We are committed to giving you the best possible service at all times. We want to know your views on how we provide our services and we want to work with you to improve the way we deliver them.
The Equalities Assembly has been set up to ensure we involve all our diverse communities. It is a forum, made up of Equality Hubs, which helps ensure Leeds City Council is engaging with and involving the full range of citizens that live in Leeds in the decisions it makes. It offers all equality groups the opportunity to meet and work together to let the council know the issues that affect them.
On this page you will find minutes from previous Hub meetings and information about upcoming events. You can view minutes from the
related documents section.
LGBT+ Hub meetings
Leeds City Council is committed to the aims of Making Leeds an LGBT+ inclusive city, in representing the diversity of the communities and providing equity in our service provisions.
The LGBT+ Hub group meets quarterly, in a function room of the Cosmopolitan Hotel on Lower Briggate.
Future meeting dates are:
- 13 November 2018
- 19 February 2019
Arrival for refreshments from 5pm, with the meeting time 5.30pm until 7.30pm. For bookings please visit
bit.ly/LGBTHub.
This Hub group is supported by a large number of private and 3rd sector organisations within the city, along with a number of key individuals who share the goals of making Leeds an LGBT+ inclusive city.
A sample of projects currently under development within this Hub include: Sports inclusion, LGBT+, BME, Hate Crime, Domestic Violence, bullying, housing services, mental health alongside various awareness dates and campaigns.
Notes from previous meetings are available in the
related documents section.
For further information or to register for the mailing list please email
LeedsLGBT@Leeds.gov.uk.
Religion or Belief Hub meetings
The Council's Religion or Belief Hub met for the first time on the 7th of March 2017 and continues to meet quarterly. The Hub's priorities include
- handling times of crisis together
- defining the role of civic leadership and providing training and support in this
- increasing Religious knowledge amongst Council staff and citizens
- celebrating existing work and best practice
- identifying where we have low engagement from particular faiths and possible barriers to their participation
- working with young people
- engaging with private business around Corporate Social Responsibility
and:
- To challenge Council and other public services such as Health, Education and the Police on how they give due regard to Religion or Belief Equality and meet the needs of faith communities when delivering their services
The notes from previous meetings of the Hub can be found in the related documents section, including the flyer. For further information or to register for the mailing list please email equalityteam@leeds.gov.uk.
Future meeting dates are:
- 9th October 2018 (The Cohen Room at Leeds Town Hall)
- 27th November 2018 (The Millennium Room at The Carriageworks)
Arrival for refreshments from 5pm, with the meeting time 5.30pm until 7.00pm.
Disability Hub Meetings
The Disability Hub continues to meet quarterly 10.30 to 1.30pm at Leeds Mencap, the Vinery Centre, 20 Vinery Terrace, Leeds LS9 9LU.
So far this year the Hub has seen presentations from the Royal British Legion who spoke about the support they can offer to ex-military personnel and their family members. Stop Hate UK also attended to talk about a “Hate Free Leeds” event (June 2018) and the launch of Leeds Disabled Peoples Organisation amongst others. The minutes can be found in the related documents section of this page.
Future meeting dates are:
- 23rd October 2018
- 9th January 2019
Becoming a member of the Equalities Assembly
If you would like to become a member of the Equalities Assembly or for more information about it please contact us by phone: 0113 378 5998, text: 0789 127 0162 or email us at equalityteam@leeds.gov.uk.
For more information about the Equality Assembly conference 2018 watch this space! Or get in touch via the above contacts. Also available in the related documents section is the report from last year’s Equality Assembly conference.
Access and Use-Ability Group
The group is working with Leeds City Council’s City Development Directorate and private developers, to shape major plans for the City Centre.
Jagdeep Passan (chair of the group) enthused that “Leeds City Council has taken a brave step sharing their ambitions to be the best city by involving citizens in decision making powers as experts. It shows just what we can achieve when we pay attention the wisdom of people and communities, this is essential to any change in management or the redesign process.”
Before the first stone was laid at the Victoria Gate arcade, the group was keen to ensure that all communities including disabled people could enjoy the shopping experience with everybody else. Thanks to this truly unique partnership, the arcade will exceed accessibility standards with, for example, the inclusion of adult changing facilities that meet Changing Places requirements.
A detailed commitment to accessibility is now enshrined in our Supplementary Planning Guidance, which future planning applications will have to take into consideration. The planning process for Victoria Gate is included in the guidance as an example of best practice.
The Access and Use-Ability Group is looking now towards future developments, linking up with plans to make areas including further South Bank development, the refurbishment of the West Yorkshire Playhouse area, Greek Street and City Square more pedestrian friendly and accessible.
The message is clear: Leeds deserves a city centre that everybody can enjoy and this will happen much sooner if all citizens have a role in designing it.
Community Committees
What are community committees?
There are 10 community committees across the city each providing a forum for local people to have their say about what happens in their community. Community committees are an important part of the council’s decision making process and each committee has elected members as voting members.
The community committee holds at least 4 public meetings a year, where local people can meet with each other and with councillors, to discuss key issues of concern, and help influence decisions on matters of local interest.
Attending the meetings allows local people and councillors’ time to get to know groups and organisations that work in the area.
How do community committees work?
Local councillors elected to represent the area sit on the community committee, involve local people in discussions about the issues, and take decisions on key areas such as environmental improvements, community safety, health and wellbeing and employment.
The community committees also allocate money for local projects and activities. More information can be found by contacting your local area support team.
Get Involved with your local community committee
- Attend a meeting
- Contact your local councillor
- Ask a question or take part in a discussion either at a meeting or through our social media pages.
Meetings are held at different locations across the city, generally starting in the early evening and lasting a couple of hours. All meetings are open to the public and are usually themed around a particular topic. Details of your local community committee can be found on our committees page.
