The leader of Leeds City Council, James Lewis, has called for “fundamental changes” to how local government is funded as the authority revealed it needs to find almost £70m of savings to balance its budget next year.
A report to be presented at a meeting of the council’s executive board on 14 December detailed Leeds’ proposed budget for 2023/24. It outlined that the authority faces a £69.8m shortfall and proposed measures to produce savings of £42.6m to help bridge the budget gap.
The measures proposed in the report include increasing the general council tax by 4.99%, with 2% of that earmarked for tackling adult social care costs and raising council housing rents by 7%.
Lewis said: “The system of how councils are funded needs a fundamental change as it is simply not realistic or sustainable for councils like ours to keep finding significant savings year on year to deliver a balanced budget.
“We have seen core government funding for Leeds reduced by approximately £263m for each year between 2011 and 2023 yet the need for services remains high.”
He said that councils’ funding from the government is worked out using “outdated formulas” rather than considering need across all service areas, including health, housing, and social care.
“A Fair Funding Review was announced by the government back in 2016, and we need an update as to when its findings will be implemented to move to more of a needs-based system,” Lewis added.
To produce further savings to bridge the funding gap, Lewis detailed that the council would have to review the number of Little Owls nurseries and increase the number of parks and attractions where it charges for car parking.
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