Leeds City Council: local authority assessment

How we assess local authorities

Assessment published: 15 October 2025

About Leeds City Council

Demographics

Leeds City Council is the second largest local authority in England, with a population of 812,000 (Census 2021) situated in West Yorkshire. Leeds is a modern city that incorporates large rural and semi-rural communities of historic market towns and villages. Leeds has an index of multiple deprivation of 6 (1 is the least deprived, 10 is the most deprived) and is ranked 65th out of 153 local authorities. The number of people living in IMD 1 (typically inner city) areas is seeing the fastest year-on-year growth due to factors including densification and transient population groups.

The proportion of people aged between 18 and 64 (63.35%) is slightly higher than the national average (60.51%). The proportion of people aged over 65 years is 15.66% which is slightly lower than the national average of 18.69%.

Leeds is a diverse city with 79.04% White British, 9.67% Asian or Asian British, 5.59% Black, Black British, African or Black Caribbean, 3.49% Mixed or Multiple, and 2.3% as other.

Leeds is located within the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership which is an Integrated Care System that includes Bradford District and Craven, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.

There are 33 political wards with 3 councillors for each ward and since 2011, the council has remained politically stable with consistent governance by the Labour Party. 

Financial facts

• The local authority estimated in 2023-2024, its total budget would be £1,397,644,000. Its actual spend for the year was £1,493,136, which was £95,492,000 more than estimated.
• The local authority estimated it would spend £291,800,000 of its total budget on Adult Social Care in 2023-2024. Its actual spend was £298,336,000, which was £6,536,000 more than estimated.
• In 2023-2024, 19.98% of the budget was spent on Adult Social Care.
• The Local Authority has raised the full Adult Social Care precept for 2023-2024, with a value of 2%. Please note the amount raised through Adult Social Care precept varies from Local Authority to Local Authority.
• Approximately 11,305 people were accessing long-term Adult Social Care support, and approximately 1,730 people were accessing short-term Adult Social Care support in 2023-2024. Local authorities spend money on a range of Adult Social Care services, including supporting individuals. No two care packages are the same and vary significantly in their intensity, duration, and cost.

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only.