Leeds City Council

The leader of Leeds City Council says she is "honoured" to have been chosen as a Labour peer in the House of Lords.

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Councillor Judith Blake was named this afternoon among the new peers announced by the government, meaning she is to step down from her current role.

It's thought her successor as leader of the council will be announced in the new year, but it has not yet been disclosed when Ms Blake's peerage officially begins.

Councillor Blake has served as leader of Leeds City Council since 2015 and was deputy leader for five years before that. She has also been a ward councillor in Leeds for 24 years.

Responding to the announcement, she said: "It has been a great privilege to serve as leader of my home city of Leeds for the last five and a half years.

"Joining the House of Lords will allow me to continue to represent the interests of our city in Westminster."

Leeds could "safely" have moved down a tier in coronavirus restrictions and the fact it's to remain in tier three - very high alert - over Christmas is "disappointing", the council leader has said.

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It was confirmed earlier that the whole of West Yorkshire would remain in tier three following a review on Wednesday.

Labour's Judith Blake, Leeds City Council leader, said a move to tier two "would have been a welcome relief before Christmas".

"We understand this decision will be difficult to hear, but which tier Leeds falls into is ultimately the government’s to make," she added.

"Our view due to falling infection rates as well as the extensive plans we have in place is that Leeds could safely be moved to tier two."

However, Ms Blake added that "now more than ever, we can't overstate the importance of continuing to adhere to the rules for a little longer".

Leeds "could find itself in a better position" in time for the next planned review on 30 December, she said.

Nearly one in 20 listed buildings in Leeds are "at risk" of severe neglect or decay, according to the city council.

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The latest Buildings at Risk register, which is set to be discussed by councillors, lists 112 Grade I and II-listed sites in the city which are falling into disrepair.

These sites include Temple Mill in Holbeck (pictured), Calverley Old Hall in Woodhall Road and Ledston Hall in east Leeds.

It also contains 15 council-owned sites including Adel Reformatory, Stank Hall on Dewsbury Road and Abbey Mills in Kirkstall.

The report says the authority is taking “active measures” to reduce the number of buildings at risk, with prominent listed buildings set to be brought back into use soon.

These include First White Cloth Hall, Victoria Mills and the former Majestic Cinema.

The number of buildings deemed at risk has fallen since the last survey and accounts for just under 4.5% of the 2,478 listed buildings in the city, the report adds.

Council leaders in West Yorkshire are calling for a package of "urgent funding" from the government following the announcement of a new three-tier system of coronavirus restrictions.

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West Yorkshire is to be put into Tier 2 (high risk) meaning people from different homes can only mix outside, as long as the "rule of six" and social distancing are followed.

In a joint statement, the leaders of West Yorkshire's councils asked the government for "urgent funding to support efforts to contain the pandemic and protect jobs in line with the region’s Tier 2 status."

The support they're asking for includes:

• A Local Restrictions Support Grant providing grants of up to £5,000 every three weeks for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses
• The continuation of furlough, with government contributing to wages
• £3.7m to support the expansion of the Covid Recovery Grants Scheme to support businesses to reopening and adapting

They've also asked for £30m to support further measures to tackle the spread of the virus "through local contact-tracing, community engagement, enforcement, support for those self-isolating and other measures".

In a statement, the council leaders say: “We need the government to urgently respond so we can address the rising infection rates putting our NHS services under increasing pressure, and to avoid damage to the West Yorkshire economy.”

The leader of Leeds City Council has called on the government for financial help in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

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The call by Labour's Judith Blake comes after the Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out his new Covid three-tier alert system.

Parts of West Yorkshire are likely to be placed in Tier 2 - which means a "high" alert - following the announcement in the Commons earlier.

Mr Johnson said most places with local restrictions already in place, which includes Leeds, would "automatically" be placed into the middle alert tier.

Ms Blake said her team would keep in touch with the local authority team in Liverpool - which is expected to be classed as Tier 3 - or "very high" alert - to see what "lessons we can learn and how we can pull together".

She added that most local authorities across the North are "really struggling with the double whammy of dealing with the virus and then dealing with the unbelievable hit in terms of our finances, looking at taking millions of pounds out of our budgets next year".

"This is just not a sustainable position to be in. The government needs to make a step-change and demonstrate that they recognise the role local government can make and work with us, but support us financially and with additional powers, so we can do the work we know will make a difference."