Eight Reform UK councils 'set to hike tax' despite party promising to fight for lower rates
Local authorities won by Reform last May are facing council tax hikes despite lower tax messaging during elections
Eight Reform-run councils have indicated they are set to hike council tax after struggling to find promised cuts in spending.
Listen to this article
Council leaders and Reform councillors in local authorities across the country have admitted publicly that they may be force to raise council tax.
This comes despite promises from Nigel Farage to cut out wasteful spending within the councils which they control after May's local elections.
The new leaders of these councils have largely found services already cut to the bone - struggling under the statutory requirements in adult social care and children's services.
These legal requirements have taken up an increasingly large proportion of local budgets in recent years.
Read More: Reform treasurer admits looking stupid after company was ‘defrauded’ – court
Read More: Badenoch dismisses leadership threat after 20 Tory councillors defect to Reform UK
Durham
Reform-run Durham council has proposed scrapping an exemption on paying council tax for low-income households.
They have also proposed getting rid of support for empty and second homes in the area.
A budget consultation for next year has also raised the prospect of the maximum 5 per cent rise in council tax.
This came in spite of leaflets distributed to voters saying that the party would "fight for lower council tax".
Warwickshire
In Warwickshire, Reform's deputy council leader Stephen Shaw told reporters that he anticipates a rise in council tax by "a bit lower" than the statutory maximum of 5 per cent.
West Northamptonshire
Likewise in West Northamptonshire, council leader Mark Arnull said a hike would be "highly likely".
Leicestershire
Elsewhere, Reform's councillor Dan Harrison in Leicestershire has proposed a 3 per cent increase in council tax after only last month telling others that it was "categorically" his plan to "reduce council tax".
Worcestershire
Worcestershire's country council is currently embarked upon a budget consultation. The Reform-run council has included as part of the consultation an option to raise council tax by as much as 10 per cent.
The move would require special government permission from ministers within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Several councils were granted permission to do this last year as a measure to shure up under-pressure budgets.
The consultation document read: “Whilst we totally understand that everyone in Worcestershire is dealing with the impact of cost-of-living increases, these impacts are equally affecting [the council], presenting us with significant financial challenges.”
Derbyshire
Reform's 'DOGE' councillor in Derbyshire has told PoliticsHome that central government had “put local authorities in a bit of a straitjacket”.
This comes despite the local branch of Reform saying a vote for them is a vote to “say no to increased council tax”.
Staffordshire
In Staffordshire, Ian Cooper told PoliticsHome that they would too like to hike council tax by less than 5 per cent but added that “whether we can deliver that based on inflation … we’ll just have to wait and see”.
Lancashire
A Reform source in Lancashire told The Times: “Things are very difficult” with the public finances.
The unnamed source added: "We are having to make tough choices or go back to council taxpayers and people just can’t afford it any more.”
Lincolnshire
In Lincolnshire, a Reform source also suggested the council would raise taxes by more than 2 per cent - but stopped short of confirming a specific figure.
The source told the Times: “We can make the decision to lose lots of money but that would mean looking around what important local services will be hit. Our main priority is to do the best for the people of Lincolnshire.
"It would be the most popular thing in the world to say we’ll do 2 per cent but if that meant no more local bus services? That’s the kind of decision we have to make.”
Kent
In Reform's flagship council in Kent, cabinet member Cllr Diane Morton warned that adult social care services were already “down to the bare bones” and they needed “more money”.
She told the Financial Times: “We’ve got more demand than ever before and it’s growing … We just want more money.”
When asked about council tax hikes, Cllr Morton replied: “I think it’s going to be 5 per cent”, adding that every 1 per cent increase would equate to an extra £10 million raised."
Labour MP for East Thanet in Kent, Polly Billington said the moves showed “what happens when the politics of easy answers hits the reality of difficult decisions”.
She added: “Reform promised to cut waste and deliver savings — but they haven’t come close because they didn’t know what they were talking about.”
Antony Hook, the Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition on Kent county council, said: “Reform don’t know what they are doing. They campaigned across the country, and in Kent, on a promise to cut council tax. Now they are in power and realising that their plans don’t add up. It’s time for them to come clean about their plans for councils they control.”
A Reform spokesman said: “We’re in the process of fixing the mess, cutting wasteful spending and delivering for value for money as we promised during the election campaign. Reform councils already slashed £100 million worth of waste in their first 100 days, ensuring that any council tax rises are kept as low as possible.
“After years, and in some cases decades, of mismanagement by the Conservatives, the idea that Reform UK was going to turn local councils around in just five months is for the birds, particularly with a Labour national government that financially penalises fiscally responsible local authorities.”