Agenda and decisions

To receive any announcements from the Mayor and Chief Executive.

Group Business Managers to submit any apologies for absence.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council Meeting held on 11 December 2024.

Members will be asked to say if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have any disclosable pecuniary interests or any other interests, which may prevent them from participating in any discussion of the items or participating in any vote upon the items.

To receive any Petitions from Members of the Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9.

Council will receive any petitions and/or deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Members of the Public must submit a deputation in writing, at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting and shall subsequently be notified if the deputation shall be heard. A maximum of four deputations shall be heard at any one meeting.

To receive any public questions.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the period for the asking and answering of public questions shall not exceed 15 minutes.

Any questions must be submitted in writing at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting.

To receive the Minutes of West Yorkshire Combined Authority held on 31 October 2024.

To consider adoption of the Statement of Licensing Policy for the period 2025 to 2030.

Contact: Fiona Goldsmith, Licensing

RESOLVED – That the revised Statement of Licensing Policy 2025 to 2030 be approved and adopted.

To consider the adoption of the Culmulative Impact Assessment for Huddersfield and Dewsbury Town Centres, relating to premises licensed to sell alcohol with off sales only.

Contact: Fiona Goldsmith, Licensing

RESOLVED – That the Cumulative Impact Assessment Policy be adopted, and reviewed every three years in accordance with the requirements of the Licensing Act.

To receive written questions to the Leader, Cabinet Members, Chairs of Committees and Nominated Spokespersons in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12. A written schedule of written questions will be tabled at the meeting. One supplementary oral question will be permitted.

A Key Discussion will take place on ‘Fostering in Kirklees’.

Under the provision of Council Procedure Rule 5(5), the Key Discussion debate shall commence no later than 7pm.

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors Marchington and Munro;

“This Council notes:

1)    The two-child limit to benefit payments was introduced by the Conservative Government in 2017 and is currently supported by the new Labour Government. The cap restricts Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit to the first two children in most households;

2)    The recent research conducted by the End Child Poverty Coalition, which has found that:

·       1.5 million children in the UK live in households subject to the two-child limit on benefit payments. This is roughly one-in-ten children in the UK.

·       In 2023/24 the two-child limit cost families up to £3,235 per child each year.

·       There is a strong correlation between families affected by the two-child limit and those who are living in poverty.

·       Scrapping the two-child limit would lift 250,000 children out of poverty overnight, and significantly reduce the level of poverty that a further 850,000 children live in.

·       Scrapping the two-child limit would cost £1.3 billion. However, it is estimated that child poverty costs the economy over £39 billion a year. This includes increased public service expenditures and lost economic output, due to lower earnings potential among adults who grow up in impoverished conditions.

3)    New data which reveals that the Yorkshire and Humber region, which includes Kirklees, is a hotspot for children hit by the two-child limit on benefits, with 13% of children in Yorkshire and Humber impacted. As a comparison, across the nations, the figure is 11% for both England and Wales. At the same time, the number of children living in poverty in Kirklees in 2021/22 was 34,969. That is 33.7% of all children living in the district;

4)    The Liberal Democrat national party has consistently opposed the two-child limit to benefit payments since it was introduced – calling for it to be axed in their 2017, 2019 and 2024 manifestos. Council notes with concern the stance of the Labour Government, who are committed to keeping the cap – going as far as suspending the whip from MPs who rebel against this position.

This Council believes that:

The two-child limit to benefit payments is a cruel and harmful policy that should be scrapped. Research from the University of York has shown that its introduction has had no positive impacts on employment and earnings. Instead, it has dragged thousands of local families into poverty and has been a key driver of child poverty in recent years. Furthermore, the policy has had a negative impact on many people’s mental health, increasing stress and anxiety and harming their wellbeing, with knock-on effects on children’s opportunities and wellbeing.

This Council, therefore, resolves to:

1)    Instruct the Chief Executive to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Prime Minister indicating Kirklees Council’s strong belief that the two-child limit to benefit payments should be scrapped – which would help many children and households in Kirklees;

2)    Further, instruct the Chief Executive to write to all MPs covering Kirklees Council’s area, asking them to  ...  view the full agenda text for item 13:

RESOLVED – Motion not carried.

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors Hall and Taylor;

“This Council notes that: 

The recent 2024 Autumn Budget change to Inheritance Tax relief announced by the Labour Government will introduce a Family Farm Tax and will have a detrimental impact on Family Farms and farmers’ ability to pass on their farms to the next generation of farmers.

This Council believes that: 

-       The Labour Government have committed a shameful betrayal and let down farmers by breaking their promise to not introduce a Family Farm Tax.

-       The Family Farm Tax will damage the ability of farmers to pass on their farms to their children.

-       Labour’s Family Farm Tax will threaten food security by forcing the sale of family farms.

-       The Labour Government’s Family Farm Tax will make British food production harder.

-       That the Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed and Keir Starmer promised not to introduce a tax like this.

-       Numerous rural and farming organisations such as the National Farmers Union and Country Land and Business Association have warned that countless farms will be harmed, threatening food security and rural areas.

-       The comments made by Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed that already struggling farmers will have to ‘do more with less’.

-       At a time when many farmers across Kirklees are struggling with soaring costs and energy prices, this sudden tax rise will damage the future of their farms.

This Council resolves:

-       To request that the Leader of the Council writes to the Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to outline the Council’s dismay at this decision and calls on the Government to stop the Family Farm Tax.

-       That the Leader of the Council engages with local farmers and community representatives on what the Council can do to support them.

-       That the Council seeks to support local farmers by using local produce, produced in Kirklees wherever possible.”

RESOLVED – Motion approved.

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors Safdar, Bramwell, Anwar and Daji;

“In the light of the recent budget will increase the current bus fare price cap,

this Council notes the Labour Government increased the cap by 50%, from £2 to £3.

In practice current fares will be maintained until 31 March 2025. From 1 April 2025 until 31 December 2025 West Yorkshire fares will be £2.50 single and £6 Day Saver.

As a result, Kirklees residents will experience a significant increase in travel costs. Although an MCard weekly, monthly or annual ticket may still be cheaper than two single tickets a day for 5 days, not all bus users can afford to pre-purchase Mcards.

This Council believes that:

The increase in the bus fares will hasten the decline in passenger numbers. This could have a damaging impact on the district's bus services. As patronage declines operators will seek to reduce frequency or cut uneconomic routes, which so many residents across the Kirklees area rely on.

Such a move will also have a negative impact on young people travelling to access education, and those reliant on buses to reach their place of employment. It will also have a negative impact on elderly people who do not drive but need to access services, healthcare and visit family.

At a time when many residents across the Kirklees borough are struggling with soaring costs and expenses, an increase in fares will punish some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Increasing fares will discourage sustainable travel and remove an incentive to use public transport to access our town centres, leading to an increase in the number of cars on the road. Buses need to avoid being held up by congestion - created by increased car use. Where bus priority lanes exist, parking is not adequately enforced.

The resulting impact on emissions and clean air will exacerbates health outcomes.

This Council resolves:

-       To request that the Leader of the Council writes to the Transport Secretary to outline the Council's dismay at this decision and ask the Government to reconsider this.

-       To request that that the Leader of Kirklees Council writes to Mayor Tracy Brabin to highlight the negative impact of this policy and urge the Combined Authority to continue to support subsidised fares in West Yorkshire beyond 31 December 2025.

-       That the Cabinet Portfolio Holder engages with local bus companies to consider ways to maintain the essential bus routes that provide a lifeline for many communities.

-       That the Cabinet Portfolio Holders for Transport and Highways engage with WYCA on planned road reallocation schemes that are pipelined and are taking far too long to be enacted; to prioritise those road schemes that would reallocate road space and enable the introduction of more bus priority; making use of temporary schemes, if necessary. “

To receive for information the response to the Motion of Council, approved on 13 November 2024, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 5.

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors Munro and J C Lawson;

“This Council notes:

1)    As part of the Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a National Insurance increase and reduced the threshold at which employers start paying it. From April 2025, the rate of employers’ National Insurance contributions businesses will pay will increase by 1.2 percentage points to 15% and the earnings threshold at which companies pay will be lowered from £9,100 to £5,000. For an employee earning £30,000, the amount a business pays on National Insurance will increase by £865.80 under the new rules, increasing the total cost from £32,884.20 to £33,750. In addition, from April 2025, the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour for all eligible employees;

2)    The new Labour government has claimed that the change to National Insurance contributions will generate an extra £25 billion in tax revenue, which will aim to make up for the £22 billion ‘black hole’ left by the previous government;

3)    Local authorities, including Kirklees Council, are responsible for assessing people’s needs and, if individuals are eligible, for funding their care. However, most social care services are delivered by independent sector home care and residential care providers, which are mainly for-profit companies, although also include some voluntary sector organisations.

This Council believes that:

While the Autumn Budget earmarked £680 million of new grant funding to support social care (for both adults and children’s services) in 2025/26, the additional pressures on social care providers, including increasing the National Insurance contributions by 1.2%, a reduction in the threshold for employer National Insurance contributions and a 6.7% increase in the

1)    National Living Wage, will limit the impact of this funding and likely eradicate the extra £680 million allocated. It’s subjecting health services to higher taxes and is counterproductive, making it harder to provide care to older, vulnerable and disabled people;

2)    The Nuffield Trust estimate that the Employer National Insurance Contributions (ENICs) changes will cost independent sector social care employers in the region of an additional £940 million in 2025/26, on top of around £1.85 billion more that will be needed to meet new minimum wage rates. The Nuffield Trust say that the 18,000 independent organisations providing adult social care in England, which constitutes 98% of care providers, will be faced with increased costs of an estimated £2.8 billion in the next financial year. Public sector organisations, including the NHS, will be reimbursed the extra payments, but most care providers are run privately, so will be liable;

3)    Many social care providers, especially small providers, are now at risk of going bust as a direct result of the National Insurance hike and this could disrupt or end vital care for thousands of older and disabled people across the country, including residents in Kirklees;

4)    If local authorities, including Kirklees Council, are unable to pay social care providers higher fees, the vast majority of small providers who cannot absorb the extra  ...  view the full agenda text for item 17: