Four big issues facing Reform UK at county council

REFORM UK caused a political earthquake when they took over Staffordshire County Council in this month’s local elections.

- Phil Corrigan dives in

Nigel Farage’s party took 49 of the authority’s 62 seats, ending 16 years of Conservative rule in Staffordshire, with gains at both the Tories’ and Labour's expense.

No doubt many Reform voters were motivated by disaffection with both the two main parties nationally, along with concerns over issues such as immigration.

But Mr Farage, and many of his new councillors, have spoken of the need to cut ‘wasteful spending’ in local government, citing areas such as climate change policy and diversity, equity and inclusion - DEI.

Reform have blamed such expenditure for rising council tax bills and poorer performance in areas like road repairs. The ruling Reform group on Staffordshire County Council has yet to set out its plans in detail, but here are some of the key issues they will have in their in-box.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION

The single biggest issue that most councils will be dealing with over the next few years will be local government reorganisation. At the moment, local services in Staffordshire are split between the county council and the eight districts.

The Labour government wants to abolish two-tier councils and replace them with a single layer of unitary authorities, which ministers believe are more efficient and effective. Staffordshire’s previous Conservative leadership, while opposing the principle of reorganisation, favoured a county unitary model, which would see the county and district councils effectively merged, with Stoke-on-Trent remaining separate.