Council unveils ‘painful’ budget for Leeds
LEEDS City Council has revealed it is to save a further £55m by “making painful decisions we could no longer avoid”.
The £54.9m cuts for the 2013/14 financial year add to the £145m saved over the last two years by the Council.
Coincil leader Keith Wakefield said the savings would protect essential services but he expressed his “frustration and disappointment” after claiming that Leeds had been given the worst government settlement of all the core cities except one.
He said: “This will inevitably see some services changing and others being stopped altogether but we remain committed to protecting services for our most vulnerable residents.”
For business, Leeds City Council said it would look to maximise the benefits of the Government’s City Deal programme by devolving powers and funding to the Leeds City Region.
And there will be a focus on offering apprenticeships and job opportunities for young people.
Among the changes proposed in the 2013/14 budget are the increase of council house rents, garage rents and service charges by 5.9%; an above-inflation rise in council fees and charges to raise additional £1.4m; a review of car parking fees for evenings and Sundays; and the seasonal closure of heritage facilities
Coun Wakefield said: “Again this year the statistics show that Leeds has been hit harder than all the other core cities except one in terms of funding from the Government. As a result in order to do all we can to protect essential services we have had to look at making decisions which previously we would have considered unthinkable.
“A lot of people have maybe become indifferent to the negative messages coming from all corners of the economy, but unfortunately this year with changes to welfare benefits and the continuing budget reductions the reality of the situation is going to start hitting home and people are going to be faced with some big decisions about their lifestyles and spending.
“We are doing all we can to keep the impact of these changes to a minimum, but at the same time we also have a firm commitment to growth, embracing new ideas and working together to deliver a strong future for Leeds.”
The Council is also looking to make a further £4.5m savings by reducing staffing levels by 334 full-time equivalents, not including schools staff, as part of a drive to reduce staff numbers by 2,500 from April 2010 to March 2015.
Commenting on the City Deal, Coun Wakefield added: “The City Deal offers us the chance to make a real difference to the Leeds economy and that of the wider region, helping businesses develop which will hopefully result in job creation, while the apprenticeship programmes are absolutely vital to offering young people who currently are in danger of missing out altogether a chance to learn a skill and forge careers for themselves which is hugely important.”
