting that this would be better spent on the Council’s markets. I speak to quite a few local residents who […]

Two million apprenticeships have been created in the UK since 2010 with 8,810 people in Calderdale getting a vital start in life. Apprenticeships offered by companies such as Marshalls, Crosslee PLC, and Royal and Sun Alliance performed a crucial role in the local economy. Apprenticeships are a vital part of building a stronger economy and […]

As the Chair of the Economy and Environment scrutiny panel on Calderdale I’ve had three main priorities. This include holding the Highways Department to account on its performance and spending, working to build a greener economy here in Calderdale and ensuring the Council does everything it can to get the local economy back on track. […]

This year the Council’s Economic task force which I am a part of allocated £1,000 to each ward to boost Christmas trade. I developed a scheme here in Warley ward for the money to go towards helping local pubs. A small grants scheme has been setup to reimburse pubs some of the costs of additional […]

Following the annual budget the autumn statement announced by the government is the second biggest financial statement the government makes about it’s future spending plans. I thought it might be useful to provide a selection of some of the key announcements. Flooding Danny Alexander has laid out plans for 1,400 flood defence projects, providing protection for […]

Linda Riordan’s latest annual report is being delivered to houses across Halifax. In it she makes a number of claims about the economic situation in Halifax which are misleading and paint a far gloomier picture than the reality. Linda should stop talking down the town,  and be proud of Halifax and its economic turnaround. Let’s […]

There is some welcome good news today as a High Speed rail project to link Manchester and Leeds takes a step closer to becoming a reality. Improving Trans Pennine transport links will make it easier for freight and passengers to travel between the great Northern cities, unlocking economic growth that will bring benefits to Calderdale too. It […]

I’ve just come back from an extraordinary meeting of the Economy and Environment scrutiny panel on Calderdale Council. In the meeting the Labour cabinet member for the Economy and Environment portfolio tried to claim the panel couldn’t ask any questions about a Department of Transport ‘Pinch Point’ bid used to obtain money to carry out […]

So this rather long post is all in response to some questions about parking  charges Andrew Marsden has raised on his local blog. Andrew’s comments are put in quotes. The Conservative opposition assisted by the Liberal Democrats announced in February their success during a full council meeting. They obtained a democratic decision at the full council […]

I’ve recently participated in a large bit of work into developing the Green Economy here within Calderdale. I co-chaired this cross-party scrutiny review. It was very pleasing to be able to get involved with this piece of work given a long standing interest in green issues, and previous involvement in groups such as Friends of […]