Green Party and Valley Independent Councillors have called for an ‘All Party Shared Administration’ for Kirklees Council to address the huge cuts facing local jobs and services.
Green Party Leader Councillor Andrew Cooper said,
"The loss of around £152million from Kirklees budgets each year by 2017 is the greatest threat to local services that the Council has ever faced. The impact on the services provided by the council cannot be overstressed, Roads that are already poor will get even worse, costs for adult social care will rise, funding for vulnerable children is uncertain, libraries and museums are threatened with closure. At a time when Kirklees is facing its greatest ever crisis it makes no sense to have a minority Labour Administration having the responsibility alone of trying to protect the services that people across the district rely on, need and value.
It is all too easy for opposition parties to criticise from the sidelines with the comforting knowledge that they have no responsibility for any council decisions that are made, while knowing that if they were in charge they would be faced with exactly the same dilemmas. At times of real crisis political parties should put aside differences and work together on solutions that are built around consensus and the common good.
There are no easy answers or silver bullets to address the problems that the Council is facing. That is why every Councillor, of which ever political party, has a duty to want to responsibility to get the best outcomes possible for local people. For these reasons we are calling for a shared All Party Administration of Kirklees Council. This proposal will not work if one Party decides it prefers the comfort of opposition and we would only consider being part of a Kirklees Cabinet if all Parties represented on Kirklees took part.
I have today written to the other Party Group Leaders on Kirklees Council requesting a meeting to discuss our proposal ENDS
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