County council facing 'effective bankruptcy'

Worcestershire County Council is facing "effective bankruptcy" its leader has said unless it gets emergency help from central government.

The authority is still waiting on an answer over £71m in Exceptional Financial Support (EFS), and on whether it can increase council tax by up to 10% from April.

Councillor Jo Monk, who leads the Reform UK run local authority, said its finances were "a mess" and raised the prospect of having to issue a Section 114 notice, which acknowledges the council cannot meet its spending commitments.

"We are on the verge of bankruptcy and need to make significant changes," she said.

Monk was joined at a media briefing on Friday by MP Richard Tice, Reform's deputy leader.

"Reform UK runs 12 councils across England - regrettably this one in Worcestershire is in the greatest financial distress and is right on the edge of receivership," Tice said.

"We've got to be honest with people about the state of things. They have inherited a mess, but they will turn it around."

The council has already scrapped £30m in capital spending, which includes ditching a planned revamp of Redditch Railway Station and some highways improvements.

It is also withdrawing vacant job posts in areas like IT, finance and HR as part of a plan to save £9m, but is still asking the government for £71.9m to balance the books.

Monk added: "If we don't get what we need [in terms of extra government help] then a Section 114 Notice will come in, which is effective bankruptcy.

"We'd then get administrators come in, in effect - they'd then make a plan for where the money gets spent in Worcestershire.

"It would be a catastrophe. We're going to have to halt projects that were put into the budget by the previous administration, things that maybe were 'nice to have', but we can't afford them."

During the media briefing she also blamed the previous Conservative administration for the finances, saying they had "dodged decisions" and were "reckless".

"They spent beyond the council's means and have left the council on the brink of insolvency," she said.

The opposition Conservatives say the Reform leadership has "allowed spending to run out of control this year", accusing them of "extraordinary hypocrisy".

It comes after the BBC revealed that all Worcestershire county councillors were sent a letter by the authority, warning they could end up in legal trouble if they failed to approve the latest annual budget.

A vote on the 2026-27 budget is taking place later this month, by which time the Reform administration will know where it stands on emergency government funding and whether it can raise council tax above the existing 5% limit.

The BBC has contacted the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for comment.

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