Calderdale’s various apprenticeship and business development schemes has already funded 100 additional apprenticeships and Janet Battye (Lib Dem) is enthusiastic about increasing that number.

The Leader of Calderdale Council said “I want to make sure that every young person has an opportunity to do something useful every day. I’m hoping to hear from young people themselves as well as businesses and organisations across Calderdale who can help. We need to do what every good family does when they’re worried about their children – get together and sort it out!”

The Deputy Prime Minister visited one of our local success stories, Heights UK a world-leading supplier of graphic arts products to see the benefits of apprentice schemes first hand. He heard about its latest product as well as met the workforce including apprentices. The visit comes just weeks after Nick Clegg announced a £1bn youth jobs fund which should affect 500,000 unemployed youngsters over the next three years.

Nick Clegg said “It’s great to see a Liberal Democrat lead Council paving the way of economic recovery and employment of our young people”

Our Liberal Democrat council leader Jane Battye said the surplus meant the council was weathering the difficult economic situation well and in a good position to meet future challenges:

“The council has a duty to residents to ensure that it is careful in the way it spends their money,” she said.

“But let’s make no mistake, the council still faces big financial challenges in ensuring it continues to deliver the services people have told us are important to them.”

The money put aside will be used for the following purposes:

• About £1.7m of the surplus will be used “to support lower council tax levels” between now and 2013-14.
• Another £2.3m will either be used to fund one-off projects or help keep council tax low.
• The remaining £5m from the surplus is to be set aside to help meet any unexpected expenditure during 2011-12.

The budget for this year was based on a large public consultation exercise and cross-party Budget Review groups. Calderdale Liberal Democrats believe passionate that local people should have their say in how the Council drew up its budget. We are committed to prioritising front-line services and working closely with other organizations (public and community groups).

After last year’s elections the Conservatives had 19 Seats, the Lib Dems 17 and Labour only 10. The choice is clear a Conservative or a Lib Dem run Calderdale.

In the past year the Lib Dems in Calderdale have protected every Sure Start Centre and made sure that every library has stayed open. Through careful management of the finances they were able to allocate an extra £3 Million to services for vulnerable individuals.

This parallels with the 10 years of the Conservatives in Calderdale who closed 5 Libraries, wasted money and let the quality of children services slide. Calderdale cannot afford another 10 years of this so please vote Lib Dem to support the “Fresh Start” for Calderdale.

This election will not change who is in number 10 but will make a real difference to who is looking after Calderdale.

“We want to open up the library so the Community can make much more use of this important local asset,” vows Stephen Gow.

A further 79,300 residents will also find their tax situation better off, when the changes are implemented in April this year – paying up to £200 less per year in income tax.

A longer-term policy objective of further increasing the personal allowance to £10,000 is being implemented. Achieving this would provide much more tax fairness towards the poorest in our society, something Liberal Democrats are committed to.