The council was founded by its first chairman, then president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Henry Grunwald, and a number of other senior UK Jewish leaders.

Together, they touch on every aspect of Jewish life, from synagogues to social care organisations, political bodies to youth movements, community centres and charities.

It also has the ability to co-ordinate members in line with their values and purpose A recent example of this type of work undertaken by the JLC is the establishment of the Jewish Community Refugee Task Force in March 2022 with the Board of Deputies of British Jews to ensure that the Jewish community could provide a co-ordinated, needs-led and effective response to the refugee crisis caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The JLC created Reshet in response to joint research with UJIA on the informal (out of school) provisions available for young people in the UK Jewish community.

It has led the central community response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and provided training for communal bodies in safeguarding.

[14] In December 2006, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Board of Deputies of British Jews formed the Fair Play Campaign Group, a pro-Israel advocacy organization.

[15] In December 2009, the Council sought and published a legal opinion from Lord Pannick advocating a change in UK law to prevent the issuing of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders without prior consent of the Attorney General.

The Jewish Chronicle claimed the council had covered up the former CEO's alleged behaviour, and accepted a resignation on the grounds of ill health.

[18] The Charity Commission stated it had not been informed of these allegations of financial impropriety in 2013 which raised serious potential regulatory concerns which it was assessing.