Leeds City Council's Executive Board met on 11 December 2024 and made a series of decisions about waste management, car parking charges, a major road building scheme in Otley, and their leisure services. They also considered a report on the council's finances.

Waste Management

The council approved the adoption of a 3-bin approach to kerbside waste collection. This will see food waste added to the brown bin, which will be extended to all households in the city and collected all year round. This decision was made in the context of the government's Simpler Recycling policy. The policy aims to make it easier for people to recycle at home by standardising the way waste is collected across England.

The council noted that the addition of glass to green bin collections in August had already seen recycling rates for glass bottles and jars rise from 42% to 69%, and that the new plan would include the extension of brown bin provision to a further 70,000 households across the city.

Concerns were raised during the meeting about the accuracy of the council's reporting on missed bin collections. Some councillors felt that the current system, which relies on residents contacting the council to report a missed collection, is not an accurate reflection of the service's performance. However, council officers defended the current approach, saying that it was robust, consistent with the national approach, and that it had been in place since 2001.

District Car Parking Charges

Despite continuing opposition to the plans from local councillors, the board voted to approve the introduction of charges at five car parks in Wetherby, Horsforth, Garforth, Rothwell and Guiseley. This decision had previously been called in for further scrutiny by the council's Environment, Housing and Communities Scrutiny Board on 21 November 2024 after being made by officers under delegated powers on 12 November 2024.

Announcing their intention to implement the charges, the Executive Member for Communities, Housing and Environment, Councillor Arif, said that

the proposed charges were key to the Council’s budgetary objectives and that they had been subject to extensive consultation which had resulted in amendments to the pricing proposals.

Responding to concerns raised by local councillors during the meeting, council officers admitted that they had not undertaken an economic impact assessment of the new charges, and that they did not intend to, as sufficient reliable data was not available. Councillor Lamb, who voted against the introduction of the new charges, argued that this failure to assess the impact of the scheme on local businesses would likely be found to be unlawful and could leave the council vulnerable to legal challenges.

East of Otley Relief Road

The council approved a new funding model for the long-delayed East of Otley Relief Road. The road, which has been in planning for several years, was originally to be funded through the government's Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF), but will now be funded through Homes England’s Brownfield Infrastructure and Land (BIL) fund.

Announcing the change to the funding model, the Executive Member for Housing, Councillor Coupar, told the meeting that the council had been forced to reconsider their approach after challenges which have been faced over recent years. This continues a pattern of delays and funding issues that has plagued the project in recent years.

The decision was made after the board considered two confidential appendices to a report on the scheme in a part of the meeting that was closed to the public.

Active Leeds

The Executive Board discussed a report on the state of the council's leisure services. The report outlined plans for a series of invest to save measures, including the sale of Middleton Leisure Centre to Laurence Calvert Academy. Announcing the plans, Councillor Harland, the Executive Member responsible for Active Leeds, said that the council was committed to

a network of high quality, affordable, accessible and sustainable leisure and wellbeing centres

but that the need to look forward in the context of the Council’s Best City Ambition and the current financial challenge necessitated the sale of the leisure centre to the academy, which is a secondary school in Middleton.

Councillor Harland also told the meeting that the council was considering relocating Wetherby Leisure Centre, and that they were working collaboratively with local Ward Councillors and local communities on the plans.

Finances

The Executive Board received a report on the council's financial health. The report revealed that the council was forecasting a General Fund overspend of £20.7m for the 2024/25 financial year. The report attributed the overspend to the challenging national context, and said that a range of actions were being taken to address the situation.