THE leader of Staffordshire County Council’s ruling Reform UK group has promised an “incremental revolution” to save taxpayers’ money.
Cllr Ian Cooper will be officially appointed as the new leader of the authority on Thursday (22nd May), following his party’s historic landslide victory in the local elections earlier this month.
He says the incoming Reform administration – which won 49 of the 62 seats in the 1st May election – will “forensically investigate” the council’s finances and root out any “profligate” spending.
But he declined to give examples of current waste, saying this would only become apparent once Reform had access to the relevant information.
Cllr Cooper said:
“Councils are responsible for hundreds of millions of pounds worth of taxpayers’ money. I believe that every penny we spend at the council should be spent in the most effective and most efficient way.
“Reform has said nationally, as a policy, that we need to go in and challenge this and investigate where the waste occurs.
“We’ve found many, many examples across the UK where councils have been profligate and spending on items which we believe as taxpayers that they shouldn’t be spending on.
“We’re not going to drop in on day one and immediately change things, but over the period of time there will be an incremental revolution that will occur by looking at how councils like Staffordshire are run.
“We intend to use the full tools available to us to investigate that problem.”
Cllr Cooper said the overspend on special education – an issue for many local authorities – was a particular concern.
The county council’s deficit on its High Needs Block is expected to reach £55million at the end of 2024-25.
Cllr Cooper said:
“They’ve been kicking the whole financial issue down the road and ultimately taxpayers have to pick up the bill.
“We have a duty to forensically investigate and look at everything.
“Unless it’s looking after a vulnerable person, educating a child, filling in a pothole, making the environment cleaner and greener, why do we fund it?
“I definitely think the Government need to play a more active role, but it is beholden on us also to try and find those efficiency savings which we think could be.”
“You’re always going to get one or two who drop out”
Critics of Reform have pointed out that the party is already responsible for wasteful spending, due to one of their councillors resigning just two weeks after the elections, meaning a by-election will need to be held.
Former Eccleshall and Gnosall representative Wayne Titley stood down for “personal reasons”, with Reform saying that he and his family had been the subject of abuse.
Mr Titley had faced criticism over social media posts attributed to him, such as one which called on the Royal Navy to shoot at small boats in the Channel.
Cllr Cooper downplayed the resignation and the cost of the by-election – and accused Reform’s critics of hypocrisy.
“We’ve just had 677 councillors elected across England. You’re always going to get one or two who drop out.
“These things are never ideal. However, I don’t take criticism from people like the Conservatives – have they talked about all their MPs who stepped down and forced by-elections during the last parliament?”
Cllr Cooper declined to express an opinion on Mr Titley’s social media posts, but said he had a right to free speech.
“Is it right that politicians of any political persuasion to be able to speak their mind? Of course, free speech is what we all want.
“But if you say something, you have to back it up. That’s the whole point of democracy.”
One of the most pressing issues currently facing the county council – and other authorities in Staffordshire – is local government reorganisation.
The Labour Government has called on councils to come up with proposals for new unitary authorities to replace the current two-tier system.
Before the election, the previous Conservative administration, while opposing the idea of reorganisation, had stated its preference for a county-wide unitary that excluded Stoke-on-Trent.
Cllr Cooper is similarly sceptical about reorganisation, but said Reform would consider the various options available.
“This whole issue of reorganisation was never in the manifesto of Labour at all. It was never discussed at the general election as it was never an issue put forward.
“There’s a plethora of different options on the table. What is clear is if we don’t pick one of these options – and none of them are good options – Angela Rayner will impose a solution on Staffordshire on 28th November, which we don’t want.
“So we are where we are. Probably, like the Conservatives, we think that two-tier probably works, but we have to deal with the cards we are dealt.
“Ideally we’d like a whole Staffordshire, but we’re going to have to sit down and discuss with the various groups and see what the best worst option is available, quite frankly.”
