Art and sculptures owned by Kirklees Council have shot up in value by millions of pounds in just one year.

While most of Kirklees Council’s news in recent years has been about cuts, it’s been revealed that its overall “heritage assets” are worth £12m more this year than last year, shooting up from £37m to more than £49m.

The majority of the £12m boost is thanks to just two paintings and one sculpture – all of which are on display at Huddersfield Art Gallery.

They are; two paintings by iconic Lancashire artist, L.S. Lowry and a sculpture by Leeds trained Henry Moore.

Henry Moore's 'Fallen Warrior'

Amid extreme budget pressures and cuts of £54m this year, the Examiner asked if the council was considering selling the valuable items.

A Kirklees Council spokesperson said: “The council is not considering the sale of any items from the art collection.

“Kirklees Museums and Galleries is an Arts Council England accredited service and, as such, meets nationally agreed standards for its collections management and security, and works to the Museums Association’s code of ethics and guidelines for disposal.

“The value of heritage assets is regularly reassessed by specialist external valuers for both insurance purposes and the annual accounts.

Huddersfield, by LS Lowry

“This exercise was carried out in 2016 and resulted in increased valuations of several paintings as well as reflecting the acquisition of a William Orpen painting which was bequeathed to the Kirklees Art Collection last year.

“The two paintings by L.S. Lowry are “Huddersfield” and “Level Crossing”, and the Henry Moore sculpture is “Falling Warrior”.

“They are all currently on display in the Perspectives Gallery at Huddersfield Art Gallery.

“We do not disclose individual values for security reasons.”

Alongside art and sculptures, other elements of the £49m of heritage assets, are the council’s collection of silver and the exhibits in its museums.

Francis Bacon Figure Study 2 at Huddersfield Art Gallery.

The majority of the Civic Silver collection is on display in Huddersfield Town Hall.

Earlier this year the Examiner reported that Kirklees Council also owned a Francis Bacon painting, reported to be worth in the region of £20m.

The painting, titled ‘Figure Study 2’, is on display next to ‘Figure Study 1’ at Edinburgh Art Gallery.

In January, Kirklees confirmed legal conditions prevented it from selling what is described as, “one of the most important art works in Britain”.