Kirklees Council: local authority assessment

Demographics

Kirklees Council is one of five in West Yorkshire, the 13th biggest local authority in the United Kingdom in terms of population and the 3rd largest Metropolitan District by area covering 157 square miles. It is bordered by Calderdale to the west, Wakefield to the east, and Barnsley to the south. The borough includes the towns of Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Batley, and Cleckheaton, and forms a continuously built-up area with surrounding districts.

Kirklees is home to approximately 442,000 people. The majority of the population of Kirklees are White British (73.6%), with 19.4% Asian or Asian British, 3.1% Mixed, 2.3% Black or Black British, and 1.5% Other. Around 10.2% of the population live in the top 10% most deprived areas in England. Kirklees has an index of multiple deprivation score of 7 (with 10 being the highest and most deprived) and is rated 67th out of 153 (1st being most deprived). 32% of older people are living in poverty in Kirklees’ most deprived areas, with 4.2% in the least deprived areas. The healthy life expectancy in Kirklees is relatively low compared to the national average. Women can expect to live around 58.4 years in good health, which is statistically lower than the England average of 61.9 years. Men can expect to live 60.2 years in good health, which is statistically similar to the average for England of 61.5 years. Men living in the most deprived areas of Kirklees live 10.8 years less than those in the least deprived areas. This figure is 9.5 years for women.

The demographics of the population are that approximately 22% are aged 0-17 years, approximately 60% are of working age 18-64 years, and approximately 18% are aged over 65 years. The projections are for the increase in people over the age of 65 years over the next 10 years.

Kirklees is located within the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care System (ICS), which is divided into multiple Area-Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs). The borough has strong links with the Integrated Care Board (ICB), including Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust. The nearest hospitals are Huddersfield Royal Infirmary and Dewsbury and District Hospital.

Kirklees Council is led by a Labour minority administration. The Council has 69 elected members, representing 23 wards in the borough. Since 1 April 2014 Kirklees has been a constituent council of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority. 

Financial facts

• The local authority estimated that in 2023/24, its total budget would be £707,398,000. Its actual spend for that year was £774,775,000, which was £67,377,000 more than estimated. 

• The local authority estimated that it would spend £181,076,000 of its total budget on adult social care in 2023/24. Its actual spend was £182,198,000, which was £1,122,000 more than estimated. 

• In 2023/24, 23.52% of the budget was spent on adult social care. 

• The local authority has raised the full adult social care precept for 2023/24, with a value of 2%. Please note that the amount raised through adult social care precept varies from local authority to local authority.​