Leeds City Council’s net revenue to be set at £510m
Leeds City Council will next week set its budget and has confirmed that its overall net revenue budget – how much it needs for the coming year – has been set at £510.9m, up by £18.2m from last year.
The council said that supporting adults’ and children’s services will account for 63.4% of the spending. Excluding any increase in precepts for fire and police services, a proposed council tax rise of 4.99% is planned, comprising an increase in standard council tax of 2.99%, with a further 2% adult social care precept.
The amended proposals take into account the confirmation that the government accepted the application from the Leeds City Region business rates pool, of which the council is a member, to keep 100% of business rates in return for forgoing revenue support grant cash. This will be on a one-year pilot basis.
Meanwhile, reduced core funding and cost pressures means that the council will also have to find £33.9m of savings by March 2019. Overall it will have seen its budgets in recent years shrink by £267m by 2020.
Finalised budget proposals will go to Leeds City Council’s executive board next week as the council continues to balance reductions in funding with ever-increasing demands on services.
Since initial plans were published in December, the council has been told its funding from government under the provisional local government finance settlement has been reduced by £14.1m, as anticipated.
Meanwhile, there is a new plan to take on around 100 new staff in Leeds Building Services to do work that previously would have been done by external contractors. The expansion would increase overall numbers of council staff by 59, since they are reducing elsewhere, in the coming year.
Leeds City Council Leader, Councillor Judith Blake, said: “After many years of doing everything within our power to make our budget balance in the face of sustained reductions to funding we have reached a point where further efficiencies are hard to find.
“We are absolutely committed to protecting frontline services, particularly for the growing numbers of vulnerable people who need our care most. To balance those burgeoning costs, we continue to look at ways to make the most of our limited funds and the investment in staff for Leeds Building Services is a great example of that.
“While we welcome the opportunity to invest all income from business rates locally we do need longer-term certainty to enable us to gain the greatest benefit through a proper planned approach to that investment.”
The executive board meets on February 7. The budget proposals will be considered alongside other connected reports including the capital programme, which outlines how the council intends to assemble £1,472.3m of funding from its own and other sources to invest in the local economy.
