Axed councillor concerned over Reform UK direction
LDRSA senior Reform UK councillor, who was axed from his authority's cabinet, has said he is "increasingly concerned" about the direction of his party locally.
Former Worcestershire County Council deputy leader David Taylor had been in charge of a bid to combine the county's seven councils into one single local authority.
Joanne Monk said it was now "the right time for me, as leader of the louncil, to also take the lead on local government reorganisation (LGR), in line with other Reform UK councils".
Taylor, who had been the cabinet member with responsibility for the change, said: "I remain increasingly concerned about the direction and leadership of Reform in Worcestershire."
The Reform councillor said while he respected the leader's authority he had also noted "a number of fundamental policy disagreements" between himself and the administration.
"These concerns came to a head last week when I was removed from the Appointments Panel shortly after advising the leader and deputy leader that I could not support proposals to award additional payments to senior officers who are already earning six-figure salaries," Taylor said.
"At a time when Worcestershire County Council's financial position is so precarious, I believe such decisions must be subject to the highest level of scrutiny and restraint."
He also said the leadership was too slow in making policy decisions, and he had concerns over council debt levels.
He concluded a statement to the BBC by stating: "I remain committed to serving the residents of my Redditch East division and remain committed to advocating for a clear, credible and financially responsible approach to the future of local government in Worcestershire."
Monk said following the reshuffle, "the remaining elements of the LGR cabinet portfolio, which also covers corporate services, are insufficient to warrant a cabinet role".
She said that a decision was made to "move these areas alongside the finance cabinet portfolio and remove the role of cabinet member with responsibility for LGR from the structure".
The cabinet has been cut from 10 councillors to nine with Mr Taylor's corporate services responsibilities transferred to councillor Robert Wharton.
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