Council leader urged to draw up improvement plan for Wakefield to emulate the success of neighbouring Barnsley

The move comes after Barnsley Council scooped a major national award.

Earlier this month Barnsley was awarded Council of the Year at the Local Government Chronicle Awards.

Judges said the south Yorkshire authority was a “clear winner”, highlighting the “extremely impressive” regeneration of its town centre.

The honour has prompted a call for Wakefield to “address its failings” by building closer cross-border links with Barnsley.

Samantha Harvey, Conservative councillor for Wakefield Rural ward, has tabled a motion calling for greater collaboration between the Labour-run councils.

Coun Harvey’s motion, to be debated at a full council meeting on Wednesday (June 28), calls for Wakefield Council leader Denise Jeffery to set up an urgent meeting with Barnsley’s leader Sir Steve Houghton.

Barnsley beat competition from Buckinghamshire Council, Cornwall Council, Inverclyde Council, Salford City Council and West Lindsey DC to win the Council of the Year award on June 7.

Judges visited all six councils in the weeks leading up to the awards ceremony.

They said: “This council demonstrated a comprehensive and impressive performance across all of its domains.

“They have delivered an extremely impressive regeneration of the town centre funded by the council’s own money, that is clearly bringing huge benefits to its communities.

“This council was a clear winner.”

Barnsley Council claimed the award recognised its “strong performance, innovation, excellent leadership and approach to partnership working”.

Coun Houghton added: “Winning this award is truly an amazing achievement for Barnsley.

“When austerity hit, we took brave decisions early on and despite losing a higher percentage of our budget than almost every other council in the country, we were able to change the way we worked, invest in our borough, and we’ve developed an enviable reputation for good budget management.

“The judges had the opportunity to see for themselves the impact our Area Council and Ward Alliance work including the reach of our More Money in Your Pocket work to address the cost of living crisis, and our commitment to increasing opportunities for our young people.

“Describing Barnsley as the Place of Possibilities is not just a vision or a phrase.

“It sums up how Barnsley has reinvented itself.

“Our transformation has been built on a great foundation of strong partnerships, a real understanding of our communities and the hard work, dedication and vision of our employees.”

The full wording of Coun Harvey’s motion to Wakefield Council states:

This council notes that Barnsley MBC has recently been awarded by the LGC, The Council of the Year Award

This council resolves:

To instruct Coun Jeffery as leader of Wakefield Council to set up an urgent meeting with the leader of Barnsley Council to address Wakefield’s discrepancies in this regard and to learn important lessons as to how Wakefield can do better moving forward.

To set up a cross-council working group of elected members to help Wakefield Council draw up an improvement plan to address its failings in these matters.