New bill could mean less sick pay for thousands in Calderdale
Plus, council gets ready to finalise budget
Hello and welcome to the midweek edition of The Calderdale Lead!
I hope you’ve had a good start to February and you’re looking forward to (hopefully!) seeing the first signs of spring coming up over the next few weeks.
In today’s newsletter we’ve got details of a campaign that we’re backing to help the Government avoid plunging thousands of people into dire financial situations if they fall ill.
Plus, after much discussion over the last couple of months, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet will meet on Monday to decide on their final budget recommendations for the next year.
We’ve got details below from the LDRS’ John Greenwood.
So, plenty to get through so let’s get to the news…
Flaws in new employment rights bill could spell disaster for thousands
Thousands of people across Calderdale and the rest of West Yorkshire could see their sick pay cut if Labour’s new Employment Rights Bill is passed.
Earlier this week, the national edition of The Lead highlighted that wording in the bill - which links Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) with earnings - could mean that people receive a lower rate, despite the bill seeking to strengthen the system.
The bill is proposing to remove the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and make sick pay available to the 1.3 million workers currently excluded from it.
The LEL requires employees to earn at least £123 a week to qualify for SSP. This excludes a disproportionate number of low-paid and part-time workers, 70 per cent of whom are women.
But as reported by The Lead, the government’s proposed wording of the Bill creates a major problem. By linking SSP to a percentage of earnings, those just above the LEL could see their sick pay slashed.
For example, an employee earning £130 per week could receive just £78 in SSP if the replacement rate is set at 60 per cent. That’s a 33 per cent cut compared to the current SSP rate of £116.75.
According to data compiled by the TUC and The Centre For Progressive Change, there are an estimated 22,191 workers claiming SSP - about a quarter of the total working population.
The Lead and the Safer Sick Pay campaign are joining forces to urge the government to make the change needed to support some of society's most vulnerable workers.
We think a simple amendment could solve this problem. The Bill currently states:
“The weekly rate of statutory sick pay that an employer must pay to an employee is the lower of (a) £116.75, and (b) the prescribed percentage of the employee’s normal weekly earnings” .
It is designed that way to resolve the problem of some employees potentially earning more when they are sick than when they are working.
However, we think the section in the Employment Rights Bill should read as follows:
“The weekly rate of statutory sick pay that an employer must pay to an employee is (a) £116.75, and (b) the prescribed percentage of the employee’s normal weekly earnings if they earn below £116.75.”
This ensures no one currently eligible for SSP receives less, while those earning below the SSP rate receive a fair replacement income.
Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan will be sponsoring our petition. He told The Lead: "Statutory sick pay is there to provide support when people need it most. Those with illnesses like cancer, chronic fatigue, or mental health conditions should not have to choose between their health and being able to pay their bills.
“With the current rates of SSP paid at around 17% of the average wage, that's the choice many unjustly have to make. The Employment Rights Bill is our chance to right this wrong and ensure that the most vulnerable in our society are protected and cared for."
The Calderdale Lead has reached out to both Halifax MP Kate Dearden and Calder Valley MP Josh Fenton-Glynn for comment.
Please sign the petition and show your support for #SafeSickPay and put pressure on Employment Minister, Alison McGovern MP, to take action.
Parliament must act to ensure the Employment Rights Bill delivers the safety net workers deserve. No one should face financial ruin for falling ill.
Council chiefs to decide on final budget moves
By LDRS’ John Greenwood
Town hall chiefs in Calderdale are to decide on their final budget recommendations for the forthcoming financial year when they meet next Monday.
When they considered their budget recommendations in January, Cabinet councillors unveiled measures including an almost five per cent rise in Council Tax, some reductions in services and rises in some charges including for removing bulky waste and garden waste.
They will consider representations made by scrutiny councillors – finalising their own suggestions this week – and consultation responses including from members of the public before making their final recommendations.
Senior councillors will also consider the projected overspend on the 2024/25 revenue budget, which is predicted to be £11.98m by the end of the council year.
Savings needing to be made are being made, but are being outstripped by other costs including rising call on all-ages care packages, which councils legally have to provide.
Management action to bear down on costs must be redoubled, councillors are told, including by sustaining, extending and deepening spending controls further for the remainder of the financial year.
The council must also step up and extend transformation programmes aimed at reducing some of these costs and “continue to adapt to being a smaller council, remaining agile and adaptive in collaboration with the voluntary sector and our communities,” say officers.
Worst-case scenario will necessitate use of reserves but these are limited and once used cannot be spent again, councillors are advised.
Cabinet councillors are also asked to review the authority’s treasury management strategy – including capital spending on assets and infrastructure, and managing financial risk – and recommending external debt levels, within which the council can operate in, to the full council.
This includes how it borrows, invests and lends in the short, medium and long terms.
Councillors are also asked to approve capital investment and the capital programme, and recommend to full council it adopts these.
Revenue funding to meet cost of borrowing of £407,000, £2.5 million and £3.9 million required in 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 respectively to pay for the council’s plans has already been incorporated into Cabinet’s budget proposals.
Covering to 2029-30, capital projects range from upgrading IT, maintaining its buildings and the council’s vehicle fleet to upgrading heating systems and sports provision.
Of £403.5 million identified as being needed to finance the capital programme covering six years – 2024 to 2031 – it is expected Calderdale will have to borrow around £107.8 million over that period, with £283.6 million expected from grants and external funding, £11.2 million from revenue funding, including sums brought in from new housebuilding, and just under £1 million already earmarked in past budgets.
Councillors will table their final budget recommendations to the full council, which will meet on Monday, February 24, to set the budget for 2025/26.
That’s it for this midweek edition of The Calderdale Lead.
We’ve got so much planned over the next few months so… you’re in a position to do so, please consider taking a paid subscription so I can keep popping into your inbox twice a week with a Calderdale digest and stories.
As always, if you have anything you think I should be reporting on or looking into then I’m on calderdale@thelead.uk
Enjoy the rest of the week and we’ll be back in your inbox on Sunday!
Andrew