Calderdale Council want to hear your views on Children’s Centre services in Calderdale.

It is important that we listen to and understand the perspectives of local people on the delivery of Council services. As part of the Council’s commissioning process, we want to gather the opinions of local people to inform and shape the future delivery of Children’s Centre services. This will ensure those services meet the needs of the people of Calderdale.

This survey is aimed at:

• People who use Children’s Centre services, or who may use services in the future, including people preparing for parenting or caring; parents; parent carers; foster carers; adoptive parents; corporate parents; extended family carers; grandparents.
• Professionals.
• Members of the public with an interest in Children’s Centre services.

The core purpose of Children’s Centres is to improve outcomes for young children and their families and reduce inequalities between families in greatest need and their peers in:

• child development and school readiness
• parenting aspirations and parenting skills
• child and family health and life chances.

Children’s Centre services in Calderdale offer early years services for children under 5 years and their families. This includes:

• universal and targeted support
• advice and activities
• some day care provision
• family support to families with children aged 0-19 (25 with special educational needs), with a focus on targeting vulnerable families.

Take part in the survey

A 10-week public consultation has begun, inviting proposals for new council wards and ward boundaries for the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale.

The consultation will close on 31 July 2023.

After all representations have been considered during this consultation, it is intended to publish draft recommendations in October 2023.

A further period of consultation will then be held on the draft recommendations. Final recommendations are expected to be published in March 2024.

The new electoral arrangements will come into effect at the local elections in May 2026.

If you represent a local organisation or community group in Calderdale, please pass this message on to your members or anyone who you think might be interested in the review. You can share the message by email or through social media by using the buttons at the bottom right of the page.

What is an electoral review?

The electoral review will recommend new electoral arrangements for Calderdale Council. It will propose:

• the total number of councillors elected to the council in the future;
• the number of wards;
• the number of councillors representing each ward;
• ward boundaries; and
• the names of wards.

How to get involved

This is a public consultation welcoming views from individuals and organisations across Calderdale on where they think new ward boundaries should be drawn.

It is recommend that 54 councillors should be elected to Calderdale Council in the future.

This is 3 more than the current number of councillors.

They are now inviting proposals to help us draw up a pattern of wards to accommodate 54 councillors.

In drawing up new electoral wards, we must balance three legal criteria, namely:

• to deliver electoral equality: where each councillor represents roughly the same number of electors as others across the borough;
• that the pattern of wards should, as far as possible, reflect the interests and identities of local communities;
• that the electoral arrangements should provide for effective and convenient local government.

All submissions will be treated equally, and judge each case on its merits and against the legal criteria.

If you wish to put forward a view, we would also urge you to ensure that evidence supports your submission.

For example, if you wish to argue that two areas should be included in the same electoral ward, make sure you tell us why they should be together, providing evidence about community facilities, ties, organisations, and amenities, rather than simply asserting that they belong together.

There is more advice on the website about how you can get involved in the consultation.

The website features technical guidance that explains the process and our policies, as well as guidance on how to take part in each part of the process.

There is also a webpage dedicated to the review of Calderdale, where you can find all the relevant information.

You can also access interactive maps of the current ward boundaries across Calderdale on our website. The portal also allows you to comment and upload documents directly to the site. 

West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership (WY HCP) are proud to be supporting national Volunteers Week which starts on Thursday 1 June.

WY HCP has a thriving voluntary and community sector with thousands of volunteers helping people across Bradford district and Craven; Calderdale, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield District, giving anything from a few minutes a week to hundreds of hours of their time freely every year .

In West Yorkshire there are an estimated 132,214  volunteers giving at least 9.5 million hours of work valued at between £94 million and £132 million a year.

The importance of volunteering in our communities and across the UK has never been clearer. From those offering support to neighbours and friends, to local volunteering with voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations, including in health and care settings, or giving time through charities.

Every person giving their time, skills and commitment to help others is a vital part of the work at WY HCP and all are valued. You don’t need to look far to see the positive difference being made at every level of society when the VCS comes together to lead on initiatives such as volunteers acting as befrienders, running food banks, community cafes or gardens, delivering accessible group activities or events, acting as trustees for charities, to name a few…….

This is one of the reasons why WY HCP in April allocated a further £2.8 million to support the vital work of voluntary, community and hospice care in West Yorkshire, on top of local funding routes.

This is built on the great work already taking place already to reduce the impact of loneliness, to prevent ill health and to tackle health inequalities.

Volunteering has long been acknowledged as part of the wider health and care arena, with WY HCP Five Year Integrated Care Plan and their People Plan highlighting the important role volunteers play in key areas of work, such as the maternity voice partnerships, social prescribing and health and care champions for people with learning disabilities.  Recognising the vital skills they offer and bring is a priority for our plans in the future.

Kim Shutler, Senior Responsible Officer for Harnessing the Power of Communities Programme, who is the CEO for the Cellar Trust, a mental health charity in Bradford said: ‘This Volunteers Week we want to recognise the important work all our volunteers do here in West Yorkshire and say a big thank you to you all. Volunteering is about real, human stories. It is about making a difference for individuals and communities and enriching the lives of volunteers themselves. The impact they make on so many people’s lives at every level is nothing short of amazing’.

Kate Sims, Director of People for NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board said: ‘I want to thank every volunteer who gives up their skills and time to help others.  Volunteering is an integral part of a strong and resilient society. During the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis we have seen the positive difference they continue to make to people and communities above and beyond, day in, day out’.

WY HCP is made up of organisations working closely together to plan services and address the challenges facing health and care services across the area. This includes the NHS, councils, social enterprises, voluntary and community organisations and Healthwatch.

Easy Fundraising are pleased to say they’ve just completed their second payment run of the year and £1.2m has been donated to community groups, voluntary organisations and other good causes.

This is unrestricted funding and can be used for core costs and running expenses so extremely useful for third sector organisations in the current economic climate!

For more information please click here…

The Long-term Conditions & Personalisation Team at the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board are seeking individuals with lived experience of stroke, diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease to work with them on a voluntary basis as an involvement partner to bring lived experience to their work. The team support people in West Yorkshire living with long-term conditions to live and age well.

The work of the team involves people, their families, their carers, the NHS, social care, and voluntary and community organisations working together, to enable services to be integrated around what matters to people and ultimately, they feel in control of how their care is planned and delivered. 

The team are seeking support for the following projects:

1. A blog on living diabetes for National Diabetes Week campaign 12-16^th June 2023:

This ask involves someone contributing to a blog to share their lived experience of living with diabetes and using continuous glucose monitoring to self-monitor and manage their condition. The team are preferably seeking an individual with diabetes from the South Asian community in West Yorkshire.

If interested, please contact Sarah De Biase via email sarah.debiase1@nhs.net by 4^th June 2023. Sarah will get in touch to discuss what is involved and support will be available to write the blog.

2. Work with to help develop the Long-term Conditions and Personalisation Team’s involvement framework to optimise how they work with individuals, groups, and communities to co-produce their priorities and ensure their work meets the needs of those living with long-term conditions in West Yorkshire.

If interested, please contact Kulvant Sandhu via email kulvant.sandhu@nhs.net by 16^th June 2023. Kulvant will get back in touch to discuss further what is involved.

3. Work with to co-produce a long-term condition public facing campaign aimed at raising awareness of risk factors for stroke, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. This campaign will run from Feb 2024 across West Yorkshire to support people living in local communities to better understand their risk for various long-term conditions and learn what they can do to know their own risk and to take steps to prevent the development of a long-term condition. The role will involve working with members of the team, community partners and rugby league and cricket teams to bring the campaign messages out into communities across West Yorkshire.

If interested in this opportunity, please contact Sarah De Biase via email sarah.debiase1@nhs.net by 16^th June 2023. Sarah will get in touch to discuss the campaign and expectations/time commitment further.

Please note: all above involvement opportunities are seeking individuals willing to work with the team on a voluntary basis.

The NHS in West Yorkshire is urging people to plan ahead for their healthcare needs in the run up to what is expected to be a particularly busy time for health and care services in the region. 

The spring bank holiday falls on Monday 29 May so it’s important that you are prepared and know how to get help if needed during this time.

Dr James Thomas, Medical Director for the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board, said: 

“Many health and care staff will be working over the bank holiday period, but services are likely to be extremely busy. Stay well by acting now and please choose the right service for your needs if you need support during this time.

“If you take regular medication, check you have enough for the week ahead and if you need more, please order and collect it before the bank holiday. Having a well-stocked medicine cabinet and taking care if you’re taking part in physical activities will also help avoid a visit to your local emergency department.

“It is important that people continue to use our services when they need them. If you or someone close to you needs medical help, please get advice about the most appropriate treatment option by using 111 online (111.nhs.uk) or calling 111 if you don’t have access to the internet. Remember 999 and A&E departments are for the most serious or life-threatening injuries or illnesses.”

NHS 111 is a free, 24 hour online or phone service that provides help and advice on the most appropriate medical care; it can also arrange phone consultations with healthcare professionals and book appointments at urgent treatment and out of hours medical centres.  Parents and carers of young children can also find health advice on the West Yorkshire Healthier Together website.

For people who have repeat prescriptions, electronic repeat dispensing (known as eRD) gives them the reassurance of knowing their next prescription will be ready for collection at their pharmacy when they need it, and flexibility so they have medication at busy times like bank holidays. Guidance on how to order a repeat prescription is also available on the NHS website, or you can use the NHS App to order repeat prescriptions, or change your nominated pharmacy, in just a few taps. You can also use the NHS website to find a pharmacy near you which will be open over the bank holidays.

People may also consider having at home a small stock of basic medicines for minor illness or injury. These may include paracetamol, plasters, indigestion remedy and anti-diarrhoeal medicine. See the NHS website for advice on what you should keep in your first aid kit, or ask your local pharmacist for advice.

Mental health support will continue to be available throughout the bank holiday period. Visit togetherwe-can.com/mental-health for details of local services. For urgent help in a mental health crisis, call your local 24 hr helpline:
•    Bradford 0800 952 1181
•    Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield 0800 183 0558.

Regardless of the bank holiday, the NHS is urging anyone who needs medical care to continue to come forward in the normal way: attending booked appointments unless they are contacted; using NHS 111 for advice on which service to use; or calling 999 or going to your nearest emergency department (A&E) if someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk. 

Useful links

·       NHS 111 online – get help for your symptoms.

·       NHS electronic repeat dispensing (eRD) regional webpage.

·       How to order a repeat prescription

·       Find a pharmacy.

·       NHS advice on what to keep in a first aid kit at home.