Mr Mayor, firstly can
I extend my congratulations to you on being elected the Mayor of Kirklees for
the next municipal year and also to Christine Iredale in being elected as the
Deputy Mayor
I also want to pay
tribute to the strong leadership we have had from Dave Sheard over the past
couple of years.
I want to build on
those foundations. I am hugely ambitious for our borough and despite the
massive cuts I remain confident that we will do the best for all our citizens
in Kirklees.
I don’t believe we
can do what we want by remaining what we are. We have to look beyond what we
have traditionally seen public services to be and how they have been delivered.
This will not be easy but one thing we can all be certain of is change. Change
will happen. Change is inevitable and I want to be part of leading that change.
We must work to
become a borough where everybody can achieve their potential. That means
greater inward investment and regeneration, more highly paid jobs, and high
quality support for families and children. This is challenging but without
challenge there is no change.
Our growing elderly
population will bring new challenges. This means we will need to reform and
embrace the transformation of social care to keep older people healthy and
active in their own communities for longer.
Part of achieving my
ambition will be to ensure we use all the talents at our disposal within the
council and outside the council. We need to seek out skills and talent and
nurture new talent that will put Kirklees on the map for the right reasons. We
have in our communities talent that can shape the future. Such as the teenager
who taught himself to code on YouTube earning £30,000 from his tech business to
pay for a place at Oxbridge and he hasn't even done his GCSEs yet.
Negotiations continue
with Government in pursuit of devolving more power to regions. I want our
region and our council to benefit from devolution.
We should all take
pride in doing our bit for the 4 Million refugees displaced by the war in
Syria.. Whilst it is important that we play our part in resettlement I will
continue to work with neighbouring authorities to lobby Government to ensure
that the full costs and impacts are recognised and will work with our MPs.
Mr Mayor &
Councillors….If you want something you’ve never had then you’ve got to do
something you’ve never done. I’m stepping forward and I ask you to step forward
with me. If we don’t we will always be in the same place. If you came here with
your mind made up then the first step to change is to change your mind. I’ve
taken one step and I would ask you all to raise one hand in support for change.
