MORE than £350,000 has been spent on security by Staffordshire County Council since the Reform UK group won control of the authority.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that Staffordshire County Council spent more than £350,000 since May 2025, which includes the cost of additional guards following a protest at a meeting in December.
A spokesperson for the authority said:
“This amount represents the total annual cost of security guard requirements for all council activities and events, not just the additional presence at public council meetings.
“This does vary from year to year and in 2025-26 it was actually down on the previous year.
“While we welcome public scrutiny, we do have to ensure everyone who attends council activities or meetings feels safe.
“We continue to review the arrangements and would like to remind residents that our council meetings can be watched online if they are unable to attend.”
But Cllr Alec Sandiford, a Liberal Democrat representative at Stafford Borough Council, said:
“This isn’t about safety – it’s about control. It’s about stopping people attending meetings and holding those in power to account.
“Public meetings are meant to be open. That’s the foundation of local democracy. What we are seeing instead is taxpayers being forced to fund barriers to scrutiny.
“Reform UK came to power promising to cut waste and stand up for taxpayers. Instead they are presiding over hundreds of thousands of pounds of unnecessary spending – spending that appears politically motivated.
“It is hypocrisy, plain and simple. Residents deserve to know exactly how this money has been spent, who authorised it and why.
“Every pound spent is public money. It should be used to improve people’s lives – not to shield politicians from criticism.”
