Reform’s new councils have pledged to spend twice as much on private providers compared to previous administrations, as party insiders claim the increased spending is an example of efficiency.
According to a new report by data company Tussell shared with the New Statesman, Reform councils have spent twice as much on private sector contracts in the six months since the election compared to a year previously.
The councils have signed contracts worth £5.5 billion between their election on the 1st May 2025 and the end of November, compared with just £2.8 billion in the same period in 2024.
Reform figures told the New Statesman that the numbers could indicate longer contract values, and that the data could not be used to judge the council’s efficiency.
The largest contract was signed by Nottinghamshire County Council, worth £3.7 billion. It was awarded to Veritas Group to provide catering and facility management services.
Kent County Council also saw a large rise in procurement contract value, going from £207 million in May-November 2024 to £408 million in the same period in 2025.
While contract values can vary significantly between years, the numbers speak to the trouble Reform will have in keeping ambitious promises to reinvigorate local government, and pledges from some local parties to cut council tax.
Reform pledged a ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ headed by former Chairman Zia Yusuf, however the group has only visited three of their ten councils, according to the Local Government Chronicle. Data sharing agreements have caused some issues, while other councils have taken the steps of setting up their own efficiency departments, with Reform-run Kent setting up “DOLGE”, with local inserted.
Despite expectations of some Reform voters to council tax cuts and reduced spending, eight of Reform’s councils have already pledged council tax rises of 5 per cent, the statutory maximum allowed in a calendar year.
Jonathan Carr-West, the Chief Executive of the Local Government Information Unit told the New Statesman that no councils regardless of party could offer budget cuts to residents due to the financial pressure on councils.
He said: “The political party in control doesn’t change the spending pressures councils face, most of which it has a legal responsibility to meet. Social care, children’s services, temporary accommodation, these pressures do not disappear when a new party is elected to lead a council.
“There are only a few levers councils can pull to meet these demands, the biggest of which are cutting spending or increasing council tax, and most councils have been doing both for years. Not because they want to, but because they have no other options.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “This is a misleading and fundamentally flawed comparison that fails to fairly reflect how business, contracts, councils and money works. It treats a single snapshot in time as meaningful, when the total value in any period simply reflects which contracts happened to be awarded and how long they run for.
“A higher figure in one window does not mean higher spending. What matters is the value those contracts deliver for residents.
“Reform controlled councils are getting on with the job and remain focused on securing value for money in every decision.”
[Further reading: Pity the Labour staffers]
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