In May last year, Reform formed a minority administration on Worcestershire County Council (WCC) following a Conservative wipeout and a surge in support for Reform. However, the Deputy Leader of the Council (Cllr Wharton), described how the administrations first 9 months has been filled with “putting out financial fires” as they attempted to fill a £73 million shortfall. With council taxes rise, budget cuts and the introduction of DOGE to the Council, the ‘Worcestershire Model’ is yet to live up to Reform’s promises of low taxes but has begun to set out their plans to ‘end government waste’.
This raises the question; will the Worcestershire approach of “financial prudence and financial discipline” be a blueprint for a Reform led national government or a cautionary tale for the national party of election promises vs financial reality?
The centre piece of Reforms ‘Our Contract with You’ economic plans is to ‘make work pay’ 10 by offering tax cuts and relief.
However, Deputy Leader of WCC Rob Wharton applied to the Labour Government for permission to increase Worcestershire’s council tax by up to 10%12 and he confirmed in January that the Administrations current plan is to increase tax by 5%13.
While he is not alone in raising council taxes, as the Labour led Birmingham City Council raised council tax last year by 7.5%, Reform had campaigned in Worcestershire on a pledge of cutting taxes15 and some voters have taken to social media to describe the tax rises as “completely unacceptable” from a party that “promised low taxation”.
Councillor Wharton stated that he “Absolutely understands” why some voters maybe angry at the contradiction in Reform policy and the Administrations taxes rises but stressed that “It is part of the firefighting to help move forward” and that “The Governent settlement expects us to raise taxes by 5%”20.
In addition to these tax rises, to balance the books, Wharton also plans to cut Worcestershire’s Highways budget by £1.5 million21 and Worcestershire’s SEND budget by £3 million22.
While he has reassured voters that these budget cuts will lead to “No deterioration in service”, one former highways chief called the highways cuts “Short-sighted” and Conservative Councillor Seb James described the SEND cuts as “bizarre”.
These budget cuts and tax rises leave the question, if a £73 million shortfall was contradiction to the Worcestershire Administrations attempt at avoid going into administration by taking out said emergency loan and shows that perhaps the ‘Worcestershire model’ is not entirely a fiscal blueprint for a Reform led government. The reality of fiscal firefighting has clearly shown a disparity between Reform’s rhetoric of a high-growth, lowtax future and Worcestershire’s tax rises and slashed services.
If Worcestershire is the blueprint: voters should be prepared for a second round of austerity, until Mr Farage thinks tax cuts are more “realistic”.
Reform’s fiscal ambitions could well rely on Starmer’s ability to fill the £22 billion black hole. enough for Reform to move away from their election promises, would a Reform led Treasury do the same to fill the £22 billion blackhole that Keir Starmer alleges the Tories left?
Councillor Wharton states that he has seen a “shift” in Reforms fiscal policy on a national level away from immediate tax cuts, towards tax cuts being the aim of a Reform led Government but not an immediate action.
Councillor Wharton is not wrong in this regard, with Farage himself stating that “substantial tax cuts” are not currently “realistic” and therefore, he would only work for “modest” changes to tax thresholds, if Reform won the next election.
This certainly suggests that the ‘Worcestershire model’ and Whartons approach of “prudence” to balance the books, could well be a blueprint for Reforms first fiscal year in office, should they win the next election.
However, one indication that the national party is not intending on totally following the ‘Worcestershire model’ is Farage’s views on bonds compared to Whartons application for £43 million in Exceptional Financial Support, on top of an extra £33 million they had already applied for32 (essentially an emergency loan to prevent councils going under) 33 from the Labour Government.
In September of last year, Farage urged the Bank of England to halt its bond selling programme as he argued, it was forcing government debt costs up34.
This low debt approach is in direct contradiction to the Worcestershire Administrations attempt at avoid going into administration by taking out said emergency loan and shows that perhaps the ‘Worcestershire model’ is not entirely a fiscal blueprint for a Reform led government. The reality of fiscal firefighting has clearly shown a disparity between Reform’s rhetoric of a high-growth, lowtax future and Worcestershire’s tax rises and slashed services.
If Worcestershire is the blueprint: voters should be prepared for a second round of austerity, until Mr Farage thinks tax cuts are more “realistic”. Reform’s fiscal ambitions could well rely on Starmer’s ability to fill the £22 billion black hole.