'It's not easy': Reform council strives to identify promised savings

When Reform UK took control of Lancashire County Council after winning May's local elections there was a swirl of interest about what the untested party would do with its hands on the reins of power.

The early days were about settling in, with councillors entirely new to the job collecting lanyards and learning the ropes.

Now the party has run the authority for a little over four months and is embarking on the process of setting next year's budget – and there's a blunt assessment from the council leader.

It's not easy.

In his office in the council's Preston headquarters, Stephen Atkinson is upfront about the challenges the council faces.

"We have ever-growing demand and limited revenue," he said. "The government is asking local government to do ever more and not giving them the resources to do it."

In June, Reform's leader Nigel Farage visited Lancashire to meet his newly-elected councillors and claimed they had inherited a "very tough position".

He said the party's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) unit, based on Elon Musk's drive to cut government running costs in the US, would be key in identifying savings – though he couldn't say how much.

"The Doge team will be here next week," he told me. "Can we make a difference? Can we give council tax payers better value for money? Yes. How big a chunk or percentage that will be – I don't know the answer to that but we are going to try."

Three months on, Reform's Doge team has yet to visit Lancashire and has run into challenges in other councils over accessing sensitive data.

The party says the unit's work is ongoing, pointing to recent announcements from Deputy Leader Richard Tice about local government pension schemes.

In the meantime, Lancashire County Council has set up its own efficiency review, with council officers going line-by-line through the budget to find savings.

The council currently has a projected overspend of some £28m in this year's finances, with more than £100m in savings to find over the following two years.

The leader, Stephen Atkinson, said there had to be a focus on "innovation, smart-working, using digital data" and looking at council procurement.

Pressed on whether efficiencies alone could meet the scale of the financial challenge he said: "The chief executive is telling me it can.

"It's not easy. But we were put here to do a job, and I think this fresh look at what we do and how we do things and where we put our residents' money is absolutely a key part of that process."

Like many authorities, one of the big challenges the council has faced is growing demand for statutory services that is has to provide by law, particularly adult social care and children's services, where costs have spiralled.

The council received a critical Ofsted report about its provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities dating back to before Reform came to power, and is having to find more money to address concerns.

A fleet of new mini-buses, ordered by the previous Conservative administration but now being delivered, is expected to save on the cost of home-to-school transport, but the council says the pressure on budgets is still significant – blaming a lack of central government resource.

The government is due to set out reforms to support for children with special educational needs and disabilities later this year, saying it will "fix the broken SEND system we inherited, so all children receive the support they need to achieve and thrive".

It says it has increased overall funding for councils this year – including Lancashire, with a spokesperson saying: "We're turning the tide on decades of underfunding in councils to give people the public services they deserve."

In Lancashire, opposition councillors are sceptical of Reform's ability to find savings without impacting services.

Azhar Ali, an independent councillor and leader of the Progressive Lancashire group, said: "In some areas there could be some savings and efficiency savings, but I think those are miniscule.

"And that's going to be the interesting challenge for Reform. Are they going to invest to save or are they going to just slash, slash, slash services?"

Now Reform is in power in local government, it is encountering many of the same financial challenges as its predecessor parties.

Councillor Aidy Riggott, leader of the Conservative group, said: "They went into the election with many of them promising freezing council tax for a number of years, saving £5 in every £100 the council spends – they're just wildly unrealistic ambitions.

"So the residents who were expecting perhaps better services and more services perhaps face them going in the other direction."

In Lancashire, the council's internal efficiency review is due to report back in November and will shape decisions about the budget – including whether council tax goes up.

The leader says his party will deliver a balanced budget with a focus on more efficient delivery of day-to-day services.

As this process begins in councils across the country it's a crucial moment for Reform UK.

How the party performs in the councils it now runs is a key test for a party that says it wants to run the country.