Massive investment to be injected into Social Services in Leeds (Leeds Liberal Democrats)

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

Massive investment to be injected into Social Services in Leeds

February 28, 2006 12:00 AM

Council chiefs have unveiled a huge growth in spending in Social Services in Leeds to boost services where they are most needed. An extra £17m has been invested in the department, more than any other local authority in the country. The massive investment rejects government advice of increasing spending in Social Services by only 2.5%, and instead has injected a whopping £17m of cash into the service to increase delivery of services to the people of Leeds.

The extra money will be divided up throughout the whole department, with services receiving an increase in cash over the coming financial year. One area for special investment is in the Adult care budget, with an extra £11.63m being made available for care of the elderly and supported adults over the age of 65.

Councillor Mark Harris (Lib Dem, Moortown), Executive Board Member for Central and Corporate Services said "This investment is an important step for Social Services care in the City of Leeds. It clearly demonstrates the commitment of the ruling parties to caring for those who are most marginalised and vulnerable in our society"

"When the people of Leeds voted us into power in 2004, the Social Services budget was in a terrible state, this huge investment is part of a huge programme of investments and improvements which has aimed to repair the damage done to Social Services during the previous leadership"

The Liberal Democrat, Conservative and Green administration have had to pay off a £14m deficit inherited from the Labour leadership. Figures show that the new administration has increased spending on Social Services by over 20%, or £38 million in over 2 years, since the coalition came into power, with departmental overspend reducing year on year. The improvements in Social Services were a critical factor in Leeds City Council being rated as a 4* local authority by the Audit Commission in 2005.

Councillor Mark Harris added "We recognise the significant achievement of the Social Services employees to control spending and improve service delivery since 2004. However, we still believe there are improvements to be made. There is no question that we have invested significantly in local services; on this evidence no one can accuse us of cutting spending on core service areas. It is a fact that overall there is now almost an extra £50m more budgeted this year than the last administration spent in it's last year in power. There is no room for complacency however. Much more work needs to be done, particularly when it comes to "Narrowing the Gap" between those who are benefiting fully from Leeds' prosperity and those who are missing out."

Notes to Editors

A Council Tax increase of 4.5% was agreed by Leeds City Council at its budget meeting today.

Council Tax in Leeds remains the lowest in comparison to other Core Cities, and is still one of the lowest compared with authorities in the West Yorkshire region.

The Labour government gave Leeds an increase of 2.5% in its grant, which was for all services except schools.

This only allowed for increased spending of £2.7million without an increase in Council Tax.

The Liberal Democrat/Conservative/Green administration proposed an increase in spending in local services of £17m

This is £14.3million more than the government allocated to services in Leeds.

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.