Leeds Council budget cuts: Job losses, building closures and new car parking charges agreed

Council services face millions of pounds in cuts after the spending plans were agreed for the coming financial year, as the cash-strapped council seeks to balance its books.

Council tax will rise by 4.98 per cent and rents by 7.7 per cent after the budget for 2024/25 was debated at a full council meeting.

Parking charges will be introduced at beauty spots including Roundhay Park, Otley Chevin and Golden Acre Park under the budget plans. 

The council needs to make £63.9m in savings by March 2025 in order to balance its budget and avoid issuing a section 114 notice, effectively declaring bankruptcy.

And further cuts are expected in future years as the council faces further budget gaps of £64.6m in 2025/26 and £47.1m in 2026/27.

Council bosses have warned that the authority cannot continue to provide all its current services following cuts in central government funding.

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As the council debated the cuts in a full council meeting, council leader James Lewis said: “Today this administration is putting forward a balanced budget, which is a remarkable achievement given the national financial crisis facing local government.

"The huge scale of the problem is well known. There is no magic wand, instead it will be a long road to improve things.”

Conservative group leader Alan Lamb criticised budget decisions by the council, including spending on the 2023 official year of culture.

He said: “He portrays us as the victims of circumstances while never taking responsibility for the poor decisions he and the administration have taken.

"They promised to unleash culture. Instead they unleashed an enormous bill and a package of cuts to services and the introduction of fees and charges for things people have never had to pay for before. It doesn’t have to be this way.”

The council has already reduced staffing by more than 2,500 full time posts since December 2023, with hundreds more expected to go.

Liberal Democrat group leader Stewart Golton told the meeting: “Right now, thanks to decisions that this administration has made or has planned, the people that I represent feel like the receivers have been sent into our community, and we’re rapidly being liquidated."

The parking charge plans faced public opposition when surveys were carried out.

Coun Barry Anderson, Conservative member for Adel and Wharefedale, said: “Eighty per cent of people said no. But this council said, ‘Yes, we know better than the public out there’.”

Pudsey Civic Hall faces closure to save cash, despite making a modest financial surplus and being used by thousands of people a year.

Coun Andrew Carter, Conservative member for Calverley and Farsley, said: “It is a success story, not a facility that’s due for closure.”

Councillors debated 63 amendments from opposition parties which would have cancelled parts of the savings programme. All the amendments were voted down.

Some of the key elements agreed by the council are:

• Knowle Manor Care Home in Morley to close, Dolphin Manor Care Home in Rothwell to be repurposed as recovery hub
• Reviews of fees and charges for adult social care in Leeds
• Review of council-managed children’s centres and Little Owls nurseries,
• Review of fees and pricing for the hiring of community centres in Leeds
• Charging proposed to be introduced at car parks at Barley Hill Road in Garforth, Netherfield Road in Guiseley, Fink Hill in Horsforth and Marsh Street in Rothwell
• Car parking charging introduced at Middleton Park, Roundhay Park and Temple Newsam Park, Golden Acre Park and Otley Chevin Forest Park
• Pudsey Civic Hall which operates at a loss to be closed and potentially made available for sale
• Council to seek to end lease at Thwaite Watermill Museum (Thwaite Mills) through discussions with owners Canal & River Trust
• Bulky waste removal charges to remain free for each household’s first collection and then be reintroduced for more than one collection in the same year
• Council staffing levels to reduce by up to 750 full-time equivalent posts by the end of the 2024/25 financial year
• The council's specialist therapy service for vulnerable families, Multi-Systemic Therapy Child Abuse and Neglect team (MST-CAN), to be axed

Leeds City Council statement

A spokesperson said: "The Council first published initial budget proposals for the 2024/2025 financial year in December 2023 and agreed to start a series of consultations. 

"Yesterday’s vote in full council gave approval to proceed with the various reviews and consultations that are currently underway. No amenities or services will immediately close following the budget vote.     “The decision to close a service or amenity will be taken in accordance with the council’s constitution via delegated decisions by chief officers, directors, or through a decision report presented to the executive board.”