Your Leeds local election 2018 A to Z: Killingbeck & Seacroft

KILLINGBECK AND SEACROFT - KEY ISSUES AND NUMBERS

Killingbeck and Seacroft sits in the inner east area of Leeds and includes Crossgates (West), Fearnville, Hollin Park, Killingbeck, Monkswood and Seacroft in its boundaries.

The ward is the ninth smallest and the tenth most populated of the 33 electoral wards in Leeds.

It could be one of the more unpredictable wards on May 3, as it has been subject to some political turbulence in recent months due to the defection of a Labour councillor to become independent.

The Liberal Democrats are putting up just one candidate, while Labour is putting up three brand new candidates. The Yorkshire Party has also chosen the ward to put up one of its handful of candidates. The most populous age groups are the 25-49 bracket (32 per cent of residents) and one in five people living there are children under 15. It’s a fairly young, family-centred and mostly working class ward, with an average age of 37.1, and average house prices of £123,000.

The population is mostly white British (86.5 per cent). There are serious problems with unemployment. Latest data from Leeds City Council’s own ward profiles shows there are twice the amount of working age benefits claimants in the ward (22.6 per cent) compared to the citywide average.

The number of claimants of jobseekers allowance has actually dropped in the past year, however there has been an increase in Universal Credit claimants. The number of NEETS in the area (young people who are not in education, employment or training) is also higher than the city-wide average, with almost one in 10 youngsters classified as NEET.

Crime levels in the ward are also higher than the city average. In the period from April 2016 to March 2017, there were 166.4 crimes per 1000 of the population.

The city-wide figure is 107.4. Local election turnout in the last ballot in 2016 was just 27.8 per cent, lower than the city rate.

Wider issues causing concern to voters include a perceived lack of adequate children’s amenities and playgrounds in the area; speeding in residential areas; a lack of sports amenities and poor transport links to get to them and under-use of Fearnville fields.

The latter has been at the centre of a controversial to-and-fro about its future in recent months.

The council earlier this year dropped plans to build a new school on the protected green space. The construction of the 1,200-place free school on a section of the King George V playing fields, known as Fearnville Fields, had faced mounting opposition from local residents, and the authority decided ultimately to look at alternative sites.

>What else matters to voters in Killingbeck and Seacroft? Email [email protected].