Kirklees Council has a new Cabinet following the resignation at last night’s Council meeting of the Conservative Cabinet administration.

Following the approval by Council – by the required two-thirds majority - of a ‘no confidence’ vote in the leader Cllr Robert Light and his Cabinet colleagues, they tendered their resignations from the Cabinet positions.

The new nine-strong Cabinet of a combination of Labour and Liberal Democrat Members was approved.

The new Cabinet is:

Cllr Mehboob Khan (Lab) Leader of the Council
Cllr Kath Pinnock (Lib Dem) Deputy Leader of the Council
Cllr Ken Smith (Lab)
Cllr John Smithson (Lib Dem)
Cllr Molly Walton (Lab)
Cllr Andrew Marchington (Lib Dem)
Cllr David Sheard (Lab)
Cllr Christine Stanfield (Lib Dem) and
Cllr Shabir Pandor (Lab)

In a statement following the appointment of the new Cabinet Cllrs Khan and Pinnock said: “We want the public, staff and our partners to be reassured that our decision to take control of the council was not taken in haste or anger.

“We strongly believe that the issues around the Building Schools for the Future programme in North Kirklees are of such significance for the future of local education and for the life chances of young people in Kirklees that we could no longer watch the former Cabinet dither with yet another option and an ill thought through local referendum.

“The proposals we will now bring forward will ensure money is spent in the areas of greatest educational need and low achievement, ensure that every proposed school can provide a full curriculum, that every proposed school should be viable and not vulnerable to a foreseeable future decline in numbers of pupils, that communities are brought closer together as part of these changes and that they deliver value for money.

“This programme is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform education in our area, which does not currently perform well enough to meet the aspirations of the community and the needs of all our children.

“The indecision of the previous Cabinet was putting the Government money for BSF at risk, not only in North Kirklees but the opportunities for South Kirklees too, and we could not allow that to happen.”


Source = KMC Press Office