Leeds City Council is considering a number of additional measures, including significant job cuts, building closures and asset sales, as the latest step in October’s ongoing major budget challenges.
At the Council of the Council’s meeting in the Citizens Hall on Wednesday, January 18, a series of reports will discuss the financial situation the Council is currently facing and will be contested together over the next few years.
Despite setting a balanced budget in May, the council faces extra year pressures leading to a waste of £29.6 m for the current financial year, reflecting a problem felt nationally as a result of rising costs and demand for services, especially for looked-after children and those with special care and educational needs. For adult social care, along with a nationally agreed salary increase for municipal staff.
All services have made proposals to make these savings, but there remains a need for further savings over the next three years, with an estimated funding gap of £162.8 m by the end of March 2027 and a further financial year of £59.2m in 2024/25.
To overcome this challenge and meet our legal obligation to provide a balanced budget every year, the Council will continue to conduct ongoing services and asset reviews October in addition to hiring freezes, as well as non-mandatory expenses, unless required for health and safety or legal reasons.
However, as more significant measures are needed, the Council has today issued a formal Article 188 notice in consultation with trade unions to prevent, mitigate and mitigate the potential risks and consequences of mandatory measures. redundancy.By the board will have to reduce its workforce by up to 750 full-time equivalent posts by the end of the 2024/25 financial year. It is managed using various methods, including flexible retirement and voluntary retirement plans, as well as natural turnover of staff, and compulsory redundancy is a last resort. In terms of its overall size, the council now has fewer than 3,500 staff, down from 3,500 in 2011.
As part of an ongoing service and asset review, the Council will continually assess the properties it owns and manages across the city. On average, about 10 buildings are released per year, and as part of this process, another 4 buildings may be closed by the end of the year due to low occupancy rates and increased maintenance costs. These are located near Adams Court, 15 Lavender Walk, Bloom Hill Family Center and Foxcroft. As a result of these proposed closures, staff will be affected and the services they provide will be relocated.
The additional arrangement is being considered as the October sale of four assets owned by the council and currently leased to operators. These are Swingate Car Park, Harper Street Car Park, St George House and 2180 Thorpe Park. they are century-old roads. If these are sold, it will provide a significant amount of funding for the Council, which will be used to alleviate financial difficulties.
“The proposal announced today is for us to be upfront and clear with everyone about the scale of the challenges we and councils are facing across the country,” he said. After responding to austerity over the past 13 years, no matter how mouth-watering, we have unfortunately reached the stage where we need to look at all options, which include compulsory redundancy and the possibility of closing buildings, selling assets. and undoubtedly the effects that will stop or reduce some municipal services.
“Given the scale of the funding gap, we will be looking at all buildings on council estate, from civic halls to community facilities, and identifying what can be disposed of while serving the public.
“All council areas are doing everything possible to mitigate the impact by focusing on ensuring people continue to rely on all communities and provide frontline and essential services to support our most vulnerable residents, but as with councils across the country, we cannot solve these financial challenges alone. The government now needs to address this crisis in local government finances as a matter of urgency.”.