The Corporate Leadership Team is the council’s senior management team, led by the council's Chief Executive, Tom Riordan, and includes the following officers:
Chief Executive – Tom Riordan
Tom is responsible for the overall coordination and management of the council's activities. He supports the Leader of the Council and Executive Board and ensures delivery of their policies and objectives, in particular the delivery of the outcomes articulated within the Best Council Plan. He is the named Returning Officer for Elections and also has a leadership role in the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Leeds City Region.
Read Tom's biography
Director of Resources and Housing – Neil Evans
Neil is responsible for support services across the council that help us to achieve our Best City ambitions. These include human resources, shared services, finance and business rates, ICT and digital information, catering, cleaning, legal and democratic services, projects and procurement. Along with housing services, homelessness and sustainability, Neil is also responsible for the council’s strategic policy and communications teams.
Director of Communities and Environment – James Rogers
James is responsible for the delivery of locality services and for most of the council’s front line community services including the one stop centres, libraries, community hubs and the contact centre; bins and other refuse services, street cleaning, environmental enforcement, recycling, environmental health including noise nuisance and pest control, the city’s parks and areas of countryside, community safety, anti-social behaviour and parking services including carpark management and parking enforcement.
In addition to leading our work on the way the council counters extremist activity, engages citizens through its ten community committees, and ensures a strategic partnership approach to migration and equality, James is also responsible for council tax and welfare benefits, registrars (births, deaths and marriages), licensing (entertainment and taxi & private hire), elections, local land charges and the council’s website.
Director of Children and Families – Steve Walker
Steve is responsible for all children and family services in Leeds including the initiative to make Leeds a Child Friendly City. These services include: school admissions, support to schools and governors, school improvement, support to vulnerable learners, early help and children’s centres, Children’s Social Work Services including fostering, adoption and children’s homes, services to support children with learning difficulties and disabilities and a range of specialist services for children and young people including Family Group Conferencing, Youth Offending Services and Multi Systemic Therapy.
Director of Adults and Health – Cath Roff
Cath is responsible for all adult social care services requiring the assessment for, and arrangement of, services to meet the personal social care needs of those who may be physically or learning disabled, have mental health needs or may be frail through old age. This includes provision of information, social work, safeguarding, support to voluntary and independent providers of care and direct management of a range of home care, day time support and residential services.
She is also responsible for the public health functions of the council including promoting health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities across the city.
Director of City Development – Martin Farrington
Martin is responsible for the economic growth of the city including regeneration work, support to businesses and jobs and skills. He is also responsible for planning, highways including potholes and street lighting, museums, galleries and stately homes, sports and leisure centres, markets, and cultural events. The Chief Planning Officer, Tim Hill, reports to Martin.
There are also a number of officers who hold statutory roles in the council and work closely with the Corporate Leadership Team. They are as follows:
Director of Public Health – Dr Ian Cameron
Ian reports to the Director of Adults and Health but is directly accountable to the Chief Executive in relation to statutory responsibilities including the promotion of health and wellbeing. He is also responsible for protecting the health of the local population from threats ranging from relatively minor disease outbreaks to full scale public health protection, such as immunisation and screening, prevention and control of infection.
City Solicitor – Catherine Witham
Catherine as City Solicitor reports directly to the Chief Executive but sits within Resources & Housing directorate and is responsible for legal and democratic services. She is the council’s Monitoring Officer with responsibility for ensuring that council decisions are both lawful and fair.
Chief Financial Services Officer - Doug Meeson
Doug as Chief Officer Financial Services sits within Resources & Housing but is directly accountable to the Chief Executive in relation to his Section 151 Officer statutory responsibilities.
