Reform will not cut council tax in any of the areas where it controls the local authority despite pledging to find major cost savings, the head of its ‘Doge’ cost-cutting unit has admitted.
Former party chairman Zia Yusuf said that reducing the household tax was ‘not going going to happen’, citing the high cost of social care faced by councils.
He warned that the best the party could do in Kent and the other nine areas where it runs services would be to increase council tax more slowly that elsewhere.
It comes despite the Reform leader of Leicestershire County Council, Dan Harrison, saying he would reduce the tax burden.
Speaking after he took over in May, the former Conservative councillor told ITV: ‘We’re now looking at the cost, the efficiency, we’ll then have money for front line [services] but we’ll also be able to cut council tax.’
But speaking to Politico, Mr Yusuf said: ‘I think anyone who looked at the numbers knows that the idea of council tax coming down is not going to happen, given the pressures in terms of social care.
‘What we can talk about is council tax in Reform councils increasing slower than other councils. I think that’s a sensible target.’
The high cost of social care has also seen the council leader in Reform-run Kent pleaded with the government to be less tough on foreign workers.
Former party chairman Zia Yusuf (left, with Nigel Farage in June) said that cuts to the household tax were ‘not going going to happen’, citing the high cost of social care.
Last week Reform’s leader in Kent, Linden Kemkaran, warned a new law cutting the number of care worker visas could leave its services and private providers on a ‘cliff edge’.
Last week Linden Kemkaran warned a new law cutting the number of care worker visas could leave its services and private providers on a ‘cliff edge’.
Kent the first local authority where the party is rolling out its initiative to drive down local public spending based on the US’s Department of Government Efficiency, also known as Doge.
In the letter, co-signed by the council’s cabinet Member for adult social care and public health, Diane Morton, she said she had ‘grave concerns’ about the proposed law change.
Under changes laid in Parliament earlier this month, care worker visas will be scrapped and the salary threshold for skilled worker visas will rise from £38,700 to £41,700.
It will also up the threshold to degree level for skilled workers, which will cut eligibility for 111 occupations.
Mr Farage has previously hinted that the waste-cutting drive will not lead to lower bills, though he was less blunt than Mr Yusuf.
Last month he said: ‘Our priority is to look at how services are delivered, and to see whether we might negotiate better contracts.
‘And that is a bigger priority than cutting council tax at this moment in time.’
Recent overspend by councils in England on their adult social care budgets was the highest in a decade, according to a major survey.
The annual report from care leaders warned that due to the current state of the sector – which campaigners have long argued has not been prioritised or had adequate investment – the Government’s aim to shift more care into the community could be undermined.
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) said the financial situation “is as bad as it has been in recent history” with council overspend on adult social care budgets in the year to March hitting around £774 million.
This was up from £586 million in the previous year and is the highest level for at least a decade, Adass said.
Its survey – which had responses from 91 per cent of directors of adult social services in England – also showed care leaders have reduced spending on prevention by 11 per cent this year.
Just 5.6 per cent of this year’s total adult social care net budget is projected to be spent on prevention.
Adass said this lowest recorded spend is because overstretched budgets mean care leaders have had to prioritise immediate needs and people in crisis.
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