New Calderdale Council Cabinet member appointed to take resources portfolio

Todmorden ward councillor Coun Silvia Dacre (Lab) takes on the portfolio for Resources.

Leader of the Council, Coun Tim Swift (Lab, Town) now has the portfolio of Public Health during the pandemic.

The Public Health role was previously taken by Coun Faisal Shoukat (Park), who was administratively suspended by the Labour Party in March but according to the council’s website still has the party whip.

It was not revealed why Coun Shoukat, whose departure from Cabinet left a position vacant, was suspended, but he tweeted at the time: “My stance on Palestine is well known. That is all I have to say at this moment.”

Coun Dacre was elected to the council in May 2019.

She echoed comments made by Coun Sue Press (Lab, Todmorden), who had spoken about how staff had risen to the challenges posed by the pandemic across the council.

Coun Press had spoken about issues including the enforcement team which had been increased by 11 in number, representing a 40 per cent increase in its capacity, meaning more people on the ground helping deal with issue.

Coun Dacre said the pandemic had had an enormous impact on the way the council ran.

“COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on council finances and we are going to be looking at that over and over again over the next few months,” she said.

The council’s Mid-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) would examine how the council would deal with funding issues over the next few years.

Calderdale’s finance directorate had administered Government schemes to help business, resulting in 5,200 grants being distributed.

Staff had supported the council’s leadership team plan responses to the pandemic including the Financial Recovery Plan and had ensured Government guidance, often announced late at night, was properly applied.

Data compiled enabled the council to understand how the virus was affecting different parts of the community.

Technology staff had enabled the council to meet virtually and staff able to work remotely, helped by health and safety teams, with staff absences across the council down 30 per cent on the same period last year.

Work by the IT team would also inform how the council worked in the future, said Coun Dacre.