Reform UK accused of betraying election pledges after council tax rises | Reform UK

Nigel Farage’s Reform England has been accused of betraying election promises to cut council tax after several councils it controls said they planned to increase rates close to the maximum allowed.

These include Kent county council, the party’s flagship local authority, which has proposed a 3.99% increase and is seen as a “window display” of what a Reform-led government would look like.

Four other county councils controlled by the party – Derbyshire, North Northamptonshire, West Northamptonshire and Leicestershire – have also proposed council tax increases of 5%, the maximum allowed by law.

Derbyshire county council confirmed the increase after predicting a £38 million gap in its budget earlier this week due to overspending on children’s social care and adult social care.

Councilors at Reform-controlled Lincolnshire county council were told on Tuesday that a 4.99% increase was being considered. A public consultation will also examine alternative options, including a 3.99% increase; however, this increase will create a deficit of £4.1 million.

Opposition councilors in Kent accused Reform of betraying voters who bought leaflets from the party last year promising to freeze or cut council tax.

The draft budget will be voted on at a full meeting next month. Reform still has a significant majority in Kent, despite a number of departures and expulsions of its own councillors.

Bitter divisions among reform councilors were made clear by images leaked to the Guardian in October showing a chaotic internal meeting where members were told to “mess up” if they did not agree to the resolutions.

Details of the draft budget, including the proposed increase, were released late Thursday night after expectations it would be released earlier in the week.

Kent county council leader Linden Kemkaran said the proposed draft budget reflected what he called the “progress” that had been made since Reform took over the council after last year’s local elections.

“The council was facing a dire financial situation when this administration took office. KCC was saddled with more than £700 million of debt, around £84,000 was spent every day on interest alone and pressures on vital services continued to mount.

“Since then, we are on track to deliver savings and revenue of £100 million, profiled future spend of almost £40 million and reduced the council’s debt by £67 million,” he said.

Kemkaran said the details of the draft budget propose a 3.99% increase in council tax, rather than the 5% figure expected when the current administration took office, and that this was achieved while protecting frontline services.

But the opposition Liberal Democrat group on the council accused Reform of financial mismanagement and a “complete betrayal” of election promises.

“Despite campaigning on a platform of tax cuts, Reform’s budget will see the average Band D household pay around £67.47 more a year,” said Liberal Democrat leader Anthony Hook.

“He was in favor of the election with the promise of reform, saving money and reducing the burden on taxpayers. Today that promise has gone completely unfulfilled. They boast an increase of around 4% rather than 5%, a difference of just 33p a week for the average Kent family. Given the hype and promises made at the election and over the last nine months, this is a poor result.”

Alister Brady, the council’s Labor member, said: “Reform will try to deflect and mislead but the facts are clear. They said they would cut council tax at the election but in their first budget they increased council tax and because of overspending they will have to do this for every year of their three-year budget. They must be honest with the public.”

There was also criticism from others who were initially part of Kent’s ruling Reform group.

Bill Barrett, one of the few to be set up as an independent, said: “Kemkaran may say he is keeping council tax increases as low as possible, but £10 million less from council tax means there are £10 million of savings now to be found.

“Not only are we reducing reserves again in this budget, but I really fear for services across the City when we look at the details of this draft budget.”

Tony Travers, visiting professor in the department of government at the London School of Economics, said: “Reform has had a long, sharp learning experience over the past year about the realities of running council budgets that have been squeezed for the last 15 years.”

But he added: “Frankly I’m surprised so few have managed to get to a figure significantly below 5% as this would have given Farage some impressive political ammunition given his hopes of making further gains in local elections next year. Given most are coming out with the maximum allowable increase, this would be evidence that filling a hole is not an effective ‘Reform route’, even if we don’t need it.”