Leeds City Council#Lord Mayor of Leeds

Leeds (historically often spelt Leedes) was a manor and then a town, receiving a charter from King Charles I as a 'Free Borough' in 1626 giving it powers of self-government, leading to the formation of the Leeds Corporation to administer it.Steven Burt & Kevin Grady (2002) The Illustrated History of Leeds, 2nd edn (Breedon Books, Derby) {{ISBN|185983 316 0}}Diane Saunders & Philippa Lester (2014) From the Leylands to Leeds 17 The leader was initially an alderman, the first holder being Sir John Savile.[http://www.leedscivictrust.org.uk/view.aspx?id=65 Leeds Civic Trust] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527144811/http://www.leedscivictrust.org.uk/view.aspx?id=65 |date=27 May 2011}} Leeds Coat of Arms A second charter, granted in 1661 by Charles II, gave the town the right to appoint a mayor. The first holder of that post was Thomas Danby.

Leeds was reformed in 1836 to become a municipal borough under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised how most boroughs were governed across England and Wales. The ruling body was then formally called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Leeds", generally known as the corporation or town council.Municipal Corporations Act 1835 When elected county councils were created in 1889 Leeds was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services and so it became a county borough, independent from the new West Riding County Council. Leeds became a city in 1893, after which the corporation was also known as the city council. In 1897 the mayoralty was raised to a lord mayor.

The modern city council was established in 1974, with the first elections being held in advance in 1973. Under the Local Government Act 1972, the area of the County Borough of Leeds was combined with those of the Municipal Borough of Morley, the Municipal Borough of Pudsey, Aireborough Urban District, Horsforth Urban District, Otley Urban District, Garforth Urban District, Rothwell Urban District and parts of Tadcaster Rural District, Wetherby Rural District and Wharfedale Rural District from the West Riding. The new Leeds district was one of five metropolitan districts in West Yorkshire. Leeds' borough and city statuses and right to appoint a lord mayor were transferred to the enlarged district.{{London Gazette|issue=46255|page=4400|date=4 April 1974}}

From 1974 until 1986 the city council was a second-tier authority, with West Yorkshire County Council providing many key services. However, the metropolitan county councils were abolished under the Local Government Act 1985 and the council took responsibility for all former County Council functions. Some functions, notably policing, fire services and public transport are run by joint committees of the five metropolitan boroughs in West Yorkshire.

Since 2014 the council has been a constituent member of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The West Yorkshire Combined Authority Order 2014|year=2014|number=864|access-date=26 December 2023}} The combined authority has been led by the directly elected Mayor of West Yorkshire since 2021.

Leeds City Council is responsible for providing all statutory local authority services in Leeds, except for those it provides jointly in conjunction with other West Yorkshire authorities. This includes education, housing, planning, transport and highways, social services, libraries, leisure and recreation, waste collection, waste disposal, environmental health and revenue collection. The council is one of the largest employers in West Yorkshire, with around 33,000 employees.{{cite web |title=About Leeds: the facts and figures |url=http://www.yorkshire-forward.com/our-wonderful-region/our-cities/Leeds-the-facts |url-status=dead |publisher=Yorkshire Forward |access-date=18 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216213826/http://www.yorkshire-forward.com/our-wonderful-region/our-cities/Leeds-the-facts |archive-date=16 February 2009}}

Education Leeds was set up in 2001 as a non-profit making company wholly owned by Leeds City Council to provide education support services for the council.{{cite web |title=About Education Leeds |url=http://www.educationleeds.co.uk/DisplayText.aspx?section=17&pageno=992 |url-status=dead |publisher=Education Leeds |access-date=18 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100317163103/http://www.educationleeds.co.uk/DisplayText.aspx?section=17&pageno=992 |archive-date=17 March 2010}} For its first five years it operated as a public-private partnership between the Council and Capita. The senior councillors of the council's executive board voted in March 2010 to stop using Education Leeds to provide services from 31 March 2011,{{cite web |title=EXECUTIVE BOARD WEDNESDAY, 10TH MARCH, 2010 |url=http://democracy.leeds.gov.uk/mgConvert2PDF.aspx?ID=4290&T=1 |publisher=Leeds City Council |access-date=18 March 2011}} thereby effectively causing it to cease operation.

Until 1 October 2013, Leeds City Council's housing stock was managed and operated by three Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) since 2007. They were wholly owned by the council but operated as autonomous and self-governing organisations. The ALMOs, which are arranged on a regional basis were:

• East North East Homes{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.eastnortheasthomesleeds.org.uk/Home/About_Us.aspx |url-status=dead |publisher=East North East Homes |access-date=18 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722144607/http://www.eastnortheasthomesleeds.org.uk/Home/About_Us.aspx |archive-date=22 July 2011 |df=dmy-all}}
• West North West Homes{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.westnorthwesthomesleeds.org.uk/West_North_West_Homes_Leeds/About_us.aspx |url-status=dead |publisher=West North West Homes |access-date=18 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722144533/http://www.westnorthwesthomesleeds.org.uk/West_North_West_Homes_Leeds/About_us.aspx |archive-date=22 July 2011 |df=dmy-all}}
• Aire Valley Homes{{cite web |title=About Us |url=http://www.southsoutheasthomesleeds.org.uk/Aire_Valley_Homes_Leeds/About_Us.aspx |url-status=dead |publisher=Aire Valley Homes |access-date=18 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321141554/http://www.southsoutheasthomesleeds.org.uk/Aire_Valley_Homes_Leeds/About_Us.aspx |archive-date=21 March 2012 |df=dmy-all}}

As of 1 October 2013, the ALMOs returned to Leeds City Council and all management of council housing stock became the responsibility of Housing Leeds. At this point, the ALMOs ceased to exist.

Management of more than 2000 homes in Belle Isle is carried out by Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation, the largest tenant management organisation in the UK outside London.{{cite web |title=Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation (BITMO) |url=http://www.leeds.gov.uk/Housing/Council_housing/belle_isle_tenant_management_organisation_(bitmo).aspx |url-status=dead |publisher=Leeds City Council |access-date=9 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110729002046/http://www.leeds.gov.uk/Housing/Council_housing/Belle_Isle_Tenant_Management_Organisation_(BITMO).aspx |archive-date=29 July 2011 |df=dmy-all}}

{{main|Leeds Museums & Galleries}}

Leeds Museums & Galleries is a museum service run by Leeds City Council.[https://museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk Leeds Museums and Galleries]

Established in 1821, it is the largest local authority-run museum service in England, with one of the larger and more significant multidisciplinary collections in the UK, looking after 1.3 million objects.[https://museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk/pQObFP/about-us/about-us Leeds Museums and Galleries – About us] The service is run and primarily funded by Leeds City Council (LCC), and plays a significant role in shaping the cultural life of the city, but as a leading museum service it has a regional and national reputation and role. In 2012 the organisation achieved Major Partner Museum status from Arts Council England, which brought significant additional funding and further national prominence and expectation.Rebecca Atkinson, [https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/01072014-ace-announces-mpms "ACE Increases Number of Major Partner Museums"], Museums Journal (1 July 2014).

The service has at times run major events across the city, with visitors numbering in the millions, such as the 2014-19 Legacies of War Project, which examined how Leeds was affected by the First World War,Chris Burn, "How army of people helped Leeds remember war that changed the world", Yorkshire Evening Post (31 January 2019). and developed teaching materials for schools."The cultural history of the city is now at teachers' fingertips", Yorkshire Evening Post (18 June 2018).

Leeds Museums & Galleries is made up of nine different sites: Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds City Museum, Kirkstall Abbey, Abbey House Museum, Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills, Thwaite Mills, Lotherton Hall, Temple Newsam and Leeds Discovery Centre.

The city operates waste disposal and recycling facilities in Kirkstall, Meanwood, Middleton, Otley, Pudsey, Seacroft, Wetherby (Thorp Arch) and Yeadon.Leeds City Council, [https://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/bins-and-recycling/recycling-sites Recycling centres], accessed 4 September 2020

{{main|West Yorkshire Joint Services}}

West Yorkshire Joint Services provides services for the five district local authorities in West Yorkshire (Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield) in the areas of archaeology, archives, ecology, materials testing, public analyst, and trading standards.{{cite web |title=West Yorkshire Joint Services |url=http://www.wyjs.org.uk/ |access-date=18 March 2011}}

The executive and workings of the council are overseen by six scrutiny boards. These panels involve councillors from all parties and some independent members. Scrutiny boards are able to review decisions taken by the executive or by officers of the council and to refer them for further consideration.

The licensing committee of the council is drawn from councillors from all parties and is responsible for entertainment, refreshment, personal and premises licences established under the Licensing Act 2003. Three plans panels are responsible for determining planning applications which have not been delegated to officers for decision, such as large or controversial applications or those in which a councillor or officer has a personal interest.

Ten community committees are responsible for managing certain area-specific budgets and responsibilities, such as community centres and CCTV, in partnership with local communities. Five of the community committees cover areas in "inner Leeds" and five cover areas in "outer Leeds".Leeds City Council, [https://www.leeds.gov.uk/consultations-and-feedback/community-committees Community committees – have your say], accessed on 9 July 2024 These committees also exert considerable influence over other areas of local interest such as street-cleansing and community policing.

{{main|Lord Mayor of Leeds}}

The Lord Mayor of Leeds is a ceremonial, non-partisan position elected annually by and from the councillors. As well as acting as the chair of the council, the Lord Mayor represents the City of Leeds at events within and outside the city.{{cite web |title=Lord Mayor |url=https://www.leeds.gov.uk/your-council/councillors-and-democracy/lord-mayor |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190805083535/https://www.leeds.gov.uk/your-council/councillors-and-democracy/lord-mayor |archive-date=5 August 2019}}

The first Mayor of Leeds was Thomas Danby in 1661, and the first Lord Mayor was James Kitson in 1897.{{cite web |title=Lord Mayors & Aldermen of Leeds since 1626 |url=http://www.leeds.gov.uk/files/Internet2007/2007/week30/inter__79A23928963937DC80256E160032DB3C_4ea312d9-0e7c-4bfa-b98a-a8d5b516580f.pdf |url-status=dead |work=Leeds City Council |access-date=18 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327155545/http://www.leeds.gov.uk/files/Internet2007/2007/week30/inter__79A23928963937DC80256E160032DB3C_4ea312d9-0e7c-4bfa-b98a-a8d5b516580f.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009 |df=dmy-all}}

During the mayoral year, the Lord Mayor's Charity Appeal raises funds for one or more charities of the mayor's choice.

The council operates a Leader and Cabinet executive as defined under Section 11 of the Local Government Act 2000. The executive board of the council currently consists of nine executive members with portfolio responsibilities from the ruling Labour group, and the leader of the biggest opposition group (Conservative).{{cite web |title=Executive Board |url=http://democracy.leeds.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?id=102&j=1&url=council_and_democracy%2fcouncil_news%2fcouncil__news_and_information_releases%2fexecutive_board |publisher=Leeds City Council |access-date=18 March 2011}}

Since February 2021, the Leader of the council has been James Lewis (Labour). He succeeded Judith Blake, the first woman ever to lead the council.{{cite news |last=Beecham |first=Richard |title=New Leeds Council leader in just two weeks' time |url=https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/politics/new-leeds-council-leader-just-two-weeks-time-3130147 |publisher=Yorkshire Evening Post |date=10 February 2021}}{{cite news |last=Maclure |first=Abbey |title=Judith Blake announces date she will hand over leadership of Leeds Council |url=https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/politics/council/judith-blake-announces-date-she-will-hand-over-leadership-leeds-council-3131879 |publisher=Yorkshire Evening Post |date=11 February 2021}}

{{main|2012 English mayoral referendums}}

On 3 May 2012 a referendum was held to determine whether or not to replace the current leadership arrangements with a directly elected mayor.

The question that was asked in the referendum was set by central government, and was:{{cite web |title=Schedule 1, The Local Authorities (Conduct of Referendums)(England) Regulations 2012 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/323/schedule/1/made |publisher=Legislation.gov.uk |date=8 February 2012 |access-date=22 February 2012}}

:How would you like Leeds City Council to be run?

:*By a leader who is an elected councillor chosen by a vote of the other elected councillors. This is how the council is run now.

:Or

:*By a mayor who is elected by voters. This would be a change from how the council is run now.

The proposal for an elected mayor was opposed by the leaders of the four largest groups on the council. It was supported by Leeds Conservative MPs Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) and Alec Shelbrooke (Elmet and Rothwell).

The referendum results showed a rejection of the proposal for a directly elected mayor, with 63% (107,910) voting to keep the status quo.[http://newsfeed.leedsvirtualnewsroom.co.uk/2012/05/leeds-votes-no-to-elected-mayor.html Leeds votes no to elected mayor] - Leeds City Council, 4 May 2012

{{main|Leeds local elections}}

The council is composed of 99 councillors, three for each of the city's electoral wards.

One councillor for each ward – a third of all of the total councillors – is elected at every council election, which are held in three of every four years. Each councillor is also elected to serve a four-year term. This only differs following a boundary review, where all council seats must be re-elected. The most recent full council elections were in 1980, 2004 and 2018. The latter election saw all three ward council seats up for re-election, with each of the three successful candidates in each ward awarded a unique one, two or four-year term respectively with longer terms given to the candidates with the highest number of votes.{{cite web |title=Leeds City Council Election |url=https://www.leeds.gov.uk/your-council/elections/leeds-city-council-election-results |publisher=Leeds City Council |access-date=19 March 2018}}

Since the 2011 council election, the council has been run by a Labour majority administration. Between the 2004 and 2011 elections, the council's political composition meant no one party had a full majority and therefore there was no overall control. During this time, a coalition administration between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats was formally agreed. Throughout the coalition, both parties' Group Leaders jointly shared the office of Leader of the council, each holding it for six months in turn. However, in 2010, the Labour Group regained control as a minority administration with the support of the two Green Party councillors.{{cite web |title=New political leadership announced for Leeds City Council |url=http://www.newsfeed.leedsvirtualnewsroom.co.uk/2010_05_27_archive.html |url-status=dead |publisher=Leeds City Council |access-date=4 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117040457/http://www.newsfeed.leedsvirtualnewsroom.co.uk/2010_05_27_archive.html |archive-date=17 January 2014 |df=dmy-all}}John Baron, [https://www.theguardian.com/leeds/2011/may/06/leeds-local-election "In brief: Leeds local election 2011 results and headlines"], The Guardian (6 May 2011).John Baron, '[https://www.theguardian.com/leeds/2010/may/17/leeds-local-election-leeds-city-council Labour and Greens reach Leeds council power agreement: Updated]', The Guardian (17 May 2010)

Leeds City Council's 33 electoral wards have been fully reviewed twice since 2000, once before the 2004 council election and again before the 2018 council election.

Beforehand, the ward boundaries had not been amended since the last review in 1979. The 1979 review increased the number of wards in Leeds from 32 to 33, thereby increasing the number of councillors from 96 to 99. The 1980 council election was the first to be contested based on the new ward boundaries across the city, and therefore it was a full council, all-out election where all of the 99 council seats were up for election.

The boundary review between February 2002 and July 2003 was completed by the Boundary Committee for England.{{cite web |title=Leeds |url=http://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/yorkshire-and-humberside/west-yorkshire/leeds |url-status=dead |publisher=Local Government Boundary Commission for England |access-date=7 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320001425/http://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/yorkshire-and-humberside/west-yorkshire/leeds |archive-date=20 March 2012 |df=dmy-all}} The review recommended the retention of 99 councillors representing 33 wards across the city, but suggested substantial alterations to ward boundaries to reduce the level of variance between different wards. Prior to the boundary review, based on the 2001 electorate, the largest and smallest wards respectively were Morley South (22,167 electors) and Hunslet (10,955 electors). Following the review all wards had an electorate within 10% of the average of all 33 wards across the city.{{cite web |title=Constituencies and Wards |url=http://www.leeds.gov.uk/Page.aspx?pageIdentifier=bb6d342a-2ba8-4eb5-8e4e-c4cb07e3062f |url-status=dead |publisher=Leeds City Council |access-date=24 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503171311/http://www.leeds.gov.uk/Page.aspx?pageIdentifier=bb6d342a-2ba8-4eb5-8e4e-c4cb07e3062f |archive-date=3 May 2009 |df=dmy-all}}

A similar process was completed in November 2017 by the Boundary Committee's successor, the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. The process had held consultations since July 2016. The biggest ward boundary changes saw the creation of two new wards in Headingley & Hyde Park and Little London and Woodhouse from the previous Hyde Park & Woodhouse and Headingley wards. City & Hunslet also became Hunslet & Riverside.{{cite web |title=LGBCE | Leeds | LGBCE Site |url=https://www.lgbce.org.uk/all-reviews/yorkshire-and-the-humber/west-yorkshire/leeds}} Following the example of previous reviews, all of the city's councillors were re-elected together again based on the new ward boundaries in May 2018.

File:Merrion House, Leeds (29th March 2018) 002.jpg

The council meets at Leeds Civic Hall on Calverley Street, which was purpose-built for the city council and opened in 1933.{{NHLE|num=1255781|desc=Civic Hall, Calverley Street|grade=II*|access-date=22 June 2024}} The council has numerous other buildings around the city, with its main offices being at Merrion House, which forms part of the Merrion Centre and was built in 1973.{{cite web |title=Council staff prepare to move back into Merrion House |url=https://news.leeds.gov.uk/news/council-staff-prepare-to-move-back-into-merrion-house |website=Leeds City Council |access-date=22 June 2024 |date=7 February 2018}}

In September 2012 the council announced its intention to introduce a bring your own device policy as part of cost saving measures.{{cite news |last=Bicknell |first=David |title=Leeds' amazing cash-slash plan: BYOD and that cloud thing |url=http://cloud.governmentcomputing.com/news/byod-psn-and-cloud-services-on-the-agenda-as-leeds-looks-to-save-55m-in-201213 |newspaper=Government Computing |publisher=Progressive Digital Media Group |date=14 September 2012 |access-date=26 September 2012}} In the same year, the council was fined £95,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after it sent confidential and sensitive information about a child in care to the wrong recipient. Commenting on Leeds and other authorities who had made similar data protection breaches, the ICO said "It would be far too easy to consider these breaches as simple human error. The reality is that they are caused by councils treating sensitive personal data in the same routine way they would deal with more general correspondence. Far too often in these cases, the councils do not appear to have acknowledged that the data they are handling is about real people, and often the more vulnerable members of society."{{cite news |title=ICO hits the road to crack 'underlying problem' at data-leak councils |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/19/ico_visits_the_counties/ |website=The Register |date=19 December 2012 |access-date=28 June 2013}}

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