Denise Jeffery

Council ‘keen to support’ scheme to clamp down on rogue landlords

Dovecote Lodge could be shut for up to 20 weeks while asbestos is removed from the building and a new fire alarm system is fitted.

Temporary closure of Wakefield care home approved to allow essential works

Councillor Graham Isherwood was awarded Honorary Alderman status posthumously. L-R Steve Vickers, councillors for Featherstone, Denise Jeffery, council leader, Councillor Margaret Isherwood, Darren Byford, Mayor of Wakefield.

Wakefield councillor granted posthumous Honorary Alderman award

Woolley Hall

Historic Wakefield country mansion could be sold this month

Funding is expected to deliver projects over the next 10 years

Go ahead given for £20m investment for Castleford

Labour councillor Jakob Williamson. Pictured outside County Hall, Wakefield, after voting against his party's budget proposal. The Hemsworth councillor faces an indefinate suspension from the party over his comments.

Labour councillor facing suspension over fierce attack on his party’s budget

Wakefield Council voted in favour of the council tax rise as part of efforts to plug a £39.9m budget gap.

Councillor accuses own party of being “dishonest” as tax hike approved

Sun Lane Leisure Centre, Wakefield

Go-ahead for £5m scheme to decarbonise leisure centre and primary school

Wakefield Council looks set to spend almost £6m on urgent repair works to the city's 'deteriorating' historic County Hall building

County Hall ‘a little leaky’ but ‘not falling to bits’, council meeting told

Wakefield Council has scrapped plans to cut opening times at museums, libraries and castles as part of cost saving measures.

Council U-turn on plan to cut opening times at museums, libraries and castles

The decision to shut Hazel Garth, in Knottingley, at 24 hours’ notice sparked outrage in May last year and led to the local authority issuing a public apology.

Hazel Garth care home set to reopen in April

A report at the time highlighted 19 council-owned buildings and sites earmarked for redevelopment.

New ‘strategic partner’ appointed to speed up Wakefield city centre masterplan

The City Fields District Centre is planned for a 110,000 sq ft site on Neil Fox Way, in Wakefield. Image: DeVeer Estates.

Calls to take action to speed delivery of £10m City Fields district centre

Council tax bills in Wakefield look set to increase by a maximum 4.99% and up to 270 jobs could be axed under budget proposals.

Maximum council tax hike and up to 270 job cuts planned in budget

Welbeck Street canopy is being demolished with new lighting and CCTV cameras installed to increase safety and visibility between the train station and town centre.

Demolition to target anti-social behaviour hotspot in Castleford town centre

Wakefield city centre

Firms' plans to hire new staff at lowest level since pandemic
Firms across Wakefield are halting recruitment plans with intentions to take on new members of staff in the final quarter of 2024 at the lowest level since the pandemic.
James Carney

A multi-storey car park could be built at Borough Road as Wakefield Council looks to provide more city centre car parking spaces

Council to consider city centre car park revamp as it appoints new regen partner

Hazel Garth care home, Knottingley

Wakefield Council gives ‘cast iron’ commitment to re-open Knottingley care home

Wakefield One, Wakefield Council's headquarters building.

Wakefield Council leaders call for government help as job cuts plan approved

Wakefield Town HallUnison said key Wakefield Council services were “bound to suffer” if proposals to cut its workforce due to financial pressures go ahead.

Council job losses could be “catastrophic” for staff and residents, union warns

Plans have been approved to convert Wakefield’s historic Crown Court building into a performing arts space.

Wakefield's old crown court and The Hepworth to benefit from £9m

Wakefield One, Wakefield Council's headquarters building.

Wakefield Council set to axe more than 200 jobs to save cash

Councillors of all political parties in Wakefield have unanimously voted in favour of a freeze and on their allowances.

Councillor allowances freeze unanimously approved

The Labour-run authority, like many council across the country, is also facing mounting financial pressures.

Councillors set to vote for allowances freeze

Paul Kempe, owner and co-founder of Tileyard North with Coun Denise Jeffery, Leader of Wakefield Council, at the opening of Gradient Mill.

Tileyard North’s Gradient Mill now complete

The £10m development include building a new supermarket, retail units, healthcare facilities, a nursery,

City Fields: Call for action as residents ‘crying out’ for new district centre

The predicted figure has risen by £1.4m, from £9.9m forecast by the local authority’s finance officers in September.

Wakefield Council budget overspend expected to rise to £11.3m
Wakefield Council has warned it expects to overspend it budget by £11.3m during the current financial year.
Tony Gardner

Towns across Wakefield are marking Remembrance Sunday with memorial services to honour those who fell in battle.

Here’s where to pay your respects as Remembrance Day honours the fallen

Coun Denise Jeffery and Coun Michael Graham looking at plans for the new Cathedral Square in Wakefield

More images revealed of plans for new Cathedral Square in Wakefield

Nadeem Ahmed, leader of Wakefield Council's Conservative and Independent Group

Wakefield’s political leaders give their reaction to the Autumn Budget

Wakefield Council leader Denise Jeffery said she did not think it appropriate for councillors to accept an increase in allowances as residents struggle with the cost of living crisis.

Councillors to be asked to vote for freeze on their own pay

Denise Jeffery accused the company of “disgraceful behaviour” as she urged fellow councillors to back a campaign to protect the loss of key passenger routes across the district.

Wakefield Council to ‘take on’ Arriva over bus service cut threats

Coun Isherwood was first elected in 1987 and chaired the authority’s corporate and resources overview and scrutiny committee.

Tributes paid following death of Featherstone councillor Graham Isherwood

Cabinet members are expected to adopt a medium-term financial strategy which sets out a timeline for delivering a balanced budget when they meet on Tuesday (October 15).

Opposition accuse Labour leadership of 'financial incompetence'

Aerial images of Wakefield City Centre. Picture Scott Merrylees

Council cuts warning over projected £88 million financial black hole

Wakefield Council has confirmed the scheme to increase the number of pitches at Heath Common has been halted as part of spending cuts.

Council halts £5.8m plan to extend traveller site at Heath Common

College Grove, Wakefield.

Council agrees HMO clampdown on ‘rogue landlords’

The former Kiko's nightclub in Pontefract town centre is to be sold off by Wakefield Council to make way for housing.

Kiko’s, Pontefract: ‘Eyesore’ nightclub site to be sold for apartments scheme

Six residents were given just 24 hours to leave when the Labour-run authority temporarily shut the facility in May. One died 16 days after being moved.

Action plan to end council ‘blame culture’ following care home failings

Pete Girt and Rachel Speak, Lib Dem councillors for Knottingley ward on Wakefield Council

Councillors call for senior politicians to resign over care home ‘debacle’

Hazel Garth care home, Knottingley

Council’s reputation ‘severely damaged’ over sudden closure of Hazel Garth

Wakefield Council leader Denise Jeffery

Council leader changes cabinet team following outcry over care home closure

Opposition councillors have called for a Wakefield Council cabinet member to resign over a decision to shut down a care home for residents with dementia.

‘A total fiasco’: Call for resignation over Hazel Garth care home failures

Council leader Denise Jeffery and chief executive Tony Reeves this week met with residents' families to apologise for the errors.

Council admits 'significant failings' ahead of 'damning' report over Hazel Garth

Shane Roller,, Shannen Morgan and their children Rubie Morgan-Roller, aged nine, and Lillie Morgan-Roller, aged four, all died in the crash.

'A devastating loss of life': Tributes pour in for family killed in crash

Wakefield Council's depot at Newton Bar

Council agrees to ’embrace private sector’ to advance city centre regen plans

The old Kellingley Social Club building, in Knottingley.

Kellingley Social Club and sports pavilion to be demolished

Wakefield Council’s regeneration chief said it was almost time to ‘finally get some spades in the ground’ following years of negotiations with business owners.

Regen chief says £24m Castleford revamp almost ready to start

Denise Jeffery said she planned to speak with Rachel Reeves about boosting local government finances if she becomes chancellor after the election on July 4.

Council leader to lobby new chancellor for more funding if Labour wins election

Wakefield Council looks set to sell off a seventeenth century country house which had been earmarked to be turned into wedding venue and spa.

Council set to sell off ‘iconic’ Woolley Hall

Wakefield Council is paying tribute to Rob Burrow by lighting up the town hall clock tower tonight. (photo: Allan McKenzie)

Wakefield clock tower to light up in tribute to Rob Burrow

Hazel Garth Care Home, Knottingley.

Council says decision to shut care home ‘only temporary’ after backlash

Langthwaite Business Park, near South Kirkby could become home to a £51m national centre for creative industries.

Work on major £12m extension of industrial estate set to start

Wakefield Council Mayor Making 2024. Left to right: Deputy Mayor Maureen Tennant-King, Mayor Darren Byford, Wakefield Council Chief Executive Tony Reeves.

Meet the new Mayor of Wakefield known for his 'wicked sense of humour'

Denise Jeffery described the local authority as ‘a force to be reckoned with’ as she outlined the priorities for the new municipal year.

Council plan to be ‘more aggressive’ to attract investment