Social Value Ideas for Leeds City Council

Refusal of Drighlington scheme

The committee voted to refuse the Drighlington scheme. Although some members supported the bungalow-led proposal and the coach-house restoration, the final resolution aligned with officers' refusal re…

“So I am I I I'm not convinced the developer has put forward a reasonable rational argument for us to set aside what effectively are our policies and I…”

Defer item due to notice failure

Officers recommended deferring agenda item 7 because a malfunction in the notification system meant consultees did not get the council’s promised one-week notice to register and speak. The panel accep…

“Unfortunately, however, when officers attempted to send these letters and notifications last week to individuals and groups on Wednesday, there appear…”

Section 106 Agreement Completion & Conditions Imposition

Planning panel resolved to defer and delegate grant of planning permission to officers, conditional on: (1) Prior completion of Section 106 legal agreement for affordable housing delivery and off-site…

“members resolve to defer and delegate the grant of planning permission to officers that's subject to the prior completion of a a legal agreement secti…”

Local plan scope consultation

The council opened a scoping consultation for the new Leeds Local Plan, covering housing, employment, infrastructure, flood risk, climate resilience, transport, town centres, minerals, waste and relat…

“Um so yeah um, the lead's local plan um we're required by law uh to produce a local plan um and and this version of it um is a new consolidated versio…”

£16m adult and children overspend

The council ended 2025/26 with a £15.95m overspend, mainly in Adults and Health and Children and Families, driven by demand-led care costs and placements. Although reserves were drawn down, overall ge…

“Speaker 8: So this slide here just breaks it down by director position. So we ended the year in the same position that we did when we previously went …”

Finance systems and balance data missing

Multiple members expressed frustration that capital, CIL and well-being balance figures had not been properly reconciled or updated, despite promises from finance. The chair said he had already writte…

“Speaker 12: Thank you there. So agenda item number 15, Page 61, is the Outer South Community Finance Report. The report provides the committee with an…”

Scrutiny Board call-in decision determination

Leeds City Council Infrastructure, Investment & Inclusive Growth Scrutiny Board convened 5 January 2026 to determine outcome of call-in request regarding Pudsy Town Hall disposal (decision dated 10 De…

“The board must decide whether the decision was made in accordance with paragraph 4 of the executive and decision-making rules. That is those matters l…”

Building maintenance and void management costs impacting capital budgets

Pudsy Town Hall has been largely unoccupied since 2016 (one-stop shop moved to library) with back-office staff vacating in 2019, leaving only 5% occupancy by Pudsy & District Civic Society for storage…

“we've now got a building that has been vacant in excess of 5 years. Um as we all know, buildings um decline further when they're not occupied. Um and …”