Kirklees Council

The Home Secretary is being asked to set up an inquiry into the child grooming scandal in Huddersfield.

BBC

It comes after 20 men were found guilty of more than 120 offences against 15 girls in the town, some as young as 11.

Victims were plied with drink and drugs and then "used and abused at will" in a seven-year "campaign of rape and abuse" between 2004 and 2011.

Councillors in Kirklees are expected to debate a proposal later for an independent inquiry, similar to that set up after the child exploitation scandal in Rotherham.

Conservative councillor Michael Watson, who's behind the motion, says people need answers about what happened and says "an investigation is needed to get to the truth".

Hundreds of memorials to the dead at a West Yorkshire crematorium have been torn up and dumped in a car park, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

LDRS

The widow and son of Michael Wike, who died in 1991, were forced to scrabble around in a pile of damaged stones to locate his inscribed memorial at Huddersfield Crematorium in Fixby.

On failing to find it, they were told by staff it had been destroyed and the pieces sent for landfill.

Mr Wike's wife, Tracie Ogilvie, of Kirkheaton, says she was "destroyed" by the discovery, which occurred on the 27th anniversary of his death as they arrived to lay flowers.

It is understood that Kirklees Council sent out a letter last year notifying relatives of the dead that memorial stones at the crematorium were to be re-located.

A spokesman for Kirklees Council said the leases for the kerb plaques expired in January 2017 and gave relatives the option of buying a new lease.

"I fully appreciate how distressing this can be for families, and we have attempted to contact all of the families we have records for to try to come to a suitable solution," the spokesman said.

"In this case we wrote to the Ogilvie family through the contact name we had, with the aim of avoiding a situation like this, which we regret."

An independent review will take place following the convictions of 20 men who had abused young girls in Huddersfield, the council has said.

BBC

West Yorkshire Police and the council refused to answer any questions outside court earlier.

However, the director of children's services at Kirklees Council Steve Walker said lessons have been learned and all the agencies in the area now work closely together "to ensure that victims and potential victims are protected and those who seek to exploit and abuse children and young people are brought to justice".

Mr Walker went on to praise the victims involved in this case.

"This has been a long and arduous process for them.

"Their courage in coming forward and giving evidence has brought these offenders to justice. I hope that the outcome today will give them some closure."

He added that the safety of children and young people was the council's "highest priority".

"For that reason we have asked independent expert Dr Mark Peel – the former Professor of Social Work at Leicester University, to undertake a review of these non-recent cases to identify whether there are any lessons we can learn," he said.

Kirklees Council is claiming next month's bin strike is off because the union failed to follow the proper rules.

BBC

It says Unison doesn't have the required permission to hold the stoppage and in the meantime it's continuing to address workers' concerns.

It is part of a dispute in Kirklees over claims some workers have been refused leave to help dying relatives or sick children.

Bin workers in part of West Yorkshire have voted to go on strike indefinitely.

BBC

The walkout, by members of Unison, is planned to take place at the start of October.

Karl Battersby, Kirklees Council's Strategic Director for Economy and Infrastructure, said the authority was "extremely dissapointed" a the move.

Members of Unison in Kirklees walked out for a week in July over claims of bullying and not being allowed to take holidays.

Students in Kirklees are being asked to make sure they are up-to-date with their vaccinations before the start of the new college or university year.

Kirklees council

Meningitis, septicaemia and measles spread quickly in large gatherings and in some cases can be fatal.

Public Health England has issued the vaccination advice to teenagers to ensure they have the MenACWY and MMR vaccines.

The MenACWY vaccine is routinely offered to school years 9 and 10 to protect against the bacteria which, among other things, can cause meningitis and septicaemia.

Anyone who has missed out can still get vaccinated free of charge through their GP until they are 25.

Strange purple lights were spotted in the skies about Kirklees last night, but what were they and should we all be preparing to hail a new glorious leader from the planet Xygghagne?

Perhaps not...

John Easton

People reported seeing the light around Staincliffe, Mirfield and the south Leeds areas with some speculating that it has something to do with a circus, a festival or - you guessed it - aliens.

Some have speculated that the lights may have come from railway engineering works, so we called Network Rail.

But they confirmed they were not working in the area last night, leaving us at a loss as to what may have caused the mysterious purple lights above West Yorkshire's skies.

We even called West Yorkshire Police to see if they could illuminate this strange sighting - but nothing.