Calderdale Council under fire as cuts set to come in amid borrowing

A Cabinet decision which will see around £800,000 of cuts made to Calderdale Council services next year sparked fiery debate about the authority’s borrowing.
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The decision had been called in to be considered by the council’s Place Scrutiny Board, where a majority of members voted to release it for implementation.

It means authority-run car boot sales, visitor information centres at Hebden Bridge and Halifax, Mixenden Activity Centre, Halifax, and a number of branch libraries across the district will be closed.

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The library closures – Greetland, Hipperholme, Mytholmroyd, Ripponden, Shelf, Skircoat, Stainland and Southowram – form part of £2 million of annual savings previously proposed by the council including closing some public halls.

AMONG CLOSURES: Hebden Bridge Visitor CentreAMONG CLOSURES: Hebden Bridge Visitor Centre
AMONG CLOSURES: Hebden Bridge Visitor Centre

Conservative group leader Coun Steven Leigh has been very critical at hearings into Calderdale’s draft Local Plan of the amount of prudential borrowing – where councils are able to

borrow money at special rates, for example from the Public Works Loan Board – Calderdale has been undertaking.

He said the council had long term debt of around £113 million and accused the council of “reckless borrowing”, repaying it costing the authority £10 a minute.

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“The problem here is trying to claw back savings on essential services the people of Calderdale deserve.

“We can’t afford it. If we could afford it we wouldn’t be making cuts.

“I think the council is in trouble and we need to get a grip on it before it goes further,” he said.

But Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot), Cabinet member for Regeneration and Strategy, refuted the notion Calderdale was a reckless council and said external auditors Ernst and Young had signed off its accounts and given the judgement the council was very good value for money.

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She said 75 per cent of prudential borrowing was covered by money coming back in, paying for itself, and some of the borrowing debt referred to was inherited from years ago.

“I am very pleased the external auditors gave us a clean bill of health – we are a low borrowing council,” said Coun Scullion.

A difficult financial situation had been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic which had seen the council’s income go through the floor, she said.

Coun Silvia Dacre (Lab, Todmorden), Cabinet member for Resources, said in terms of borrowing, Calderdale was the second lowest of all metropolitan councils and third lowest in terms of a proportion of its budget.

Additional savings identified relating to household waste services and recycling will be dealt with as part of the annual budget process.