just a few of the things that I’ve been doing so far this week …..

Markets Working Group: Whilst we had a productive meeting last week to finetune (I hope) the plans to move the market in Hebden Bridge, we had a meeting of the Calderdale Council markets group this week. What’s most important is getting the vision and the strategy in place to shape and guide what we want to do. Calderdale is a place of market towns (from Todmorden to Brighouse). While we’ve got to repair and update the market in Todmorden, we’ve also got to do some serious work to Borough market in Halifax which is a beautiful building whose potential is not realised to the full.

BEST group links local businesses with the Council: The new Principal of Calderdale College talked us through their emerging plans to develop the College in its important role of developing the skills primarily of our young people. There’s a seminar planned with UKTI, the government body that supports businesses wanting to export but an exciting piece of information was that 31 companies have benefitted so far from the Export support fund that we, the Liberal Democrats on Calderdale Council, set up through the Council’s budget.

Children and Young People’s Scrutiny Panel: It’s pleasing to hear that our children’s social care services are now improving to the point where it’s very likely that the Improvement Notice (issued by the government) will be lifted. That’s taken over 6 years of hard work (since the Conservatives ran the Council with Craig Whitaker as Lead Member for Children’s Services).