The head of Reform UK’s Doge unit Zia Yusuf has said local authorities the party controls will not be able to reduce council tax, contradicting earlier claims of potential cuts by its local leaders.
‘I think anyone who looked at the numbers knows that the idea of council tax coming down is not going to happen, given the pressures in terms of social care’, said Yusuf in an interview with the website Politico.
‘What we can talk about is council tax in Reform councils increasing slower than other councils. I think that’s a sensible target.’
Rising social care budgets facing local authorities is a factor, he said adding they are ‘compounding at a frightening rate’.
Among local Reform UK councillors to pledge to reduce council tax has been Leicestershire County Council leader Dan Harrison. After Reform took control of the council following May’s local elections he told ITV that through efficiency savings the party would ‘be able to cut council tax’.
Last week, West Northamptonshire Council became the first local authority to approve a mechanism for sharing sensitive information with Reform’s cost cutting unit.
This comes amid concern from the Conservative shadow levelling up secretary Kevin Hollinrake that Reform’s ‘Doge’ style probes into council finances are a ‘cyber-security disaster waiting to happen’.
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