Leeds City Council has published its final budget proposals for 2026/27, outlining plans to safeguard and enhance the essential everyday services residents depend on, while continuing to invest in care and support for vulnerable people.
Budget papers confirm a significant uplift in government funding for Leeds for a second consecutive year, with resources set to rise by £71.1m next year following the government’s Fair Funding Review. The plans will be considered by the council’s executive board ahead of a full debate and vote at a meeting in Leeds Civic Hall on Wednesday 25 February.
A key change for local authorities is the return to a three-year funding settlement for councils, replacing the more uncertain one-year settlements of recent years. Final confirmation of government funding levels is expected later this month, with the council saying the longer settlement should provide more stability and enable clearer financial planning over the three-year period.
The council says its budget is focused on maintaining and improving core services, including free bin and recycling collections, road maintenance and pothole repairs, and stronger action to tackle fly-tipping across neighbourhoods. It also places significant emphasis on services for children, families and adults, reflecting continued demand pressures in social care.
Plans show that 67 per cent of the council’s net budget for next year is allocated to children and families, and adults and health. In response to rising need, the budget includes an additional £54.6m to support care services for people of all ages, alongside a further £12.4m to meet increased costs and demand for temporary accommodation.
Despite the additional funding, the council says changing demand and population pressures, particularly in social care — mean it must still find £46.6m in savings next year to balance the budget. It adds that this will see the organisation shrink in some areas, while continuing to modernise and improve efficiency.
Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor James Lewis said:
“We are very pleased to have not only significant additional funding for a second year but also the stability around knowing our financial position for the next three years, which makes a big difference to planning how best to make use of our available resources to support people in Leeds and make their lives better and easier.
“We are committed to doing everything we can to help our most vulnerable residents, but also on improving and delivering the everyday services people expect and rely on such as free bin collections, supporting recycling, tackling potholes and combatting flytipping.
“The council and its staff have worked incredibly hard since 2010 to make significant savings every year, and while that challenge continues we look forward to developing the city with confidence in the coming years, through our Team Leeds approach to working with everyone in all communities to make Leeds the best city it can be and a great place to work, live and visit.”
The proposals include a 4.99 per cent increase in council tax, with two per cent of that rise dedicated to supporting adult social care costs. For a band D property in Leeds, the increase would equate to £90.61 a year — around £1.74 extra per week. The council notes that council tax in Leeds is currently the second lowest among comparable English core cities, and also second lowest across West Yorkshire districts.
On waste services, an additional £8m is allocated to help maintain free garden waste collections and recycling, including glass collected through the green bin. The council has also announced a trial to begin collecting food waste via the brown bin.
The council says it has recently been highlighted by the government for its highways maintenance approach, with an extra £13m of capital funding invested each year to improve roads and tackle potholes — although it acknowledges a substantial maintenance backlog of around £300m. The budget also includes measures aimed at strengthening the authority’s longer-term resilience, with plans to return £49.6m to reserves next year and build that to £55.3m by 2030/31.
The proposals reflect the council’s new Council Plan to ‘reset and reshape’ the organisation through four linked themes: improving organisational effectiveness and resilience; driving growth and increasing revenue; reducing demand in social care and social housing through prevention; and locality working with partners and communities to secure investment and deliver improvements.
As part of that reshaping, the council has continued efforts to reduce its estate and overall footprint in the city, with a stated aim of operating from fewer, better-quality buildings that are better used. More than 120 buildings have been released in recent years, generating over £28m in capital receipts and more than £9m in cost savings.
The council also points to movement in the national Index of Multiple Deprivation as an indicator of progress on tackling poverty and inequality. In 2015, Leeds had 16 areas in the lowest one per cent of neighbourhoods nationally. That fell to 12 in 2019, and to seven in the latest 2025 rankings.
In terms of staffing, the council says the 2026/27 plans include only modest changes, reflecting its approach to reshaping the organisation and work with trade unions to avoid, reduce and mitigate the need for compulsory redundancies. The authority currently employs 3,623 fewer staff than it did in 2010/11, and a review of senior staffing levels across the organisation is ongoing. From April 1, the council says it will pay the increased Real Living Wage of £13.45 an hour, as part of its commitment to supporting lower-paid staff.
While the three-year settlement is intended to improve predictability, provisional projections for Leeds show a funding gap of £51m in 2027/28 and £60.9m in 2028/29, though the figures are subject to change. The year 2026 also marks a civic milestone, with Leeds marking 400 years since it received its first Royal Charter. A year-long programme of events and activities is planned across the city, working with communities to celebrate the anniversary www.leeds.gov.uk
The 2026/27 Revenue Budget and Council Tax reports have been published and are available to view on the council’s website at www.democracy.leeds.gov.uk
More information on the Leeds Ambitions is available at www.leedsambitions.co.uk Further details on the new Council Plan can be found in the Council and Democracy section of the council’s website.
