Unpacking what's in Reform UK's first full council budget for Lancashire

An increasingly heated atmosphere at County Hall across six hours of debate

Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.

Having sat through six hours of County Hall debate this week that often turned nasty, we could commit this entire issue to the digs, the jibes, the smirking and the political theatre that the leader was quick to condemn but arguably indulged in.

We will, instead, focus on the budget and what it means with mention of the back and forth where relevant. But make no mistake, Reform UK voted down all opposition amendments to its budget in an increasingly charged atmosphere.

I will leave this intro brief because this is a chunky issue. Get stuck in.

Lancashire briefing

🏠 Forty new homes including affordable ones could be built on farmland edging a Rossendale town, with thousands of pounds paid by the developer towards local sports sites. But the plan has prompted objections from some people living nearby, who fear too many homes, traffic and drainage problems, and the loss of green space. RDK Construction (BL8) Ltd wants outline permission for up to 40 homes and access on land at Lower Carr Farm, off Yarraville Street, Rawtenstall. More detailed home designs and layout will come later, if the outline plan is approved. RDK is working with JPE Consultancy of Stalybridge.

👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 People in Skelmersdale say children and teenagers’ needs, more local jobs and investment in doctors’ surgeries should be priorities for a new £20m regeneration scheme in Digmoor. And a community hub leader and disabled football club founder would be ideal for a new board, to decide how the money is spent, some say. Digmoor has been selected for the new government Pride In Place programme, promising £20million phased over ten years. It will be aimed at grass-roots neighbourhood, health, family, skills and employment projects. Parks, playgrounds, leisure and social amenities, and home energy improvements could be included too.

🚗 A “technical issue” means Lancashire County Council is currently unable to say whether it is hitting its own pothole repair targets. The authority says a change to reporting processes, coupled with the introduction of a new IT system, has left it unable to publish “reliable” data in a format that tracks performance over time. The problem began last autumn and means expected statistics showing how quickly potholes were repaired between October and December 2025 are unavailable. However, the issue is not due to be rectified until the new kit comes into operation early next month, meaning the figures covering the start of this year are also affected.

Reform UK promises ‘tsunami of better services’ but cuts and job losses inevitable

Cllr Stephen Atkinson - leader of the Reform-led county council

By Luke Beardsworth and Paul Faulkner

The Reform UK administration at Lancashire County Council has set its first budget - promising what it described as a “tsunami of better services” for residents.

A six-hour meeting at County Hall on Thursday (26 February), which often turned heated, saw the authority agree a £1.3bn financial plan for the year ahead, including a 3.8 percent increase in its share of council tax bills - almost 1.2 percent less than the maximum allowed without government permission or a local referendum.

Leader Stephen Atkinson hailed what he said was the “incredible” feat of balancing the books against the backdrop of a series of budgetary challenges, while also delivering the lowest council tax rise in 12 years.

However, the ruling group came under fire from several opposition parties who accused Reform of presiding over a plethora of potholes on Lancashire’s roads, continued uncertainty over the future of some care facilities and “cuts” to services.

They also alleged that it was only a better than expected return from the government fair settlement scheme and less to pay in pensions contributions that led to the council’s stronger position.

The alarm was also sounded over the presence in the budget of an £11m “provision” for potential redundancy payments - first reported by The Lancashire Lead - which one councillor claimed could equate to as many as 400 jobs being on the line. Cllr Atkinson said redundancy would be used only as “a last resort”.

Overall, the budget for the 2026/27 financial year includes an additional £7m for the ‘inclusion service’ for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), an extra £17.7m for largely SEND-related transport costs and a total £72m pot for highways maintenance.

It is also based on £65m of planned savings in the next 12 months, with over £100m more forecast to be required across the following two years. The authority is facing £99m of cost pressures in the coming year alone - £59.5m as a result of increased demand for services and £39.5m because of inflation.

Cllr Atkinson, whose party took control of the authority last May - after eight years of Conservative control - said: “The challenges this council faces are immense - £1.2bn of debt that is costing £80m a year to service, [while] the majority of the council’s reserves...are tied up in bond investments for up to 92 years and [which], if we sold [them] today, would probably cost the council nearly £350m…in losses.

“In these circumstances, to deliver a balanced budget is incredible.

“Our budget brings forward a set of benefits for our communities in Lancashire and marks a step change in the way we think about financial management and service delivery in the county.

“Now we are living within our means under this Reform administration...there will be no volcano eruptions or earthquakes - just a tsunami of better services, common sense, financial prudence and a… strategy to better the lives of the people we represent.”

However, the majority of opposition groups saw things rather differently - and ensured that much of the debate resolved around potholes, care services and council tax pledges.

Azhar Ali, leader of the Progressive Lancashire official opposition - a coalition of independents and the Green Party - said of the current condition of Lancashire’s roads that residents were “sick and tired of replacing their damaged suspension [and getting] punctures [and] ripped tyres”.

“[They] see shoddy workmanship, they see potholes turn into craters and they say ‘enough is enough’. The administration had enough money from government to make a difference, but all we’ve had is excuses and spin,” Cllr Ali said.

Several proposed opposition amendments to the budget suggested a boost to road repair funding, over and above that included in Reform’s plans.

The Liberal Democrats slated an extra £5m over the next 12 months, while the Conservatives put forward £3.5m this year and £1.5m the next.

Presenting the Lib Dem amendment, Cllr Mark Jewell accused Reform of breaking a pre-election pledge to fill “every pothole”. He added: “We have seen potholes like craters on the moon on our streets.

“This is, in part, due to the ‘blobbing’ repairs undertaken by the previous administration that are now falling…[but we] also need to invest more money for more targeted repairs to get on top of the sorry state of our roads. Do it once, do it properly.”

Tory opposition group leader Aidy Riggott said the extra funding his party was proposing would enable Reform to do whatever was necessary to “make our roads safer, more usable and more acceptable to residents once again”.

Cabinet member for highways and transport Warren Goldsworthy acknowledged that “the roads are in a terrible state and have been since Christmas” - and apologised.

However, he stressed that prior to the depths of winter setting in, the authority had 47,000 fewer potholes as of just before Christmas than it did at the same point 12 months earlier. That was the first public update to a figure previously revealed which showed a 25,000 drop in defects between September 2024 and September 2025.

“I get [that] it’s a stick to beat [us] with, but…the last 6-8 weeks have done terrible damage - and we will get on top of it,” Cllr Goldsworthy said.

“[But] the maintenance backlog across our entire network …is £650m. We did get £20m last year off central government, but…I’m tired of being told, ‘You’ve got [an extra] £20m, fix the rest of the roads’ - because it just doesn’t work, it’s for the birds.

“I accept the roads have had a terrible time in the last eight weeks - we’ll get on top of that and by the end of this year [they] will be in an even better state. Can you imagine where we’d be right now if we weren’t nearly 50,000 potholes [better off] at the end of last year?”

However, deputy Progressive Lancashire group leader - and Green Party leader - Gina Dowding cautioned Reform against “put[ting] all their eggs in…the potholes basket” when it came to road funding.

“They have rolled up a whole range of transport grants [and] they’re investing them next year into potholes . What we’re going to see…is a lack of funding for all the [other] important schemes…[like] pedestrian safety, [the] conditions of our pavements, [new] pedestrian crossings [and] dropped kerbs,” said Cllr Dowding, referencing the £5.5m Progressive Lancashire was proposing be spent on “community safety and highways schemes”.

There have been numerous instances of Lancashire County Council refusing to implement new crossings, including at Port Way in Preston and Cop Lane in Penwortham, over the past several months.

Cllr Riggott said the Conservatives would be supporting the Reform budget proposal as it was “broadly a continuation of the direction of travel we set as an administration” - but he stressed that did not mean “we agree with every line in it”.

However, it was the suggested similarity to a budget that the Tories might have proposed that Labour group leader Mark Clifford cited as reason for his party’s abstention.

He said the situation may have been different if any of the opposition group amendments had been accepted by Reform, but he said: “[Otherwise], this [budget] document is just as dull as dishwater - it’s not ambitious.”

But the cabinet member holding the purse strings, resources portfolio boss Ged Mirfin - who was part of the last Tory administration until defecting shortly before last year’s county council elections - said Reform was now in charge “precisely because the old parties failed”.

Cllr Mirfin points the finger

“Under previous administrations, overspends were becoming a habit - under Reform they have been sharply reduced. This did not happen by accident - it happened because we were prepared to take decisions the old parties avoided.”

Multiple opposition politicians pointed to Reform enjoying the good fortune of two funding windfalls in the form of a more generous grant settlement from the government after a long-awaited overhaul of the system – rendering the authority £28.4m better off this year – and a reduction in the pension contributions the county council has to make, which will boost the coffers by more than £20m, according to the budget papers. Cllr Ali said that showed that the budget had not been the result of “Reform magic”.

However, Cllr Atkinson noted that the extra cash did not match the £99m in cost increases the authority was having to absorb in 2026/27.

Theatrical politics

Despite repeated calls for respect to return to County Hall in recent months, Thursday’s meeting was marked by a number of personal attacks which led Cllr Alf Clempson, the chairman of the council, to issue a number of reprimands.

Cllr Atkinson repeatedly denounced ‘theatrical politics’ - particularly when responding to the Progressive Lancashire amendments which he said he had received only shortly before that day’s budget meeting - before his own county councillor Joel Tetlow dramatically tore up his copy of the opposition’s amendment minutes later.

He said: “The reason we created a £4 million reserve so that we can take on board what every opposition group says - but not 30 minutes before the council meeting.

“This [holding up Progressive Lancashire amendment] is a back of a fag packet report. It has been approved by the Section 151 officer but it hasn’t had the other impact assessments.

“There are a total of £8 million pounds, and we do not spend money of that magnitude in some kind of political theatre.”

Joel Tetlow theatrically votes down the Progressive Lancashire amendment

Later in the meeting, Cllr John Potter called nonsense and said: “Let’s not forget how you started your regime here. You banned flags - like the white ribbon - and not only did you do that, but your deputy leader then shares a post talking about an MP being shot.

“You cannot have the brass neck to come in here and say ‘you guys are playing political games’ - what you should have brought was his resignation letter.”

All amendments would ultimately - and predictably - be voted down but Reform UK issued a commitment to return to them later in the year.

Cuts or cornucopia?