Leeds is the UK’s fastest growing city with the second largest employment total outside London, an estimated 460,000 people work in Leeds

In some parts of the city, 1 in 3 children live in households where no-one works.Over 44,000 people of working age are not in employment and are claiming some form of benefit.

The value of the city’s economy is estimated at £13.6 billion and is projected to grow by a third in the next ten years.

150,000 people— 1 in 5 of the local population— live in neighbourhoods that are among the worst 10% in the whole country in terms of levels of social deprivation

A national survey recently crowned Leeds the UK’s most ‘female-friendly’ city. (Future Laboratory ‘Tigra Town’ Research 2006)

500 women in Leeds are working on the streets, or in brothels and saunas.Many have class A drug addiction

The Leeds skyline is continually developing and evolving. The city has seen massive investment with £3.2bn of investment in large property schemes completed in the last decade, and a further £7.2 billion of schemes in progress or proposed.

Children born in disadvantaged areas of Leeds have a lifespan that is 8-10 years shorter than those born in more affluent areas.

Leeds is the UK’s largest centre for business and financial services outside London. More than 30 national and international banks are located in the city and the sector contributes towards a third of the city’s total economic output.

A survey of 410 residents living in the seven most disadvantaged wards in Leeds revealed that 67% had an income of below £200pw and 35% had an income of below £120 pw.

Leeds is widely recognised as the most important legal centre outside London, with 180 firms based in the city employing over 8,000 people.

10,282 incidents of domestic violence were reported in the city in one year: equivalent to 28 incidents per day. Children were present in 42% of cases.