Directorates and service areas

Communities

Director
Robin Tuddenham
Address
Westgate House
Westgate
Halifax HX1 1PS
Telephone
01422 393018

Communities has responsibility for running many of the Council's front line services.

Cultural and leisure facilities; Calderdale's two new swimming pool and fitness centres, libraries, museums and visitor centres
Customer services including the contact centre and Customer First, benefits and licensing services
Lead on clean and safe streets; Managing parks, street cleaning and countryside services; emergency planning, community engagement, cohesion and partnership work with the Police, voluntary and community sectors

We are using the changes affecting local government to work even more closely and creatively with our partners and with local people themselves. For example, the Directorate manages the 'Asset Transfer' process, working with local communities to put them in charge of facilities in their neighbourhood. Communities is also leading on the transformation project to restore the Grade 1 listed Piece Hall, and turn the unique building into a thriving heritage and leisure attraction with a commercially sustainable future.

Communities is formed of three main service areas.

Customer Service and Communications

This service is the home for many key customer facing services, including:

Revenues and benefits and Council Tax collection
Licensing and land charging
Registration of births, marriages and deaths based at Spring Hall Mansions
The service also manages the Council’s website, Contact Centre, Customer First so has a key role in providing information about what the Council does and improving how easy it is for our customers to access services
The service also has corporate responsibility for communications and complaints

You can call the Customer First Contact Centre to ask about all sorts of things. To help deal with your calls quickly and effectively, our Customer First team will be split into three specialist areas. You can call:

0845 245 6000: for all your General Enquiries. If you're not sure who you need to speak to, our friendly and professional team of Customer First Advisors will do all they can to resolve your query first time, every time.
0845 245 7000: for all your Street Care questions and queries. If your question or problem is to do with the things that happen in your neighbourhood, on your street or on local roads, call the Street Care team. From missed bin collections to reporting graffiti or faulty street lights, use this number to get in touch.
0845 245 8000: for all your Finance queries including Council Tax and Benefits, billing and general payments. Speak to our Customer First Finance specialists for expert advice and help.

In person:

Brighouse Customer First, Brighouse Civic Hall, Bradford Road, Brighouse HD6 1RW.
Hebden Bridge Customer First, Hebden Bridge Library, Cheetham Street, Hebden Bridge HX7 8EP.
Todmorden Customer First, Todmorden Community College, Burnley Road, Todmorden OL14 7BX.

Head of Service
Ann Wardle
Address
Westgate House
Westgate
Halifax HX1 1PS
Telephone
01422 393201

Cultural Services

This service manages the Council’s leisure and culture offer including:

Four swimming pools and two sports centres
Sports development work with communities including the Upbeat team working with people with health conditions
Outdoor facilities such as Spring Hall athletics track and the Shay Stadium
The library services which comprises 22 public libraries, the mobile library service, and Discover (children’s library and museums education resources)
Five museums and art galleries - Shibden Hall, Bankfield, Heptonstall, the Smith Art Gallery in Brighouse, and the Piece Hall gallery at the Vistor Centre
Tourist Information Centres at the Piece Hall and in Hebden Bridge as well as tourism support for local business
The service also runs five public halls, including the iconic Piece Hall, Victoria Theatre and Hebden Bridge Picture House Cinema

Calderdale is already a centre for creativity and the new service will work to extend the variety and quality of its cultural and sporting opportunities to match the ambitions of individuals and communities. Sports development staff lead on partnerships with the various sports bodies to coordinate investment and programmes. Education teams in libraries, museums and countryside run continuous series of events and workshops for schools and for the general public.

The service includes countryside, parks and gardens for much of the urban and rural landscape has deep and historic links to Calderdale's past. This sense and pride of place is evident in the towns and villages that make up the borough and embody its rich heritage. Cemeteries and churchyards have many associations with that heritage so that today the operation and care of these and the crematorium also sit within Cultural Services.

Head of Service
Gary Borrows
Address
Westgate House
Westgate
Halifax HX1 1PS
Email
libraries@calderdale.gov.uk
Telephone
01422 392600

Neighbourhoods and Community Engagement

The service has responsibility for the following areas:

Community engagement including running Ward Forums and working with neighbourhood management projects such as the Ovenden and Mixenden Initiative and Halifax Central Initiative
Voluntary sector commissioning and supporting local organisations by working with organisations like Voluntary Action Calderdale and developing the COMPACT
Leading work on preventing violent extremism and managing community tensions
Community safety work with in partnership with the Police and others including co-ordinating work to prevent domestic violence and Anti Social Behaviour
Management of the Cleaner, Greener Service, which includes locally based street cleaning and ground maintenance services, 397 parks, playgrounds, open spaces and woodlands including the Shibden Estate and nature reserves such as Jerusalem Farm and Ogden Water and the Borough’s cemeteries and crematorium
Leading the Council’s work to achieve Excellence under the new Equality Framework