KIRKLEES Cabinet member Clr Paul Battye is rightly proud of the council's record on introducing computer technology.
Dating back to a significant investment in 1998 Kirklees has been ahead of other councils and "leading the field in many aspects of e-government".
Thanks to that lead Kirklees customers can, for instance, make payments or join the library online.
Of course, not all the local residents will have either the equipment or the inclination to get on their computer. Many of the older end especially still prefer the face-to-face approach and even they should feel the benefit in shorter queues.
The way ahead has not and will not be easy and, as Clr Battye says, there are more than 70 targets to be achieved in terms of developing e-government and changing the way councils work.
Kirklees schools too look like getting a flying start, with all enjoying a broadband connection to the national education network by September. That would be a year ahead of Government targets.
Our local authority long ago set itself the task of being at the forefront of the IT age. It's good for the future of the area that it looks to be succeeding.
School run
LOOK for more American-style yellow buses around West Yorkshire schools this year.
Sixty more to be precise thanks to £7.3m Government funding boost.
Interestingly, one of the nearest to us - at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Hove Edge - has also been one of the most successful.
Now 91% of parents there choose to send their children by yellow bus instead of taking them by car.
Generally between 60% and 90% of parents make the same choice.
That has to be good news for us all. Especially for those areas near schools where residents suffer a twice a day parking hell. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling says that at 8.50am each morning a fifth of the cars on the road are on the school run.
But remember that it is also a step forward for the parents too. The highly visible buses come with high-backed padded seats with a seatbelt and specially trained drivers.
Over a three-year period it is planned to increase the number of yellow buses in West Yorkshire until they serve 300 schools.
Even at £18.7m it seems like a good investment .
