The following videos on financial inclusion initiatives are available:
Any queries please email financial.inclusion@leeds.gov.uk
Background
Since early in 2003 Leeds has been developing a strategy to tackle financial exclusion in the city and put in place mechanisms to assist people and provide an alternative to high interest doorstep lenders and loan sharks.
Council support for the provision of affordable credit alternatives to high interest doorstep lenders, payday lenders and loan sharks
In addition to the Leeds City Credit Union's (LCCU) own branch, which is located in Kirkgate in Leeds, the Council supports the maintenance of five other community based branches. These are located in Council One Stop Centres at:
- Great George Street
- Dewsbury Road (Beeston)
- Armley
- South Seacroft
Plus a branch based in the local housing office in Belle Isle:
- Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation (BITMO)
All the above offer a full branch service including cash.
In addition the Council supports a number of LCCU information points. These facilities offer all general LCCU services but they cannot provide a cash service. They are based at the Council One Stop Centres and Joint Service Centres at:
- Osmondthorpe
- Wetherby
- Morley
- Compton Road Centre (Harehills)
- Reginald Centre (Chapeltown)
The five Leeds debt advice agencies have been working closely together since 2004 and now the Advice Leeds Partnership has been formed which brings together all partners in the city who have any involvement in delivering advice services. This involves public, voluntary and private sector organisations. The Councils Corporate Debt Policy also provides a fully integrated mechanism for helping citizens who have significant debts to the Council.
The most important part of the Council’s financial inclusion strategy is the integration of working across all the partners involved in the project.
The hope is that the above and many more schemes which will be introduced in the future, will make a significant difference to the lives of citizens in Leeds. More information about the various initiatives in place or planned can be viewed on the Initiatives page.
Beacon status
In 2007 Leeds City Council was awarded Beacon status under the theme ‘Promoting financial inclusion and tackling over indebtedness’. This theme looks at enabling adults in low income households access to mainstream financial services such as banking and affordable credit.
Beacon status is granted to those councils that demonstrate a clear vision, excellent services and a willingness to innovate within a specific theme. Selected ‘Beacon’ authorities are urged to use their expertise to help other authorities improve. It is funded by Communities and Local Government and run by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA). Leeds was assessed as “outstanding”.
Overcoming financial difficulty
The PDF leaflet available on this page provides a guide for anyone seeking details about the various agencies working in Leeds who provide affordable credit, benefit advice and debt advice
Chief Medical Officer's report
Leeds has recently been undertaking quite a lot of work with NHS Leeds and the Health Department and have just completed work on a joint project with Government Office Health Department. There is a separate page detailing this work and a copy of the full report, which was launched in May 2011, is also available.
The PDF on this page is an extract from the annual report of the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson, which was released in March 2010. It is his annual statement of the state of Public Health in the UK (the full report is 80 pages long so an extract is available to download). It contains a reference to financial inclusion work in Leeds.
Links to other Financial Inclusion project pages