In early November it was reported that up to eight of the 13 local Lancashire Reform-run councils had hinted that they would raise council tax by next year. It was further reported that bills could rise by the maximum of 5% for as many as 4.8 million people, living in at least six of these councils (Durham, Kent, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire). Ahead of last year’s (2024) council elections, Reform 2025 Ltd pledged to bring down council tax ahead of last year’s local elections, with DOGE-style efficiency drives.
Reform to raise council tax in Lancashire
It will come as no surprise then to learn that on 10 November that Reform UK is facing the ‘hard reality’ of having to raise council tax by 5% at one of its ‘flagship authorities’, home to 1.2 million people (Lancashire County Council).
After eight of the Reform-led councils in the country already admitted that they would be raising council tax next year, opposition leaders at Lancashire County Council say they are expecting the same for their council, where Reform took control in the May 2025 election .
Like all councils, after 15 years of central government austerity, Lancashire County Council is on course to overspend by almost £28 million by the end of the financial year (31 March 2026), as it struggles with increasing costs.
It has also been noted that Reform’s national leaders said, in the immediate aftermath of the local elections last year, that they would send in Elon Musk-style DOGE units to find inefficiencies and waste. However, as yet not a single Reform council has seen such a Doge-style audit, including Lancashire County Council.
It is true that later this month ( November 2025) a report is due after Reform’s leader of Lancashire County Council, Stephen Atkinson, ordered officers to carry out an internal efficiency review. It is hard to imagine this resulting in lower council taxes in Lancashire, as Atkinson commented at the party’s conference in October: “We have ever-growing demand, and Government is not giving us the money to meet that demand”.
No flesh left to cut after 15 years of austerity
The I-paper also featured comments from Azhar Ali, OBE, leader of the opposition and an independent councillor, who said that he thought that Reform UK had been told by council officers that there is no choice but to increase council tax by 4.99%.
Ali went on to comment:
There is a danger to the taxpayers of Lancashire of being hit with the maximum council tax increase by Reform, despite their pledge to freeze it. The hard reality of running Lancashire County Council is starting to hit Reform. After 15 years of Conservative cuts equating to over £500 million from Lancashire County Council’s budgets, there is not any flesh left.
Reform pledged to do things differently, but the reality is that they have continued with implementing the Conservative budget. Reform seem more worried about keeping their national HQ happy than focusing on the people of Lancashire. As the official opposition we are, where possible, coming forward with ideas to help deliver improved services, which is the job of a pragmatic and responsible opposition as Progressive Lancashire.
Reform fantasy vs harsh reality
Reform UK achieved a majority at a number of councils across England at the local elections last May. One of those councils was Lancashire. As part of their campaign the party promoted plans to emulate Elon Musk’s Doge (Department of Government Efficiency unit in the US, and eliminate what it called unnecessary spending.
It was reported on 6 October this year that the Doge-style experiment in one Reform flagship council, Kent, had not produced the intended results, with the Reform-led council there instead raising council tax by 5%. It seems like every week Farage takes part in a set-piece press conference, making various promises, seemingly on the assumption that Reform will win the next general election. Amid all the bluster of these press conferences, the news about council tax rises in Lancashire and other Reform-run councils should be a wake-up call for everyone. Reform made bold promises before the local elections last May, which now appear to have collided with reality.
Local council budgets have been stripped to the bone after years of austerity since 2010, and the spending that Reform branded as “waste” may in fact have been essential to keeping services running. Councils in regions like the North West do not need less funding, they need more funding – a lot more – to deliver the services people rely on.
Reform needs to understand that running councils – and their vital services – in places like Lancashire is not a game, and the whole issue raises serious questions about how the party would handle national power.
