Cllr Pandor, Leader of Kirklees Council comments on U Turn re A Level Results

Annual Report 2018-19 Cllr Shabir Pandor

Last municipal year was the first year of my leadership. I became the Leader of the Council in May 2019. I have really enjoyed working with all political parties and took the lead on many challenging issues. Despite having a majority administration after almost 19 years I still value and place great emphasis on cross party and collaborative working. I feel that Kirklees has developed something very unique in the 19 years when there was no overall majority from any party. I have represented the council on international, national and regional events and meetings and have attended numerous committees & joint working groups.

Throughout the year I have attended Full Council meetings, Cabinet, Personnel Committee, Standards Committee, District Committee, Health and Wellbeing Board, Batley Advisory Board, Labour Group, Branch and Constituency Meetings.

I would also like to pay tribute to Marielle O’Neill who decided to stand down as a councillor representing Batley West ward. For the last 4 years Marielle worked diligently and represented everyone in the ward. I wish Marielle all the best in her new role and no doubt many people in Batley West will miss her.

Activity and Ward Work.

I have continued to represent my constituents at a ward level. The issues that I deal with range from individual housing related issues, planning applications, environmental issues, police & community safety and issues that may affect a group of residents on a collective basis.

Despite being the Leader of Kirklees I still consider ward work to be the bread and butter of being a councillor. That is where I consider the greatest rewards in helping others comes from.

One of the initiatives I have developed is placed based working within localities. This is early days for this new initiative but the key will be working with the community and voluntary sector and working in partnership with statutory organisations to deliver the outcomes that make a difference to people’s lives.

I have continued to work with the many wonderful and hardworking organisations in Batley. These include: - Local schools/children’s centres - Community Centres & Faith organisations - Churches and Mosques - Neighbourhood Watch groups - Cricket Clubs - Community Organisations & Local Charities working globally.

Working outside Kirklees.

As Leader of one of the Largest Metropolitan Authorities in the country we need to play our part in feeding into national and regional policy agenda. This is part and parcel of being an effective leader with a view to raising the profile of Kirklees. If I did not embrace this part of my role I would fail the residents of Kirklees in my Leadership role. This part of my role has been very demanding and challenged me to move out of my comfort zone and has developed my confidence, interpersonal skills, negotiation, and collaborative working even more. I have played an active role in international, national and regional event s and meetings.

Training and Development.

The Labour Group has embarked on development programme to enable councillors to become more effective and involved. Last year a number of councillors have taken the opportunity to take part in the Local Government Association Leadership Academy courses. As Leader of Kirklees Council I am committed to Kirklees Council and its ambition to become one of the best local authorities in the country.

One of the ways we can achieve this is through providing first class training and development opportunities for members and officers alike.

I have initiated a programme of development for cabinet which includes joint development opportunities with the Executive Management Team.

Ward Surgeries

The Batley West councillors agreed that we will have surgeries at the request of our constituents where they can phone us directly and arrange a home visit. We did this as we have found this is far more effective.

In recent months we have begun to develop street surgeries with the police in local communities. These are proving to be very successful.

Our residents can contact us by clicking on the following link:

https://democracy.kirklees.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1

Finally I would like to thank my fellow ward councillors Gwen Lowe and Yusra Hussain for being brilliant ward colleagues and Tracy Brabin MP for Batley and Spen with whom I have worked since her election, my Labour Party comrades, to all councillors who represent the diverse communities of the borough of Kirklees and to all the Council’s Staff who are doing an excellent job in difficult times.

Annual Report 2017-2018: Cllr Shabir Pandor

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.

https://democracy.kirklees.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=137

Annual Report 2016-2017: Cllr Marielle O'Neill

As a Councillor I engage with residents to learn about local concerns and help resolve community issues. Being able to mediate fairly between different organisations and sections of the community is crucial to this role.

Partnership working is another important aspect of this position. The ability to build good relationships by working collaboratively is needed to achieve shared goals.

I use my communication skills across different settings. I have the ability to listen sensitively and use appropriate language with different groups. I communicate regularly and effectively with all parts of the community using different forms of media.

Constituent casework makes up a large part of my Councillor role. I deal with queries from constituents by phone, email, or in person and provide advice and support on a range of issues. I log all cases; monitor progress and ensure all identified actions are taken.

I have attended many local events such as Batley Vintage Day and Batley Festival and support local charities and groups such as Batley Food Bank.

I am heavily involved with The Friends of Wilton Park group and have helped organise and take part in many events in the past year including the summer charity day and the Halloween fancy dress event.

As Chair of Kirklees Fairtrade Forum, a local platform which exists to raise awareness for and advocate the use of Fairtrade products, I work across Kirklees. I organised and ran a Fairtrade stall where we gave out free Fairtrade bananas at the Run For Jo event at Oakwell Hall in Birstall in June. I organised and ran a Fairtrade stall at Huddersfield Food and Drink Festival in Huddersfield in August where we gave out free Fairtrade bananas and energy bars.

I am passionate about encouraging more women to get involved in Politics. With this in mind, I organised a workshop in Bradford on how women can enter politics for The Parliament Trust, attended by Paula Sherriff MP.

I work closely with my ward colleagues to best represent the people of Batley West.

Annual Report 2016-2017: Cllr Shabir Pandor

In my last year’s Annual Report I mentioned my experience and visit to Bosnia and Hertzgovina and the lessons we continue to learn from Remembering Srebrenica.

One of the pledges I made was to develop and pass a cross Party motion on Remembering Srebrenica.

Together with the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Greens and Independents we managed to unanimously agreed a cross party motion on Remembering Srebrenica and I would like to thank all members of the council who fully supported this motion being approved at full council.

I was delighted to represent the council along with the Mayor Cllr Christine Iredale who hosted a Civic Event at Dewsbury Town Hall

The theme for this year was Gender and Genocide and the Mayor did the council proud by leading this first ever Civic Event in Kirklees.

The last year was a challenging year for me and despite being a councillor since 2002. I learnt so much about myself and the important role every single councillor on Kirklees Council fulfils.

In my role as Deputy Leader of the council I have developed and continue to develop a deeper understanding on the role of local democracy and the role all councillors play within our local democracy. All Councillors try and make a real difference to people’s lives and contribute within the Council, the various committees and functions the council carries out.

I have been involved with numerous committees, joint working groups, regional and national bodies.

Throughout the year I have attended Full Council meetings, Cabinet, Personnel Committee, Standards Committee, District Committee, Health and Wellbeing Board, Batley Advisory Board, Labour Group, Branch and Constituency Meetings. 

I am also appointed and have attended outside bodies and committees such as, Kirklees Community Safety Partnership Executive (Safer, Stronger Communities), Local Government Association, Special Interest Group of Metropolitan Authorities (SIGOMA), and West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee

Activity and Ward Work

Batley and Spen District Committee

This year was the last year of Batley and Spen District committee. The committee is made up of all the wards within the Batley and Spen Constituency. This committee has enabled 18 councillors to work on a cross party and in collaboration with each other for the benefit of all the citizens of the area. Many projects were supported and grants given to enable events like the Cleckheaton Folk Festival and Batley Vintage Day to go ahead and celebrate the diversity of the district. 

2017 Manchester Arena bombing

In my role as the Deputy Leader I joined in the vigil outside Dewsbury Town Hall with the Mayor Of Kirklees Cllr Christine Iredale and faith and community Leaders to condemn the attacks and show our solidarity with Manchester and our commitment to peace.

Resolving Ward Issues
I consider ward work to be the bread and butter of being a local councillor where communities and individuals reply on their councillors to respond to their concerns and feedback outcomes based on actions. Each case is unique and very different and every single constituent are unique individuals and their issue / problem is very real to them. This is why I take ward work very seriously and take the time and effort to make respond and visit to every single case where time allows. Rather than go on and on the following pictures will tell a thousand words on the kind of issues we, as councillors have to deal with.

Overgrown vegetation: Before and after

Working With the Voluntary Sector
Referrals to Milen Day Care continue as we see a growing elderly population and the services they offer are being diversified. MDC are also pioneering new ways to deliver their services through working in partnership with other organisations such as Locala.

Downs and Special Friends

The Downs and Special Friends group have been doing some fantastic work locally to make the lives of young children who suffer from disabilities better.

The group has been set up by parents to provide support, guidance, and run activities, meet-ups for children, siblings and parents of Down’s syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Cystic Fibrosis and other life limiting diagnosed or undiagnosed disabilities.

I have attended and supported their events where I can and I always come away being emotionally charged and inspired when I see some of the brilliant activities and events they put on for the children and their parents.

I have continued to work with the many wonderful and hardworking organisations in Batley. These include:

-       Local schools/children’s centres

-       Community Centres (PKWA, IMWS)

-       Churches and Mosques

-       Neighbourhood Watch groups

-       Mount CC and Batley CC

-       Community Organisations

-    Local Charities working globally

 

Working outside Kirklees
An important part of my role is representing and working outside Kirklees Council with a view to development our own expertise, sharing what we do in Kirklees, learning from other organisations, influencing with a view to bringing inward investment into Kirklees, lobbying National Government through Cross Party working through organisations such as the LGA, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), and Key Cities.

Training and Development

Kirklees Labour Group and The Council are committed to continuous personal and professional development of all its councillors and staff.

The Labour Group has embarked on development programme to enable councillors to become more effective and involved. A number of training and development sessions have taken place facilitated by the Local Government Association (LGA).

The council has also carried out a programme of development for all its elected members with the help of the LGA under the New Councillor Programme.  

The training and development sessions I have attended include: 

·         How Council Meetings Work

·         Councillors and the Third Sector

·         Promoting Tolerance and Inclusion

·         An Introduction to Kompass

·         Communication for you and your Community

·         LGA Personal Resilience

·         An Introduction to the Observatory

·         LGA Councillor/Officer Relationships

·         LGA Information and Intelligence

·         Planning Update Training

·         Licensing Update Training

·         Dementia

Ward Surgeries

The Batley West councillors agreed that we will have surgeries at the request of our constituents where they can phone us directly and arrange a home visit. We did this as we have found this is far more effective. Our contact details can be found on

https://democracy.kirklees.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0

Finally I would like to thank my fellow ward councillors Gwen Lowe and Marielle O’Neill for being brilliant ward colleagues and Tracy Brabin MP for Batley and Spen whom I have worked with since her election, my Labour Party comrades, to all councillors who represent the diverse communities of the borough of Kirklees and to all the Councils Staff who are doing an excellent job in difficult times.

Annual Report 2016-2017: Cllr Gwen Lowe

Hello

 

For those of you who took the time to read my last Annual Report you’ll recall it had a very sad ending, an ending that I never ever expected or indeed wanted. We lost a wonderful, unique, loving lady. Not just an inspirational lady, not just a great MP, but my very dear friend – Jo Cox. Along with Jo, I set up FOBS, the Friends of Batley Station. Jo was, and will always remain, the Vice-Chair of FOBS. And please remember as herself Jo said……

 

“We have far more in common than that which divides us”

 As a Councillor I do have a unique and privileged position, with the potential to make a real difference to people’s lives. I always state that I wanted to be a Councillor to help people and keep my feet on the ground, embedded in my communities. I also contribute within the Council to the development of policies, strategies, and of course the budget. Whilst engaging with residents or groups on a very wide range of different issues I do have many different roles to balance. I also work part-time and look after my family – although I think my family do an excellent job caring and putting up with me!

 

2016-2017, my how this year has flown! I’ve done so much that it will be nigh on impossible to include everything and everyone. So please forgive me if I’ve missed anything out. So here’s just a whistle stop tour through the last twelve months…..

Throughout the year I attended Full Council, Labour Group (continuing as Chair) and our Batley West Branch and Batley & Spen Constituency Meetings. 

 

I continued on the Appeals Panel and also other Committees I have had the pleasure of working with this year have been Kirklees Church Partnership Trust, Kirklees Historic Buildings Trust, Batley Girls(Rae, Taylor, Hirst and Talbot) School Leavers Scholarship Fund, Batley Cricket, Athletic and Football Club (which includes Batley Bulldogs who I’ve supported since being a teenager.)

 

CHAIR OF BATLEY and SPEN DISTRICT COMMITTEE

 

It has been my pleasure to Chair the Batley and Spen District Committee and work collectively and effectively with colleagues, for the benefit of communities, across the 6 Batley and Spen wards. We enabled 76 projects through district committee support and funding this year. 58 grants were made to community groups including 39 small awards through the 5 ‘You and Your Community’ events held across the district. We held 5 meetings in public, enabling residents to contribute to debates with Councillors and partners, shape local provision and influence decisions. Through these meetings we explored the ongoing work to tackle poverty; Dementia Friendly Communities (we trained around 35 new Dementia Friends at this meeting!); Comoodle - sharing stuff, space and skills; West Yorkshire Joint Services work to help us avoid scams & frauds; Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust changes to Maternity and Children’s Services; the Community Safety Partnership Plan; active leisure and the facilities and activities to improve our health and wellbeing; the service standards for our parks and the work of Natural Kirklees. We also highlighted and celebrated the fantastic voluntary contribution which is so essential to delivering and sustaining the rich and varied programme of community activity and events we see across our district. Through our working groups we addressed Batley and Spen issues and priorities in greater detail. With partners we have laid the foundations for further potential activity including: a Money Matters event to assist people in maximising household income and making savings; Mental Health First Aid Training to help people to spot signs of mental ill health and signpost to support; developing our response to the Joint Strategic Assessment of health and wellbeing; and working with young people, celebrating their contributions and increasing their understanding and engagement in local democracy.

Thank you to all Councillors, officers, partners, community organisations and residents who have been involved and contributed to our District Committee activity this year! Though we are in challenging times, I am sure that positive collaborations and outcomes will continue as we move to new local arrangements next year.

CHAIR OF BATLEY NEIGHBOURHOOD MANAGEMENT GROUP

 

Having been the Chair since its origin this remains my favourite role. Through excellent partnership working with the council services (e.g. StreetScene, Young Peoples Services), KHN, police and fire authority, Lifeline, we tackle varying degrees of anti-social behaviour and environmental issues. Over the last year we have achieved so much to make our communities safer, cleaner and greener. 

 

“The public rightly expects to live in neighbourhoods free from the corrosive effects of intimidation and harassment. I want to see both police and local authorities using the powers they have been given in a way that is effective and responds to peoples’ needs at the right time.” Rt. Hon Alan Johnson MP

WYCA KIRKLEES DISTRICT CONSULTATION SUB-COMMITTEE 

I used to Chair this Committee and loved it but due to being given other duties I’ve attended as a Council representative. We’ve discussed many issues including Rail Franchise, Bus Strategy, Low Emissions Strategy and Dementia Friendly Transport.

WARD WORK

In my Ward is where I just love to be! Be it meeting individuals, community groups, local businesses, visiting schools, regular walkabouts to identify issues of concern e.g. fly-tipping or overgrown vegetation. It’s rewarding to work closely with Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing accompanying officers on walkabouts/estate inspections, helping and supporting residents to make their area safer and cleaner. It’d be nice if more residents joined us on these walkabouts…… I love engaging with everyone to take up their concerns as appropriate and be their voice in the Council. I could go on and on and on….you’d be amazed by some of the issues you are asked to deal with as a councillor! It’s rewarding to get feedback from local residents letting me know that there has been an improvement.

Some issues have included:-

• Unlawful burning of items on land adjacent to a bridle path
• Overgrown vegetation from Council owned land into KHN resident’s garden
• Blocked KNH drain – no calling card left by KNH Building Services when resident was out so wasn’t aware anyone had been to look at the problem so I requested better communication was needed.
• Unfortunately I’ve had to deal with two separate dog attacks where sadly both small dogs were killed.
• Mr P. disabled in wheelchair, KNH wanting to fit new electrical sockets which he wouldn’t have been able to access because of his physical disabilities!
• Dog fouling problems continue
• The biggest bane of my life – FLY TIPPING! Why oh why oh why do people do this??!!

Referrals for people to Batley Food Bank are still on the increase. I’m very proud of the work they do to help families in crisis and ever grateful to those who kindly donate food, toiletries etc. 

 

In 2007 I founded The Friends of Staincliffe Park, the park I played in as a little girl. This year I have the great pleasure of being Vice Chair. We keep the park safe, clean and a place to be enjoyed and respected. In December 2016 we again arranged for our park to have a real Christmas. It was a perfect evening and we were astounded when again over 200 local people turned up. It’s great to see Community events like this organised by local folk – what a team! Our thanks to PPG for donating paint for our community room.

 

 

 

 

 

MY MAIN ACHIEVEMENT over the last 2 years continues to grow from strength to strength has to be F.O.B.S. – The Friends of Batley Railway Station. The station had been neglected by Northern Rail and Network Rail for many years and when a V.I.P. I was greeting there said it was a depressing station, it was time for someone to take action and that someone was ME! Our F.O.B.S. mission is to “To promote practical environmental enhancement works to our station for the benefit of our community and train passengers.” All Fobsians are so dedicated to this great cause and the improvements we have made so far are incredible. It’s amazing what a bit of my nagging can do!

We were successful in a bid to PPG who did some fantastic painting for us including an amazing mural. Wish I could share more photos with you!

 

I really enjoy meeting and working with you wonderful people and again have many happy memories of times spent with Local Community Groups and Organisation, and also with individuals. Whether I’ve known you for many years or a few, in some way you’ve had a part in shaping things I do. Just to name a few……

• Andrew Marsden’s Vintage Day
• Batley Cemetery Support Group
• P.K.W.A.
• I.M.W.S.
• Staincliffe Church
• Batley Bulldogs RLFC
• Central Methodist Church Annual Daffodil Rally
• Local schools/children’s centres
• Stancliffe Junior School – talk on Democracy and the Voting process 
• Carlinghow Neighbourhood Watch – Kirklees AGM with local resident Pat Crisp taking the Chair
• Mount Cricket Club Young People’s Awards Evening

  

As a member of The Council Commissioning Group we discuss a new look to how Councillors and Officers can improve their working relationship; how we can better support local people, and manage growing demand for services by focussing on early intervention and prevention. As Councillors we’ve held important workshops including ways in which digital approaches can support Councillors in their community leadership role – I’m a dinosaur who is now learning how to use Facebook and Twitter. I prefer face to face chat and often blame modern technology for those who find it difficult to talk with others. Learning about the fantastic work that has been carried out by the Democracy Commission is inspirational. Research has been carried out locally and nationally. There have been road show events across Kirklees for residents to attend as well as an e-panel survey and online debates. The Youth Council gave an excellent presentation to Full Council and I was proud to speak in support and to describe the report as being ‘Strong and Stable.’

 

 

 

 

 

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

  

Our Labour Group Meetings offer us regular Policy updates and I’ve also undertaken other training:-

• Planning updates
• Child Protection including CSE & Safeguarding of Adults
• Dementia
• Communicating Confidently & Effectively
• Social Media

 

At this very moment the Council has to implement cuts of £1 million pounds per week! Public services are undergoing fundamental change and resources continue to diminish. There are huge risks attached to transforming the day-to-day services that people have come to rely on such as Adult Social Care. We need to ensure that we maintain good dialogue with residents and secure mutual trust between the Council and the local community needs to be part of the whole Council’s DNA.

 

Thank you to the Councillor Support Staff and all my Labour Comrades for their help and support.

 

THANK YOU to my wonderful husband Ken and my family for their continued support and love. And WELCOME to my newest fan – my first Grandchild Max born March 1st 2017