Massive Efficiency Gains Provide More Resources for Better Services (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

Leeds Liberal Democrats <info@leedslibdems.org.uk>

Massive Efficiency Gains Provide More Resources for Better Services

November 23, 2005 12:00 AM

Leeds City Council has announced that it expects to achieve cumulative efficiencies of over £26 million by the end of 2005/06; £11 million more than the Government asked for.

Leader of the Council Mark Harris (Lib Dem, Moortown) said "This is yet more evidence that the Council is in safe financial hands under the current administration. The first thing I did when I became Leader of the Council in June 2004 was to call for a comprehensive review of the Council's finances. That is paying dividends now."

"The extra £11 million that we have identified allows us to continue to improve services without putting the burden on to the Council Tax payer, and without having to make cuts."

"This sort of financial prudence enabled us to make last year's Council Tax rise the lowest in years, keeping Council Tax in Leeds at the lowest rate of any of the 'Core Cities'. As part of the same budget we provided huge budget increases for frontline services such as Social Services and Education, and committed an additional £8 million of capital finance to reduce the huge backlog of highway maintenance we inherited from Labour. We have also started to address the low level of reserves we inherited and increase these to put the Council's long term funding on a more secure basis."

Note to Editors:

1. Following the Gershon Review of Local Government finance, all local authorities are currently required to find a minimum of 2.5% worth of efficiency savings annually. For Leeds, this equates to a target of £15.34m. The Council's Mid Year Return predicts cumulative efficiencies in excess of £26m by the end of 2005/06.

2. Council Tax for Band D properties in each of the Core Cities is as follows: Birmingham: £1,013.64

Bristol: £1,116.20

Leeds: £929.74

Liverpool: £1,112.48

Manchester: £1,016.78

Newcastle: £1,191.92

Nottingham: £1,131.28

Sheffield: £1,114.50

The views in this Press Release are those of the Liberal Democrat Council Group, and not necessarily those of Leeds City Council, its Officers or of the Liberal Democrat Party.