Council must make £270m in further savings

Leeds City Council has to make more than £270m of further savings

Leeds City Council has said it needs to make £273.7m in further savings over the next five financial years.

The authority said it had already made savings of more than £794m from 2010 to the end of the current financial year.

The council was facing "significantly increased costs to provide services and rising demand", especially for services for vulnerable young people and adults, a spokesperson said.

Leeds City Council deputy leader and executive member for resources Debra Coupar said it was an "incredibly difficult situation".

'Most challenging period'

Coupar said: “It is not an overstatement to say that this is the most challenging financial period so far facing local authorities.

“Following 15 years of sustained reductions in local government funding, we are now reaching a stage where councils simply cannot continue to balance their budgets in the face of escalating demand for some of the most costly services for our most vulnerable adults and children."

She said all council assets and services were being "continuously assessed and reviewed" to see where further savings could be made.

Its workforce had already been reduced by nearly a fifth, she added.

Since 2018 seven councils in England have effectively declared themselves bankrupt by issuing section 114 notices.

According to the Local Government Association, which represents local authorities, last year almost one in five council leaders and chief executives thought it was "likely or very likely" they would have to issue a 114 notice before the end of this year.

In January, the previous government announced a £600m funding boost for England's local authorities, with £500m ringfenced to help fund children's and adult social care.

Leeds City Council said the main pressures being faced included:

• Increases in the number of children looked after due to more children with more significant needs requiring care, along with significant increases in the cost of these placements through private providers, resulting in an average cost of external residential placements of £350,000 per year per placement.

• Continued rising-demand pressures within adult social care for older people showing an increased cost of £600,000 to date this year.

• Demand for support for adults with learning disabilities and those with mental health needs continuing to rise sharply.

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