Warning over 'reckless' Reform council budget

Opposition leaders have accused a Reform UK council of proposing a "casino" budget.

The party has set out its spending plans at Kent County Council (KCC) for the first time since taking it over after local elections in May last year.

Opposition parties have warned the budget is "potentially reckless" because of significant forecast overspending without sufficient increases to council tax.

KCC's Reform UK leader Linden Kemkaran called the plans "responsible", adding: "There will be tough decisions ahead, but for the first time in many years, this council is moving in the right direction."

"It protects key services," she said. "It starts to reduce debt, and it does so without placing unnecessary additional burdens on the people of Kent."

Antony Hook, Liberal Democrat leader at KCC, described it as a "casino budget" that was "built on broken promises to the taxpayer".

He said the party had already "lost control" this year with a forecast overspend of £36.5 million.

Kent County Council - the largest local authority in England - is widely seen as a test case of Reform's ability to govern.

Kent's Reform leaders have already proposed a 3.99% council tax increase, despite promising ahead of their election victory not to raise tax.

But opposition bosses have criticised the move for not raising it to the maximum possible, which will leave the council with £10 million less for the next financial year that could have protected services and reserves.

Kemkaran said Reform would prefer not to propose a council tax increase at all.

But she added that given "the dire legacy we inherited", alongside an unprecedented rise in demands and costs for services, "this is simply not possible".

The budget papers said the proposals are balanced by £25 million in "one-off measures".

Hook claimed the budget sells off assets to pay for day-to-day spending.

"You can only sell an asset once," he said.

Adult social care and health is "one of the most critical threats to the council's financial resilience", budget documents show.

There was an overspend of £49.7m in this area this financial year.

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