This is my second year as Deputy Leader. I developed so many new skills,
networks and relationship at a local, regional and national level. It was also
the second year we commemorated Remembering Srebrenica.
In my role as Deputy Leader of the council I have continued to work very
closely with Key Cities in my role as one of the Executive Members leading on
Young Peoples portfolio.
Much planning went into ‘Changing The Future’ Conference held at the
John Smith Stadium.
The Key Cities
Changing the Future Conference provided an excellent opportunity to listen to
and engage with young people from Key Cities on the critical factors and ideas
relevant to the Key Cities themes.
- The purpose the Key Cities Changing the Future Conference was to:
- Provide an opportunity to listen to and engage with young people from Key Cities on critical factors and ideas relevant to the Key Cities themes
- Include the voice of young people in the Key Cities Group policy framework
- Raise the profile of Key Cities and the new focus of its activity which aims to highlight the benefits of investment in the 20 medium sized cities that form the group.
At the conference Key Cities Leaders
and senior representatives will listen to and engage with young people aged
between 14-25 on the critical factors and ideas relevant to the Key Cities
themes.
We wanted to ensure that as many young
people as possible had the opportunity to share their opinions and have a voice
in the discussions. So in order to do that we worked with a company who specialise
in engaging and consulting with young people to develop an online
questionnaire.
The questionnaire enabled us to capture
information from a larger group of young people from across each of the Key
Cities across the country.
The information was collated and was be
used to produce a pre-conference report that informed the discussions at the
conference.
This work is now being incorporated
into national policy development of Key Cities.
I also led on the budget process and
managed to get the Labour Group budget approved at full council in February
2018.
This would not have been possible
without the professional help of the councils officer’s and the input of
elected members into what I feel is one of the most important decision Kirklees
Council makes in any given year.
Throughout the year I have attended many council meetings, Labour Group,
Branch and Constituency Meetings.
Activity and Ward Work
In my ward I have continued to work with local groups and have supported
them where needed.
Doing ward is the bread and butter of being a local councillor where communities and individuals rely on their councillors to respond to their concerns and feedback outcomes based on actions.
This year was no different; I have carried ward work on behalf of my
constituents around highways, anti-social behaviour, housing, welfare benefits,
neighbour nuisance and other matters.
Along with my fellow ward councillors I was delighted that we managed to
win the Green Flag award for Wilton Park.
I have continued to work with the many wonderful and hardworking organisations in Batley. These include:
- Local schools/children’s centres
- Community Centres
- Churches and Mosques
- Neighbourhood Watch groups
- Mount CC and Batley CC
- Community Organisations
- Local Charities
- Annual Remembrance day in November
Once again we managed to win Batley East and West wards and I would like
to thank everyone who helped in these campaigns and the fantastic work Cllrs
Gwen Lowe and Mahmood Akhtar do in their wards for local communities.
MIPIM
Last year was also the first year the council took
the opportunity show case its plans for physical regeneration and its ambitions
for developing much improved housing and businesses. I was part of the Leeds
City Region delegation to MIPIM in Cannes. Established in 1990, MIPIM is a 4-day real estate
event to meet the most influential players from all sectors of
the international real estate industry.
It brings the entire value chain to together and gives unrivaled access
to the greatest number of development projects and sources of capital
worldwide.
MIPIM
provided a unique exhibition and networking platform to forge deals where over 26,000 participants
representing the entire value chain including Investors
& Financial Institutions, Developers, Cities & local authorities,
Occupiers, Architects & Hotels groups.
This provided opportunities to explore areas around Residential
Development, Healthcare, Hospitality, Logistics & Industrial,
Infrastructure, Retail & Leisure, Office, and Mixed-use Developments.
The event was a great opportunity and we were joined by the Yorkshire
Tea Brass Band
Other activities….
I was lucky enough to recently go on the Reach Program in Northern Ireland with our partners and other politicians and days at the Corrymeela residential centre in Ballycastle.
The Reach Program enabled participants to enhance their knowledge of extremism and radicalisation so that they can protect people from becoming radicalised through extremist ideologies.
Through a series of workshops, I was able to speak with voices of the conflict, toured around areas of Derry and Belfast, and visited Oakgrove Integrated College to speak with staff and students.
I was delighted to join the Mark Burns-Williamson (Police & Crime Commissioner) to re-launch Neighbourhood Policing in Kirklees.
YABA held their Annual Eid Celebration event at Huddersfield University and I was delighted to welcome the guest to Huddersfield and speak at the event.
Training
and Development
Along with Kirklees Labour Group and
The Council I am fully committed to continuous personal and professional
development.
As Deputy Leader I have continued my
personal development through working more closely with the LGA, Labour Group
and the council.
I have attended conferences where I
have developed new thinking on policy areas, attended the REACH program that
enabled me to better understand issues around cohesion, radicalisation and
extremism and how I can develop local policies to address local issues.
Contact Details
Along
with my ward colleagues the Batley West councillors can be contacted by
clicking on the following link.
