Leeds weathers well during financial storm

12.00.00am GMT Tue 28th Oct 2008

Leeds City Council Leader Richard Brett (Lib Dem, Burmantofts and Richmond Hill) praised the diligence of council officers during the recent financial uncertainties.

A paper due to go before the Council's Executive Board, highlighting the current difficulties within the financial sector, identifies savings of £2.2m, that will go towards continuing council services.

Prudent investment and borrowing has previously meant Leeds City Council has been able to making savings in the tens of millions. However the government changed the rules governing how councils can manage financial reserves, making it harder to find savings.

Speaking of the council's progress Cllr Brett said:

"In these difficult financial times it is encouraging to see that council officers are continuing to manage our accounts as effectively as possible. Given previous changes to the way we can swap and change our holdings we were not expecting to see great savings this year.

"Leeds City Council is working as hard as possible to make savings, find efficiencies and spend council taxpayers' money as sensibly as possible. The Lib Dem and Conservative lead administration continues to do everything in its power to ensure our residents are protected from the worst of the financial crisis and that means continuing to work hard for the city."