Calderdale Inside Out

Latest

Calderdale council tax payers to fund huge festival losses

A Calderdale Inside Out investigation has uncovered Stage at the Lake’s recorded expenditure was more than three times its ticket income. The huge festival budget was greenlit following council decisions to reduce youth work, end discretionary childcare inclusion funding and cut spending on library books. Back in August I

ANALYSIS: Could an obscure legal procedure clean up social media commentary in Calderdale?

COMMENT: Why did going green make me see red?

The decisions shaping Calderdale’s future

Sutherland signals possible Shay breakthrough before Christmas

£20m funding could help place community centre at the heart of North Halifax regeneration efforts

Calderdale Wind Farm: 14 problems that need solving before November

Investigations

EXCLUSIVE: Secret audit report exposes “fundamental weaknesses” in council spending controls

Calderdale Council want to keep a damning audit report behind closed doors. We've seen it, and believe the public has a right

Stage At Lake box office flop: Why did the Council’s Culturedale team spend almost £100K promoting just one event?

Calderdale Council admits “Stage At The Lake” required a “significant Council subsidy” after ticket sales fell short of its original business case. The acknowledgement

£2.9m car parking surplus: Calderdale admits legal publishing and accounting failures

Calderdale Inside Out investigation exposes failure to meet government transparency rules and an accounting gap over legally restricted parking money since 2018 This one

Podcasts

“Catastrophic” – Harvey’s CEO describes business impact of Halifax Town Centre roadworks

Latest town centre footfall data shows Halifax business district footfall is down following £64m improvement plan. This year family-run Harvey’s of Halifax

Fallingroyd Road in Hebden Bridge with parked cars and a 30mph speed limit sign.

Big on surplus. Low on plans: we uncover Calderdale's car parking charge regime

Calderdale has turned car parking into a near-£3-million-a-year surplus, the highest per head of population in Yorkshire.

The Piece Hall courtyard in Halifax with its surrounding colonnades and a church spire beyond.

Record surplus and record debt: we go behind the Piece Hall numbers

The Piece Hall Trust has announced the best financial result in its history in its group accounts published last week - a £356,700 surplus. In Part 2 of our investigation, we read the small print.

Calderdale Life

COMMENT: Churches are closing. Who keeps the doors open?

Calderdale inherited churches built on industrial wealth, faith and community fund-raising. Keeping them open may now require a different kind of congregation. You

A woman in a dark suit sitting in the courtyard of The Piece Hall in Halifax.

Piece Hall boss told councillors charity law meant she “had to” be a trustee. Five months on, she resigned as trustee but is still CEO.

The Trust now says there is “no ongoing business case” for the arrangement its chief executive told a Calderdale Council scrutiny committee could not be changed

The Piece Hall courtyard in Halifax with people gathered in the central square.

The Piece Hall, The Trust, The Council, and your money

What the accounts, hidden documents, and council recordings reveal about where Calderdale tax-payer cash has gone.