MAJOR changes are on their way to Kirklees Council – and the authority want residents to be involved in shaping them.

The council launches a consultation called It’s Time To Talk aimed at starting a conversation with the community about its future role with the prospect of future cuts looming.

It will touch on what people expect of the authority and how groups and residents can help the council.

Ruth Redfern, Director of Communities, Transformation and Change, said it was not a budget consultation but the council is having to move into a new era as further cuts come their way.

“We need some wartime spirit to get through this,” she said.

“The council lost a lot of people last year and we’ve still managed on the whole to provide exactly the same services.

“Where we haven’t, the community has been very shocked and surprised – and what that tells us is that they may not be aware of the impact of cuts on the council and inevitably the impact on them.

“It’s Time to Talk is about doing at a council level what goes on in the family home. If a person in a family loses a job they lose 30% or 40% of the household income, so they sit down as a family and say ‘how are we going to deal with this?’

“I want our conversations with the public to have the same approach.”

While Mrs Redfern stopped short of putting a figure on the cuts the authority expects in the next two years, she admitted it will hit staff numbers and services more.

Non-school employees have dropped from 9,728 in March 2011 to 8,430 this March.

Residents may be upset at their Council Tax bills rising this year – taxpayers contribute 15% – £153m – to the council’s overall finances via this tax. The council gets a Government grant of £570m and it is that grant it expects to fall in coming years.

As the council’s overall gross revenue budget for 13/14 is £871m, cutbacks need to be found.

The authority wants to know what people expect of them.

“I think the council needs to be less parental,” said Mrs Redfern. “We already know there are people who want to take over some council services and we are talking to them about that.

“There is the willingness. I’ve visited community centres which the council does support, but they’re largely independent and they’re doing brilliantly.”

Asked if people might perceive the authority is looking for people to run council services on the cheap, Mrs Redfern said: “We need to be honest with people about the reductions and we need to get past the cynicism and into a really open and trusting relationship.

“I know there will be cynics out there but unless we begin the conversation and be open and honest then we won’t get past that.

“This is a new era. In the past if we haven’t listened then we need to show we are willing to listen now.

“We’re not going out there and saying ‘we’re doing a, b or c’ – we’re asking them what they think we should be doing.”

The director says Kirklees is among the first to step into the future.

“Local government has bourne the brunt of the cuts and continues to do so and people need to understand that,” added Mrs Redfern.

“In the next two years we expect there to be more. I think unless we approach this now people will be shocked at what will happen.”

Kirklees staff are being invited to share ideas and Mrs Redfern urged them to get involved

She added: “Some of our services have already reduced by up to 35% – when you do that to a team it can be quite traumatic.

“If we’re going to go through any changes we want to know from them what they think and we want to support them too.”

She said the Local Government Association, Chief Executive Adrian Lythgo and the council’s finance director David Smith have collectively put arguments to the Government and “you don’t give up until the final hurdle” but Mrs Redfern says it would be unwise not to prepare.

The council backed a Medium Term Financial Plan this year but the council leader, Clr Mehboob Khan, has publicly said there will be a “root and branch review” of the council’s services later this year and into next year.