£2.6m to be spent on health and safety work in Calderdale properties

A meeting of the full Calderdale Council approved adding £2.6 million to the council’s capital programme specifically for essential health and safety works required on parts of its estate, to be funded by prudential borrowing – and approved the additional £169,000 revenue funding required to service that borrowing being added to the council’s revenue budget from 2022-23 onwards.

Cabinet member for Regeneration and Strategy, Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot) said Calderdale Council was in a better position than it had been for many years in that it now had a good overview of the whole of its estate and what was required.

“It is really important buildings used by the public and our staff are safe and are absolute priorities,” she said.

Coun Steven Leigh (Con, Ryburn), Conservative group leader, agreed the money needed to be spent but it alerted the council to the danger of letting certain buildings lapse into disrepair – the effect of that it was costing £169,000 to service the borrowing.

Liberal Democrat group leader, Coun James Baker (Warley) agreed: “A stitch in time saves nine,” he said.

Coun Baker said the past had seen buildings close because of issues.

“It’s one of my bugbears – for the sake of a lick of paint we let a roof get damaged and fall down. Those assets, we aren’t getting as much out of them as we should be,” he said.

Leader of the Council, Coun Tim Swift (Lab, Town) said there was a context of funding to the council halving since 2010 and putting pressure on what land and buildings it could afford to maintain from the revenue budget.

Councillors also agreed to add £2.076 million to the council’s capital programme including £350,000 of prudential borrowing, and also agree £23,000 revenue funding to service the borrowing, in order to, subject to a successful grant application, put in a new heating system at Todmorden Sports Centre.

The council has submitted a bid to the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme phase three for £1.726 million funding to replace the existing system which is at the end of its life.

Councillors approved Cabinet’s recommendation to adopt a range of capital and investment strategies which including setting debt limits the council will not be able to exceed over the next three years.

They approved adoption of a cultural strategy for Calderdale, which aims to promote and benefit all communities within the borough as well as building on the importance of tourism to the economy, and adoption of a Green and Healthy Streets policy, which improve the quality of local environments in the borough.

Councillors also agreed to formally adopt a Neighbourhood Plan for Sowerby – the first neighbourhood plan in Calderdale and which will help shape planning policy there.

They also agreed a process for appointment of external auditors, who regularly report and produce an annual report on the council’s financial resilience, and the council’s pay policy statement for 2022-23 – a legal responsibility.

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