Please find below the latest Council update:
This final planned update of 2023 includes information about Christmas and New Year arrangements, as well as emergency cover, and the usual round up of updates for you.
Christmas and New Year arrangements: From Monday 25 December 2023 to Tuesday 2 January 2024 inclusive, many council buildings are closed over to enable us to save energy and reduce costs. Detailed arrangements are in place for services over the Festive period to maintain essential services and respond to genuinely urgent and important issues of an emergency nature, whilst other services are closed to enable colleagues to take their annual leave and have a break. Civic Hall can still be accessed over this period if absolutely necessary and details of building closures can be found here. Below are details of webpages and numbers you may find useful if there is an emergency over this period.
- Our general enquiries line is 0113 222 4444 (Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm, except Wednesdays when lines open at 10am).
- Housing Leeds, including housing repairs can be contacted on 0800 1884000 or 0113 37 60410.
- You can find all our out of hours lines here and details on our Christmas opening hours.
- Flooding advice is here and Leeds Floodline can be contacted on 0345 988 1188 (24 hour service). Live updates from Twitter: (LCC) @LeedsCC_News @LeedsFAS @leedsemergency @EnvAgencyYNE
Support with the cost of living: Leeds City Council has a dedicated Cost of Living website which offers help, support, and advice on a range of financial issues, including housing, food, fuel, health, and more, as well as information about Zero Waste Leeds who have free winter coats available for families who need them at collection points across the city. The website also includes free or low-cost activities things to do for families in Leeds. Further information on all of this and more, can be found on our website Together Leeds, so please do promote this to those who need it.
Proposed 2024/25 Budget and Best City Ambition Consultation: The city wide consultation on the council’s 2024/25 proposed budget is now live. Alongside this the consultation also includes a section covering our refreshed Best City Ambition which was also discussed at Executive Board last week. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete and closes on 10th January and can be access through this link here. Please share with your communities.
Health and Wellbeing in Leeds: Two new plans have been formally launched which aim to improve people’s health and wellbeing in Leeds, linked to the Best City Ambition. The Leeds Health and Wellbeing Strategy sets a long term vision to tackling health and care inequalities, aiming to break the link between poverty and poor health. Informed by conversations with people and partners, this strategy reaffirms our vision for Leeds to be a ‘healthy and caring city for all ages, where people who are the poorest improve their health the fastest’. The Healthy Leeds Plan unites partners, including the health and care system, outlining how collectively they will contribute to the delivery of city’s health and wellbeing ambition, by focussing on improving equitable access to services, delivering excellent experience, optimising outcomes, and ensuring best value from the Leeds pound. If you require further information about either plans, to discuss the Leeds Health and Wellbeing Strategy contact: [email protected] and to discuss the Healthy Leeds Plan contact: [email protected].
Leeds Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair: Organised by Leeds City Council’s Employment and Skills service, Leeds Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair returns to Leeds first direct arena on Monday 5th February 2024 1pm-7pm. Visitors will have the chance to talk to major employers from a wide range of sectors, including accounting, business and administration, catering and hospitality, construction, creative design, care services, digital, education, engineering, finance, hair and beauty, health, law, protective services and many more! Over 100 exhibitors will be there on the day offering information, advice, guidance and live vacancies. To book your free ticket click here.
Leeds Station Usage Figures: The Office of Rail and Road have released their updated station usage statistics for the year up to 31st March 2023; these represent the first full year of post-Covid figures. The figures show that Leeds Station remains one of the busiest stations and one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in the country. Leeds Station is the second busiest station in the United Kingdom outside of London with 24 million entries and exits between April 2022 and March 2023; this represents an increase of 24% from the previous year. Leeds Station continues to recover post-pandemic more quickly than other comparable stations, with station usage closing on 2019-20 figures significantly faster than Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly. This is despite the significant impacts on services of ongoing industrial action (24 days lost to strikes during this period) and a high level of disruption to TransPennine Express services. The transformation of Leeds City Station’s main entrance is reaching its next milestone, with demolition works coming towards the end and construction due to begin in earnest in the New Year. Full information can be found here. Further investment in the station over the next decade is vital not just for Leeds and Yorkshire but the North, Midlands and UK as a whole.
Local and national developments:
- In an expression of the deepening friendship between Leeds and the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Leeds City Council signed an official Friendship Oath between the two cities. Full information can be found here.
- Works to improve walking and cycling connections over the River Aire have completed, marking a significant milestone for cycling improvements in Leeds city centre. Full information can be found here.
- Hundreds more households will soon enjoy more affordable, reliable, and lower carbon heating with three tower blocks set to become the latest to connect to the city’s flagship Leeds PIPES district heating network. Full information can be found here.
- Project empowering African Caribbean community wins Leeds’ unsung heroes award. Yvonne Opebiyi of Guiding Light Leads became one of the winners at the Compassionate City Awards at a ceremony held at Leeds Civic Hall. Full information can be found here.
- Leeds City Council is progressing a variety of flood alleviation schemes to protect homes, businesses, and infrastructure across the city from the impacts of the climate emergency. As storm season continues, the council is urging everyone in Leeds to learn how they can prepare for flooding. Full information can be found here.
- Homeless Street Angels an award-winning charity providing outreach every week on the streets of Leeds are currently raising money to open a bigger office/day centre. They now have 528 families on their register for food parcels but don’t have enough space to deal with the increased demand of items needed unfortunately. They have released a new Christmas Single featuring our own Clare Brooke which you can download here to support their cause!
Wishing you, your families, friends and communities a very Happy Christmas, and all the best for a healthy and happy 2024.
