Calderdale Council ready to help national inquiry into grooming gangs
Plus, new Shaymen boss targets another promotion push
Hello and welcome to The Calderdale Lead.
In today’s edition we’ve got Calderdale Council’s response to the announcement that a national inquiry is to take place into child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs in England and Wales.
The council, which was praised by Ofsted in the most recent inspection of its services, says it is ready to help the inquiry in any way possible. More details are below.
And we’ve got some words from new Halifax Town boss Adam Lakeland as he looks to spearhead another push for promotion back to the Football League.
So, on with the news.
Calderdale Council supports national inquiry into grooming gangs
By Andrew Greaves
Town Hall chiefs in Calderdale say they will assist the national inquiry into grooming gangs in any way possible.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced at the weekend that there would be an inquiry despite his previous opposition.
His U-turn follows recommendations from a review carried out by Baroness Casey, examining data and evidence on the nature and scale of group-based child sexual abuse.
Calderdale Council leader Coun Jane Scullion said the safeguarding of children was an issue the authority took very seriously.
She said: “We are committed to doing our best for children and young people in Calderdale. Keeping children safe from harm is one of the most important things that we do as a local authority. Child sexual exploitation is a particularly abhorrent crime, and we take all allegations very seriously, working with partner organisations.
“We strongly support the action that is being taken to tackle the issue, based on findings from the full national review carried out by Baroness Casey. We welcome the announcement that a full national inquiry will be carried out and we are ready to support this and play our part in any way that we can.”
The Council has dedicated teams that recognise and manage the risks that children and young people could face outside their family environment.
This includes safeguarding work to prevent issues such as criminal exploitation and work to prevent children going missing from home.
The focus of the Council’s work is on putting children first, protecting them and listening to them, as well as to those who are now adults and were affected by the issues in the past, to learn from their experiences.
Coun Scullion added: “As a Council, we do everything we can to protect our young people from harm. Our efforts to keep children safe outside the home have been praised as part of a recent focused Ofsted inspection.
“In a full inspection in 2024, Ofsted inspectors noted the effective arrangements that are in place to assess children who are identified as being at potential risk of exploitation.
“However, we can never be complacent, and we are strongly committed to learning new ways to protect local children. We have already taken robust action from safeguarding reviews based on serious cases in the past, and will continue to build on our long-standing commitment to putting young people first.”
The Casey review recommends launching a national police operation to re-examine overlooked cases, alongside establishing a time-limited national inquiry led by an Independent Commission.
The proposed commission would wield full authority to compel witness testimony and focus on pinpointing failures by local services.
Its purpose would be to identify gaps in past investigations and trigger a series of targeted local probes to deliver justice for victims.
If you are affected, or you are worried about the safety of a child contact the Council on 01422 393336 during office hours or 01422 288000 at all other times and in an emergency contact the Police.
Support is available for children and young people who have experienced, or may be at risk of experiencing safeguarding issues such as sexual exploitation. Visit https://safeguarding.calderdale.gov.uk/children-and-young-people
New Halifax Town boss not fazed by step up to National League
By Andrew Greaves
New Halifax Town boss Adam Lakeland says he is not fazed by the challenge of his first job in the National League.
Lakeland, who last season guided Kings Lynn Town FC to the National League North play-offs, has been chosen as the man to replace Chris Millington at The Shay.
It’s his first role in the fifth tier of English football.
But he said: “I know I'm good at what I do. I'm not an arrogant guy, I'm not a big head, I'm just an honest, hard-working guy, but I know I'm a good manager.
“I know that the level is going to be a step up from what I've obviously been working at before, but I feel like every time I've stepped up through the levels in my career, I've always managed to adapt and find a way to put together a competitive team.”
Speaking to the club’s official YouTube channel, Lakeland - who started his career at Blackburn Rovers Women before successful spells at Curzon Ashton, Northwich Victoria and Farsley Celtic - was asked what fans could expect from his team next season.
He said that the minimum requirement was maximum effort and said he’d guarantee they’d ‘empty the tank’ each game.
“Football fans also want to be excited and hopefully we can give them a team that's full of running energy, aggressive on the front foot, can score a few more goals maybe than it has done last season; but we also want to maintain the defensive qualities and strengths that have seen obviously the club get in the playoffs in the last couple of years and win the FA trophy,” he said.
“I think there's been a hell of a lot of good work done here in the last two or three seasons by Chris and his team and they've consistently overachieved.
“Obviously, we've lost a few players as well. But we’ve got ood team spirit and nd they've made the most of what we've got.
“So I'm under no illusions that it's going to be a big job for me to build on the work that Chris and Andy Cooper and the rest of the staff have done.”
The players return for pre-season testing next week and Lakeland says he’s keen to get to work.
He said: “I’m just looking forward to getting back, getting on the grass with the players, and us working hard to kind of gel and get to know one another, and hopefully you know keep keep building on on the great foundations that have been built in the last two or three years.”
The National League fixtures for 2025/26 will be released on July 9 with the season kicking off on the weekend of August 9.
That’s it for this edition of The Calderdale Lead.
Don’t forget that if you want to get in touch for any reason, you can do so by emailing calderdale@thelead.uk.
Until Sunday, enjoy the rest of the week and see you at the weekend!
Andrew