Britain’s challenger party has announced £100m in savings across its 10 authorities in just 100 days. But do the numbers add up?
Schemes which have been chopped include an electric vehicle upgrade project and heat pump installation in Durham, where solar investment has also been reduced, supposedly saving £25million. The authority’s Deputy Leader, former-GB News presenter Darren Grimes, has also proposed rescinding the council’s 2019 declaration of a climate emergency in a backtrack that would represent a UK first.
Meanwhile, Derbyshire County Council completely scrapped its Climate Change, Biodiversity and Carbon Reduction Committee the week after Reform UK took power. This is despite a report showing that emissions reductions – one of several legally binding targets the organisation is beholden to — were happening at a slower rate than the national average.
West Northamptonshire County Council has taken similar action, abandoning net zero targets in conflict with national policy. Notably, this was announced via an article in The Telegraph, published before a decision was formally made through democratic process. References to ‘net zero’ and ‘climate change’ are also being removed from council-produced documents, in favour of ‘environmental impact’. Conversely, though, the authority has apparently confirmed it will continue to try and access sustainability grants offered by Downing Street.
At Kent County Council, energy efficient upgrades have also been cancelled, raising a reported £14million with claims a further £18million could be clawed back over the next four years. Transition to an all-electric fleet has also been stopped, to the tune of an additional £7.5million in savings.
The list could go on, but it’s the analyses from outside the party that are arguably more important.
Numerous red flags have now been raised due to apparent misrepresentation and inaccurate accounting. According to the Institute for Government, Reform UK’s estimates that between £25billion and £45billion could be saved by stopping all net zero projects following a win at the next general election is wildly misleading. The figures are not based on taxpayer financing, and also include private investment which would be cancelled if schemes were abandoned, costing the UK money and jobs.
This is consistent with a blog by LAPF investments. According to the article, following May’s local elections, when Reform UK took significant regional power, there has been widespread confusion and uncertainty about where local government pension schemes [LGPS] should invest. This is despite evidence these vehicles are highly effective at unlocking much-needed finance for wind, solar, and other low carbon projects, keeping investments localised.
In comparison, an assessment by the New Economics Foundation found that if Reform UK went ahead and halted large scale renewable energy generation between 2026 and 2030, the party could lose the country around 28,300 jobs. This would include opportunities in its own constituencies like North and East Lincolnshire.
Using another approach to measurement, the same team found close to 35,000 offshore wind jobs could be lost under Reform UK policy. And beyond this, Climatexchange estimates 18,500 jobs could go from onshore wind in Scotland alone within five years, if the party is allowed to make good on its playbook.
In June, PoliticsHome conducted a separate assessment, looking at the cost pressures facing Reform UK’s regional and local leaders. According to this, the authorities spent up to 78% of their annual budget on vital services including social care and homelessness in the last financial year. This casts in sharp relief the limited room for savings in terms of core budgets, regardless of claims made by the party’s newly formed task force (which has been inspired by, and named after, Elon Musk’s Doge in the US — already seen by some as an ineffective, failing entity, including Musk himself).
In comparison to the bold claims of efficiencies, Cllr Mark Hood, acting leader of Kent County Council’s Green Group, published his take on the reality of Reform UK’s management style in Byline Times:
‘The first 100 days of the Reform UK administration at Kent County Council can be summarised as clickbait and chaos. We were told that Reform UK would act in the interests of the residents of Kent but instead we have only seen chaotic management, bigotry and empty soundbites that help no-one.
‘The start of the Reform UK administration in May and June was marked by cancelled committee meetings and postponement to training sessions meaning vital decisions about Kent’s future were delayed,’ he continues. ‘Reform UK told voters they were going to save money — then they appointed a new Cabinet member for KCC’s own DOLGE team (the additional L is for local) at a cost of £36,000 a year. Then they refused to back an opposition motion cancelling the generous allowance paid to deputy cabinet members.’
Image: Alex Gruber / Unsplash
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