By Don Mort, local democracy reporter
Council tax will rise by almost five per cent after budget plans for the next financial year were approved.
Leeds City Council said there would be more cash for community services as its plans for 2026/27 were voted through.
Measures to save £46.6m next year were set out in a debate at Leeds Civic Hall.
Councillors were told that despite the required savings, some £71.1m in extra cash had been made available for the city.
Labour council leader James Lewis said the financial situation had improved since the Conservatives were in power.
Action to tackle potholes and fly-tipping were among planned improvements.
Coun Lewis said: “These are fully-funded frontline interventions which which would not be possible under Conservative austerity.”
Council tax will increase by 4.99 per cent, of which two per cent would be used to fund adult social care.
An additional £54.6m had been committed to fund care services for people of all ages.
Coun Lewis said: “This will help us meet rising demand and cost pressures.”
Some 64 amendments to the budget plans were tabled by the city’s opposition groups, but defeated by the Labour majority.
The Liberal Democrats wanted to end a “bunker mentality” at the council and make services more accountable.
Among their alternative budget proposals was putting £2.4m towards making public parks more accessible.
Group leader Stewart Golton said: “Of course to get to their local park, disabled people need to be able to leave their house to get there, but too often that path is literally blocked.”
Some amendments called for the scrapping of parking charges in town centres and beauty spots.
Conservative group leader Alan Lamb said businesses had been hit by the charges.
He said: “That is how you drain life from a town centre. This policy was not a financial necessity. It was a political choice.”
Labour’s budget plans were approved following the five-hour debate on Wednesday.
Job losses, parking charges and building sales were previously announced as the council faced required savings of more than £100m in the current financial year.
So under Leeds Labour, our councillors voted for:
✅ £13 million every year additional into pothole repair, and an extra £1 million this year to invest in new pothole technologies.
✅ A new ‘Pride in our streets team’ for extra local action on fly-tipping, litter, graffiti, and anti-social behaviour.
✅ 1000 new litter bins across the whole city
✅ £1.5 million for improvements to play areas
✅ £200m to deliver the next phase of our Council House growth programme
✅ Increasing the pay of the lowest paid, keeping up with the living wage foundation real living wage of £13.45 an hour as a minimum
None of these things could have been possible without the extra money we received from our Labour Government.
Almost 70% of what the council spends goes on children’s & adult’s social care as these costs and demand continues to rise, so working out how we best spend the rest of Leeds’ money is tough as there are always competing asks.
Between 2010 and 2024, the Conservatives cut £2.7 billion from Leeds. We see how those cuts affected everything in our city, from potholes to bins to social care.
With Labour in Government, we are receiving millions more every year. It will take time to recover from those cuts, but this is what we’re spending it on to make Leeds better.
⚠️ You will hear from opposition Councillors that Labour voted down amendments of various kinds. What they will not tell you is that their amendments would put the council at a greater financial risk. For example the Conservatives proposed around 8 million in efficiency savings from using AI which they then allocated to various things. They did not say how, what, when or the form the AI savings would take.
⚠️ The Conservative Councillor in one ward has stated that Labour voted against an amendment for £1million injection into pot hole repairs. For a start he got his numbers wrong, secondly £1 million would be woefully inadequate. Labour voted for something more ambitious
But we are proud that we are always protecting our city’s most vulnerable first, and helping ensure Leeds is fairer, greener & safer.
Thanks to Cllr Craig Timmins and Cllr Peter Carlill for this synopsis.
Given 70% of the councils spend is on Adult and Childrens social care, why aren’t you investigating why that figure is such a high total and looking for savings in that area given even a few % would bring back millions into the coffers?