Council claims Has Reform really saved £331m in the town halls that it controls?

Reform UK has ignored requests to share the evidence for its claim to have saved £331m since it took charge of 10 English councils in May, prompting questions over whether the figure is true.

- Ben Quinn Peter Walker

Warning of a "blob" of vested interests devoted to "ripping off" taxpayers, Richard Tice, the new head of the party's self-styled "Doge" cost-cutting unit, added: “We're going to war with these people”. Yet on closer analysis, examples of supposed savings at councils ranging from Durham to its "showcase" Kent appear questionable. In some cases, credit is claimed for initiatives already set in train by predecessors.

When the supposed savings initiatives described by Reform are totted up, there is still an unexplained shortfall of £260m.

Reform's press team repeatedly told the Guardian that a full list detailing the £331m in savings had been produced and would be shared. But despite numerous requests, it has not been provided.

Local government experts say it was always going to be a struggle for Reform to identify wasted spending that could be cut without significant trade-offs in services.

On the claims Reform has explained in more detail, how do the numbers stack up?

Action: Scrapping a plan to transition Kent county council's vehicle fleet to electric by 2030.

Claimed saving: £7.5m The supposed saving has been cited by Linden Kemkaran, Reform's leader of Kent county council, who claimed the party was bringing a "laser-like" focus to savings.

However, calculations by the council's own officials stress that going ahead with switching its fleet over to electric would in fact save up to £100,000 a year.

Reform's claim that avoiding the upfront costs is a money-saver is therefore "bogus", said Stuart Heaver, a Green party councillor.

"It assumes those electric vehicles would not need to be replaced with anything," he added.

The transition plans are also described as a "potential forthcoming project" in the 2025-26 council budget plan, with £5m not due to be spent until 2029-30.