The year's biggest Leeds council talking points including a failed Eurovision bid and a spat with Liz Truss

Anyone who says local politics is dull need only look at what’s happened at Civic Hall in Leeds over the last 12 months, where events have been anything but.

And in 2022, local authorities across the UK showed again why they and the decisions they make are so important. It was they that administered the on-the-ground response to the Ukraine refugee crisis as well as the payments to the generous people who welcomed them into their homes.

Their welfare teams handled rising demand as the cost-of-living crisis hit most of us – but particularly the most vulnerable – very hard. And they led their towns and cities in mourning as we lost Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

In Leeds, where the UK’s second largest local authority sits, all of this has happened and more. With rising energy costs and demand in social care, the city council itself is anything but immune to economic pressures itself. For the first time in living memory, it’s having to use its cash reserves to ensure it can deliver a balanced budget and pay its bills on time – a position its leaders warn isn’t sustainable.

Council taxpayers, who’ve already been getting fewer services for more money for several years, are likely to see that continue and become ever more visible. But while the economic outlook is far from rosy, 2023 will mark Leeds’ long-awaited Year of Culture and with it, some much-needed fun and entertainment.

It’s widely viewed as a massive opportunity to promote the city nationally and internationally, draw on its rich (but often untapped) cultural heritage and inspire the current generation of schoolchildren to become our next artists, dancers, poets and beatboxers.

It looks like there’ll be plenty of talking points in 2023 as well thanks to the unfinished political business around the Otley Run, the council’s fallout with the local taxi trade, efforts to stop the government creating more academies, knackered public transport, staff shortages across public services and another round of local elections.

But before turning the page on another year, here’s a round-up of some of the big stories that have spilled out of Leeds’ Civic Hall over the last 12 months, where so many decisions that affect all of us are made.

January

- The city’s director of public health says Leeds needs to “keep hold of every care worker we can” amid a serious shortage of staff in the sector. Nearly 300 patients are stuck in hospital, despite being medically fit to leave, because of the issue.

- Taxi drivers go on strike in protest at proposed changes to licensing rules, which would see the penalty points threshold for which they could be banned reduced.

- A High Court judge rules the council acted unlawfully by refusing to list TV Harrison Sports Ground in Wortley as an asset of community value. Campaigners had been fighting plans to build houses on the land.

February

- A new environmental crime unit is set up to tackle industrial-scale fly-tipping in the city.

- A rare order banning anyone from entering a Beeston home linked to drug dealing is granted by a court, following an application by the council.

- Calls to the council’s customer service centre are taking longer than 10 minutes to be answered, on average, according to a report.

March

- Leeds Bradford Airport abandons its expansion plans, for which it received planning permission in 2021. Environmental campaigners celebrate the news.

- The council’s energy bill is forecast to rise by £9m this year.

April

- Dozens of EU-funded council jobs are revealed to be at risk, though the authority later gives assurances that they are likely to be saved.

- It’s revealed the local NHS is grappling with a backlog of tuberculosis patients, with Leeds currently suffering from more cases than the national average.

May

- At the local elections, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) wins its first council seat in Leeds since the late-1980s, surprisingly defeating Labour in the Middleton Park ward. Labour enjoys success in other parts of the city, however, boosting its majority and taking seats off the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Greens.- Following the elections Labour holds 58 of the council’s 99 seats, with the Conservatives on 21 and the Lib Dems on seven.

- Long-serving Morley councillor and former deputy headteacher Bob Gettings is appointed the city’s new Lord Mayor.

June

- Conservative group leader Andrew Carter brands the road surface at Stanningley Bottom in west Leeds “dangerous” and likens it to the surface of the moon, as he urges the council to improve it and change its layout.

- Leeds launches its bid to host the Eurovision Song Contest in 2023, but ultimately loses out to Liverpool in the race to stage the competition.

July

- Leeds twins with Kharkiv in act of solidarity with the under-siege Ukrainian city.

- Headingley councillor Neil Walshaw says Otley Run pub crawlers make the area “look like Magaluf” on weekends, triggering months of public debate and criticism of anti-social binge drinkers.

- It’s revealed UNISON lodged a formal grievance with the council about social workers’ caseloads earlier this year. Conservative councillors criticise the administration for their handling of the saga, but the ruling Labour group insists the issues are being addressed and the service is well-run.

August

- Liberal Democrat group leader Stewart Golton tells how a Ukrainian refugee in his Rothwell ward considered returning home to get dental treatment, because she couldn’t access any in Leeds. A BBC investigation this month found that no NHS dental practices in the city were accepting new patients.

- Liz Truss sparks a row when she claims Leeds City Council “cared more about political correctness” than “teaching English and maths” when she was at school in the city in the 1980s and 1990s. She repeats the jibe in her first Conservative Party conference as Prime Minister in September, but lasts just weeks in the job.

September

- The Leeds public lays flowers on the steps of Civic Hall following the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Hundreds sign a book of condolence inside the building.

- Only a quarter of people feel safe on Leeds’ roads, a wide-ranging survey reveals.

- New rules which could see local taxi drivers banned if they get nine points on their licence – down from the previous threshold of 12 – are passed and later come into effect. Subsequent attempts by Opposition councillors and the trade to reverse the decision are unsuccessful.

- The council reveals plans to close Queensway Primary School in Guiseley, prompting protests from parents, governors and staff.

October

- A senior highways officer reveals 15 miles of road in Leeds is falling into decline every year, because of a lack of funding.

- Almost half of Leeds Muslims don’t feel treated as equal citizens, a report on Islamophobia finds.

- Popular actor Bernard Atha, who was one of Leeds’ longest-serving councillors and a leading figure in the city’s arts scene, dies aged 94.

November

- First Bus’ West Yorkshire chief admits his company is providing its “worst service for 40 years”. Throughout the year, operators have slashed routes and changed timetables, citing a shortage of bus drivers.

- Council leader James Lewis says swimming pools may have to stay closed for longer to save public money and energy.

- The council abandons plans to shut Queensway Primary School, in a move labelled a “screeching U-turn” by the Leader of the Opposition.

December

- The council unveils its plans to save £43m of public money next year. Among the proposals, the local authority intends to dim streetlights, end Bonfire Night displays and close nurseries, while rent for council tenants is set to rise by seven per cent.

- Armley councillor Lou Cunningham defects from Labour to the Green Party, having previously indicated she would stand down at the local elections next year.