Jackie Grunsell
Councillor for Crosland Moor and Netherton
Whilst the council is working out the de-
tailed proposals, the council workforce and
community groups are becoming more
and more anxious about the future of our
services. The council is now holding back
on publishing the details of the worst cuts
(until after the elections next May!), but the
council is already talking about losing up to
2,000 jobs. This will have a terrible impact
on us all.
How on earth did we get in this mess? The
government has run up a record deficit,
-now almost £900 billion – in order to bail
out the banks to the tune of £1.4 trillion!
And they expect us to pay!! To add insult to
injury, the banks are now planning massive
Xmas bonuses for their managers because
they claim the economy is starting to recov-
er. It might be in their world, but the rest of
us face job cuts, frozen wages, house repos-
sessions and therefore massive insecurity.
The response of all three main parties in
Kirklees has been to openly accept these
cuts without even a wimper of opposi-
tion. Even the Greens have advocated cuts
in pay to pay for the bankers’ crisis. Jackie
Grunsell has been the only councillor who
has consistently argued that we have to de-
Council Plans
Massive Cuts
“Any managers of a public service who are not planning
now on the basis that they will have substantially less
money to spend in two years time are living in cloud
cuckoo land”
These are the chilling words of Steve Bundred, Chief
executive to the Audit Commission. They are used in the
introduction to the Council’s proposals to slash £250-
400 million from the council budget. These are the
biggest cuts Kirklees Council have made for over 40 years.
Let’s be clear, the onus of these cuts will fall on us all, but
particularly on children and the elderly.
fend all jobs and services. If they can af-
ford to bail out the banks, why not public
services?
The council has now recruited the consult-
Kirkless SOS
ants, Deloittes, at a cost of £800 a day to ad- In the face of intended cuts in
vise them how to make these cuts. WHAT services by Kirklees Council a
A DISGRACEFUL WASTE OF MONEY. new local anti-cuts campaign
has been formed by a number
Jackie Grunsell Fights Cuts of community based organisa-
tions, trade unions and individu-
Jackie Grunsell will be taking a leading als, called Kirklees Save Our
part in a new campaign, called Kirklees Services.
Save Our Services. The campaign, launched
only at the end of November, already has The campaign intends to organ-
the support of several community groups, ise a public meeting for 3rd Feb-
trade unions and local socialists. Resisting ruary and a lobby of the council
the cuts in our services and voting for coun- on 24th February.
cillors who support good quality public All are welcome to participate
services will be important in next year’s lo- and join this campaign.
cal election. Kirklees deserves councillors
who will stand up and fight for our services, Campaign Secretary, Ed Doveton
stated: “The cuts being lined up
not meekly bend the knee to central gov-
ernment dictate. by the council will devastate lives
and services; the council should
o No To Cuts in Services be resisting cuts and supporting
o No to Closures or Privatisation the community, not acting as its
willing executioner.”
o We Will Not Pay for Their Crisis
Contact the campaign by e-mail:
ed@kirklees-sos.org
 Save Our Nurseries
THE GOVERNMENT has decided to radically change the way
our Nurseries and Nursery Schools are to be funded. Pres-
ently the Council receives central government funds to pay for
nursery places in our schools. But the private nurseries have
kicked up a fuss saying this is ‘unfair’ and they want some of our
cash. New Labour’s love affair with the private businesses has
led them into a fatal change of policy where they have are now
going to support private nurseries at the expense of local funded
nurseries.
The result is that all state funded Nurseries and primary schools
offering Nursery places are having their funding ‘reviewed’ i.e.
cut, so that privately owned nurseries can get more of our cash!
Last year, the council tried to shut Denby Dale Nursery on the
basis of these proposals. A quick and effective local campaign
forced the council to back off. Now they are about to announce
their plans, based on a cut budget for all nurseries in Kirklees. Jackie has been campaigning to save our nurseries
In Crosland Moore this could see Thornton Lodge threatened.
Jackie Grunsell has taken a very clear stand on these propos- her support, but we will need a massive show of strength from
als: The public sector should not be subsidising private nurser- parents, children and the wider community to save our Nurser-
ies which are clearly run for profit, where some of the money ies – don’t let the council get away with it! Jackie says: “After the
meant for nursery provision goes into the pockets of private great campaign to save Tiddlywinks Nursery 3 years ago, I know
owners and is not spent on the children. We must continue to we will have the public support”.
support nursery provision for everyone, whatever their income.
If nurseries are forced to shut, it will force more parents into
• No to public funding of private nurseries
the more expensive privately owned nurseries, which a lot of
parents cannot afford. This is Robin Hood in reverse! • Stop all Nursery Closures
Jackie has already visited Thornton Lodge Nursery and pledged • For free and comprehensive childcare for all

Privatisation Reduces Care for Older People

IN THE DECEMBER EDITION of supported by Liberal, Labour, Tory and
Kirklees Together - that’s the glossy book- Green councillors.
let produced by the council, which is put
through every door with other junk mail, Care assistants work for little above the
you will find an article titled ‘Improving minimum wage, while the fee for visits-
care for older people’. It is a crude piece charged to the elderly is nearly £10 per
of spin, meant to deceive us that Kirklees hour, a fee which increased this year by a
is looking after the elderly. In reality the massive 20 per cent.
council has closed down most of its care Care is now run by organisations such as
homes, forcing elderly people in Kirklees Carewatch Care Services, who are in
to go to private business run homes. This business to make a profit. Their objective
has happened alongside the closure of all is to squeeze every extra penny they can
but one day-care centre – one centre now into their own pockets. They do this not
remains for the whole of Kirklees! only by high charges, but by cramming-in
Personal care for the elderly, through more and more elderly people to be seen
home-visits have also been privatised each hour. It ends up with the assistant
and this has meant a reduction in the being run off their feet and lower quality
quality of care, a rise in costs and ‘third- care, all to
world’ type working conditions for the produce a profit. What’s happened to that
care assistants who support our elderly. old public service ethos, when it was the
The whole set-up is a scandal, aided and care of the elderly that mattered?
 Leeds Bin Men
HOW ON EARTH can anyone justify a cut in refuse work-
ers’ wages by a third? Yet this is precisely what was pro-
posed in Leeds by the diabolical Lib Dem/Tory council.
A cut of a third would mean that refuse workers would re-
ceive only around £13,000. Council Leader, Richard Brett,
cruelly arguing that you don’t need a degree to collect rub-
bish, says that this is a good income.
Unlike the £45k earning Cllr. Brett, refuse workers are
forced to work in increasingly difficult conditions, with un-
reasonable performance targets imposed upon them. They
are now left with the prospect of weathering the depths of Leeds Bin Men saying thanks to people of Leeds for
the recession on a miniscule wage. support in the strike
Thankfully, the workers have not taken this assault on their
pay packets laying down. Instead, Leeds has witnessed the £5,000 a year pay cuts. And although approximately 20 will
most significant example of industrial action in Leeds since lose out, the council have agreed to negotiate a settlement
the great Miners Strike of 1984-5. by the end of the pay protection period in February 2011.
During the course of the strike the mood of the bin men The strike exposed the greed of private contractors who did
remained defiant and the public support has been over- a rubbish job while fleecing the council taxpayers of over
whelming. People are wholly opposed to privatisation of £1 million. The council has also had to drop privatisation
the service, which is what really lies behind this dispute. plans and will face further costs for failing to recycle. But in
Kirklees we have councillors with the same type of priva-
As the bin strike in Leeds entered its twelfth week, an tising mentality. Both council workers and the community
agreement was reached between the refuse collectors and will need to be on its guard against this type of privatisation
the council. The agreement ensures that the majority of the mania and the bitter cost that these measures mean to us all.
600 workers do not lose out on pay. They had faced up to

Youth Fight For Jobs in Huddersfield

STUDENTS AND YOUNG WORKERS from Huddersfield
took part in a Youth Fight for Jobs (YFJ) demonstration on 21
October, protesting against planned cuts in Kirklees council
services.
At the time the specifics of the cuts have not yet been an-
nounced, and will probably stay concealed for as long as the
council can manage for fear of a public backlash. The cuts
will probably include at least a freeze on recruitment, if not
job cuts, and the closure or privatisation of various services,
including those aimed at and involving young people.
The protest began outside Huddersfield University student
union and our march through town ended outside the council
chamber, where the council were discussing up to £400
million in budget cuts. We were told that we were annoying
some of the councillors due to our noise, the announcement Starting outside Huddersfield University
of which caused a further surge in chanting and drumming. “Even more tellingly, when one of the cabinet members in
Local councillor and Socialist Party member Jackie Grunsell replying to questions about the Future Jobs Fund insisted
reported from inside: “To the shame of all the other coun- young people should ‘be grateful’ for a six month training
cillors, I was the only one to get up and speak against the scheme on the minimum wage with no guarantee of a per-
devastating cuts planned. I explained the need to invest more manent job at the end of it, he got a chorus of cheers! It is
in a recession to create decent jobs and start building council blatantly obvious that most of the politicians have no inten-
housing again, and warned of the generation of young people tion of standing up against the budget cuts and fighting for
who will be lost to unemployment. the defence of jobs and services.”
Jackie Grunsell a working local
Councillor
JACKIE HAS HELPED obtain funding for a number of im-
portant services in the ward area:
Providing out of school help for young people and health
advice plus other services for the elderly from the Internet
learning centre in Thornton Lodge.
As part of the Thornton Lodge and Lockwood Renaissance
Programme Board, advocating for increased grants for hous-
ing in the area, plus helping support plans to refurbish and
build new affordable housing in the area, improving road
safety with a 20mph limit are introduced, improvements to
Rashcliffe Park, street lighting, boundary walls and back al-
leys across the area.
Jackie on the picket line with postal workers
Local Improvement
Fighting Post Office Closures
Via the area committee Jackie secured funding for important Jackie was quick out the blocks when the government
estate developments in Netherton village, e.g. path repairs, announced the Post Office closures 18 months ago. She
tree maintenance, repairs to old seating / play areas. organised a protest meeting at Thornton Lodge for users of
Refurbishment of the Devonshire St playground. Plans to the Lockwood and Thornton Lodge post offices, and later
build a play area on the fields behind Walpole Road are held a large protest outside Lockwood Post Office. She
underway. Repairs to the back alley between William St and successfully moved a motion at the full Council calling on
Hawthorne Ave and footbaths behind Frederick St. the Local Authority to step in and take over local Post Of-
fices threatened with closure. She was supported by a local
Supporting workers in struggle lobby of residents who handed in a 5,000 strong petition.
Jackie has attended picket lines and / or donated money When approached by concerned residents, Jackie organ-
to the following workers taking action over the past few ised and spoke at a 300 strong meeting at Moorend High
months: School, protesting about Johnson’s application to use the
Striking Postal workers in the recent dispute Jackie leant her local quarry for household waste. The campaign got mas-
support to Postal Workers striking against privatisation of sive local support and the council agreed to extend plan-
Royal Mail and attacks on their conditions of work, negotia- ning permission for the quarry to continue to dump inert
tions are still ongoing waste only.

Jackie led a protest in Huddersfield calling for a boycott of

‘Superdrug’ in support of South Emsall distribution centre
staff striking against cuts in pay and conditions.
Regularly visited the picket line of the Lindsey oil refinery
workers who successfully took action to defend jobs and
protect nationally agreed pay and conditions of work
Vestas workers - Fighting for ‘Green Jobs’ - occupying the
only remaining factory in the UK to make wind turbine
blades, threatened with closure and 400+ job losses.
Case Work
Jackie undertakes case work on a daily basis. She has helped
individuals with the following: rehousing or concerns about
existing housing, immigration issues, resolving neighbour
disputes, problems relating to policing, flytipping, planning
applications, help liasing with various council and national
government departments, and more.
She holds regular surgeries in the ward, for more info
contact Jackie on 07814223177

Join the Save Our Services Campaign,

against the council cuts
Contact: ed@kirklees-sos.org