Calderdale Labour Party
Labour for Calderdale.
Our place. Fairer. Stronger and kinder communities.
Calderdale is a great place to live, full of real community spirit. We know that people look out for one another, take pride in where they live, and work together to make their neighbourhoods better. We saw this during the floods, when the pandemic hit, we see it each and every day all across the borough.
But over time that spirit has been tested. Years of cuts placed huge pressure on local councils, making it harder to protect our public services. Despite this, your Labour council has continued to step up for our residents. We have been focussed on making your money go further, on keeping your family safe, creating opportunities for work and leisure as well as creating a decent place where our children can thrive.
We’ve delivered big time. We’re pulling in millions of pounds of investment from the central government and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. We’ve worked with our local charities, community groups and volunteers to make every single pound go further. £7 out of every £10 currently goes on caring for our vulnerable – your relative with dementia, the child next door with autism. We’re proud that we do that and still make the budget balance year on year – it’s not easy.
We’re proud of what we’ve achieved but we’re ambitious for more. Our commitment is to build decent, caring communities with great public services that work for everyone. We believe Calderdale is at its best when inequality is reduced, opportunity is shared and people come together to shape a better future. While others blame and divide we focus on building a future where we work together, putting social and climate justice first, always.
At the May elections, local people face a clear choice. A vote for Labour is a vote for fairness, kindness and effective local leadership. It is a vote to keep Calderdale moving forward. - Cllr Jane Scullion, Leader, Calderdale Council
Our top 6 pledges
1. Build stronger, safer, kinder communities
We will invest in our town centres and neighbourhoods, tackle anti-social behaviour and keep the borough clean
2. Help families with the cost of living, making your money go further
We will keep supporting families under pressure, including help with food, fuel, debt and school costs
3. Give every child the best start
We will improve schools, build new provision close to home for SEND children and help every young person into education, training or work
4. Better transport that works for everyone
We will improve bus services, invest in road repairs and make walking and cycling safer for all.
5. Protect Calderdale for the future
We will continue to act on climate change, to protect and enhance our green spaces, improve air quality and keep our homes and communities safe from flooding
6. Put people first
We will always protect the care and support people rely on, especially for older residents, disabled people and vulnerable children
We want to see thriving high streets, good jobs and successful local businesses that help create confident, caring communities where people want to live, work, and invest.
What Labour has delivered
- University Business School at Piece Mill, Halifax, building on Calderdale’s entrepreneurial independent spirit
- Brought in hundreds of millions of pounds for regeneration across Calderdale, beginning the revival of our town centres in Halifax, Brighouse, Elland, Todmorden and Sowerby Bridge
- Re-launched the thriving Piece Hall alongside a brand-new Halifax Library
- Transformed Halifax Borough Market, with over £4.5 million invested since 2017, built a great new market in Brighouse, invested in a new Elland Market and Todmorden Indoor Market and relocated and developed the markets in Hebden Bridge
- We have put Calderdale on the world stage, attracting major film and TV productions including Marvel, Gentleman Jack and Riot Women, and creating a strong tourist sector, with 5,791 tourism-related jobs in 2024, bringing £659 million! into the local economy
- Invested in North Halifax, with the new Mixenden Community Hub and the welcome reopening of Mixenden Activity Centre, keeping services local
- Treasured our heritage, by bringing buildings back to life, like the Victoria Theatre, Todmorden and Beechwood libraries, and the wonderful bandstands at the People’s Park and Todmorden – now open for thousands to enjoy.
- Brought a tough new approach to fly-tipping, with specialist teams, hidden cameras, drones, vehicle seizures and heavy fines and sentences.
- Invested in Culturedale 2024 – celebrating a year of culture throughout the borough for communities across the borough.
Our commitments
- Making the brand-new Halifax swimming pool and leisure centre a reality at last with spades in the ground.
- Cracking down on anti-social behaviour, fining troublemakers and keeping our public spaces safe with strict new protection orders
- Giving residents in Mixenden and North Halifax a proper say in their future with £20m of investment over the next ten years
- Keeping Calderdale streets cleaner, hunting down fly-tippers with drones and taking their vehicles
- Growing our local community arts and cultural events, building on the legacy of Culturedale
- Creating vibrant town centre events, bringing people into our markets and shops
A decent society is one where we do everything we can to help people through hard times. Labour in Calderdale is determined to tackle poverty and support those who are struggling to get back on their feet.
We get it. We aim to help families cope with the cost-of-living crisis, making money go further. To do that, we have had to ensure that Calderdale has a cast iron budget, with stronger reserves to manage the climate and economic shocks that seem to happen so often these days and affect us all.
What Labour has delivered
- We have the best take-up rate in the whole of England for the Healthy Holidays programme, providing free hot meals and activities for children – they shouldn’t go hungry because school is closed
- Got money into people’s pockets – our Early Advice and Support Team has turned residents’ lives around, getting them benefits and essential support with food and fuel costs
- Our amazing 130 trained Money Guiders offered free help with budgeting and debt, putting real help into people’s hands
- Helped to end carpet poverty, with the ‘Carpets like a Boss’ scheme giving 340 families warm floors at cost price – no more toddlers crawling on cold concrete
- Built a strong anti-poverty consortium that brings every local partner together to ensure support is properly targeted and delivered
- Opened warm hubs, with free hot drinks, dignity, support and help to reduce electric bills
- Tackled the digital divide using libraries to help struggling residents to get online and provided laptops to children from low-income families to keep them learning during the pandemic
- Our Healthy Homes grants helped 340 families cut heating bills by an average of £600 a year
Our commitments
- Keep Calderdale’s budget strong so we don’t have to sell off assets, reduce services and support for the most vulnerable or increase Council Tax more than we have to
- Expanding “Healthy Holidays”, pushing up the numbers and expanding the offer for children with SEND. Every eligible child should have activities and food in the school holidays
- Bringing proper food access to every town, helping set up new community supermarkets where £5 gets you £20 worth of groceries – a proper alternative to food banks
- Making school uniforms affordable with Labour’s new national scheme to limit branded items – we’ll make sure every Calderdale school follows it
- Supporting the West Yorkshire Mayor’s efforts to make public transport affordable, so you can get around and get to work
- Working with housing charities to ensure homeless families with children are rehoused within six weeks
- Implementing the Labour government’s breakfast club offer in every school and expanding free school meal entitlement
Every child in Calderdale deserves safety, opportunity and hope. Labour will always stand up for children, families and young people. We are proud that we put kids first in Calderdale.
What Labour has delivered
- Secured over £150 million to rebuild eleven schools with the first at Castle Hill well underway
- Brought a new “outstanding” sixth form college to central Halifax
- Seen rising standards, with 91% of our primary schools now rated good or outstanding
- Made major investments in SEND, with £20 million for a new specialist school and 13 SEN hubs in mainstream schools meaning local kids no longer have to travel
- Helped more children into, loving, new homes by recruiting more foster carers
- Implemented a council tax relief scheme for young people leaving council care and foster carers
- Set up 13 Family Hubs across the borough, supporting children and parents
- Made many of our streets safer for children through 20mph limits in residential areas
- Driven up standards in children’s services, with all areas rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, and all council-run children’s homes rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’
Our commitments
- Opening a new Special Educational Needs school in Calderdale, keeping our kids local
- Delivering a new Alternative Provision school to reduce exclusions
- Expanding local children’s homes so young people can stay close to their communities
- Investing hundreds of thousands in new playground equipment
- Ensuring every young person has a supported pathway at 16 into education, training or employment, whatever their background
- Working fully with the national inquiry into historic child sexual exploitation, keeping children safe now and into the future
Climate change is real and action cannot wait. Labour is committed to protecting Calderdale for future generations – and saving us all money in the process.
Under Labour, Calderdale Council is regarded as a national leader on nature and environment.
What Labour has delivered
- Secured over £190 million for vital flood defence schemes since 2015
- Slashed costs with LED street lighting, saving energy and £5 million each year
- Made a third of council vehicles fully electric to save vital funds, whilst rolling out chargers across the borough
- Making active travel choices easier for all with wider pavements, liveable neighbourhoods and improved accessibility
- Brought in 10s of millions of external investment to Install renewables in major council buildings, saving vital money for services
- Set up a Healthy Homes Service for families offering grants and interest-free loans
- Piloted a full street retrofit pilot in Boothtown, targeting cold terraced homes
- Brought in millions for Natural Flood management to help protect nature & provide flood resilience for our communities
- Planted over 17,500 trees in the last year alone and restored swathes of moorland every month to store carbon, restore nature and reduce flooding
- Put our residents at the heart of decision making through citizens juries and active engagement – winning national acclaim
- Vastly improved air quality in key hotspot areas across Calderdale
- Signed the regions first MOU agreement with Yorkshire Water, to clean up our waterways and invest in our aging sewer network
- Have one of the highest recycling rates in the country and lead on food recycling in Yorkshire
Our commitments
- Helping more homeowners and tenants create warmer homes with lower energy bills
- Ensuring we secure a fair share of flood protection money from working with central government
- Enabling community groups to take climate action for heating homes and generating community energy
- Cleaning up our remaining air pollution hotspots, aiming for a borough wide “clean air guarantee” by 2030
- Rolling out home retrofit programmes in disadvantaged areas, reducing bills
- Always prioritising brownfield land for new housing – building communities and a stronger economy
- Always putting nature first by holding Yorkshire Water to account to clean up our rivers, planting at least 15,000 new trees every year including on our streets, and replacing losses at at least rate of two for one
Good transport links connect people to jobs, education and services, and help our communities thrive. We’ll make it easier for everyone to get around in a way that is affordable.
What Labour has delivered
- Taken the decision to end bus privatisation by 2027 – bringing buses back into our hands
- A warm and eco-friendly, new Halifax Bus Station
- Expanded railway parking at Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd stations
- Secured cycle parking for residents lacking storage space
- Made school streets safer at drop-off and pick-up times, protecting children
- Completed the complex A629 works at Salterhebble, cutting congestion on a major route into Halifax
- Protected key rural bus services in the face of cuts
- Brought back the 590 through the Upper Valley and Walsden against the stiff opposition of First Bus and pushing for better services in the Upper Valley
Our commitments
- Investing an additional £12 million for proper fixes to road repairs, not just patching potholes
- Making buses work for you again with our Labour Mayor, Tracy Brabin
- Now we have secured the funding we will get Elland station and its access package up and running.
- Providing real choices for getting around, with good bus services and walking and cycling routes for all.
- Getting financial support for rural bus services to ensure our communities are not cut off from work, hospitals, shopping and employment
- Improving everyday access along the Rochdale Canal towpath for walkers, cyclists and wheelchairs
- Reducing accidents with more speed cameras and tougher enforcement against dangerous driving
Looking after those who need support most is one of Labour’s most important responsibilities. We are committed to helping local residents who need care or support to stay connected, build on their strengths and live their lives to the full.
What Labour has delivered
- Good ratings for Adult Social Care from the Care Quality Commission
- Reopened and redeveloped Mytholm Meadows in Hebden Bridge
- Massively improved home adaptation support to help people live independently
- Brought advice and support nearer to where people where they live with Better Lives Hubs’
- Worked hard to shape services with people who use them and their carers
Our commitments
- Investing £300,000 in Learning Disability and Neurodiversity services
- Giving greater access to healthy exercise and leisure opportunities for adults with disabilities and older residents
- Helping people benefit from new adaptive technologies and stay in their own homes
- Expanding the Occupational Therapy workforce, helping people return home from hospital sooner
- Getting faster hospital discharge through joined-up care
- Ensuring young adults with support needs are not overlooked
- Streamlining transitions to adulthood for young people with disabilities and complex needs