Leeds City Council's plan to cut 750 jobs 'extremely worrying' - union

Council leader James Lewis said the authority would be reviewing all services over the next couple of months

Plans to axe 750 Leeds City Council jobs to address financial deficits are "extremely worrying", a union has said.

The authority said there was a funding gap of £168.2m up to the end of March 2027, with £59.2m relating to the next financial year.

It said it would be reviewing all council services and finances including the sale of some of its assets.

Unison said it would mean a decline in services affecting the city's most vulnerable people.

The council said compulsory redundancies would be a last resort.

Under the plans, up to 750 full-time equivalent posts would be cut by the end of the 2024/2025 financial year, council-owned car parks and the Civic Hall could also be put up for sale.

Leeds City Council is facing a significant funding gap

Brendan Cafferty, Unison's regional organiser, said the cuts were "a huge concern".

"Cutting jobs will mean services deteriorate and people in Leeds reliant on those services will suffer. They deserve better," he said.

Martyn Walker, Unison's Leeds local government branch secretary, said the union was "ready to ballot staff for strike action" if needed.

His assistant, Mick Binks, said: "Staff have suffered a real terms pay cut over the past 13 years while hundreds of job cuts have been made. But the workload stays the same, and staff continue to provide services for the city."

Alan Lamb, leader of the authority's Conservative group, said he was concerned by the council's priorities on its recent expenditure including nearly £6m on Leeds 2023, which was "not a good use of money".

"Think of the services that could have been protected if we hadn't spent that money. We could have had the year of culture without spending all that money."

Alan Lamb, leader of the authority's Conservative group, questioned the council's priorities

Following a meeting on Wednesday, council leader James Lewis said a "fully costed plan" of the measures would be outlined in December.

"There will be changes to council services.

"It is very difficult to give reassurances at this point given the scale of the challenge that we face, but we will do everything to protect the most vulnerable and try and keep the city clean and safe."