Seb James: A new councillor's view on Reform-led Worcestershire | Conservative Home

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

59% : For 2025/26, Worcestershire's net budget was £495.6m, with £359.5m expected from council tax and £87.5m from business rates; the budget also drew £33.6m in exceptional financial support and £15m from reserves to balance.
54% : National and local outlets reported the move as potentially "the biggest council tax rise the county has ever seen," and noted that the administration also sought exceptional financial support of around £43.6m. To be fair, Reform's finance leadership has consistently said the planning assumption is five per cent, and that the ten per cent option exists for flexibility pending the Local Government Finance Settlement.
53% : In early 2025, Cabinet papers set a net budget requirement of £495.6m for 2025/26 and proposed a 4.99 per cent council tax rise -- the legal maximum without special permission -- split between general services (2.99 per cent) and the adult social care precept (two per cent).
52% : This is the lived arithmetic of local government: every one per cent rise in council tax yields roughly £4m for Worcestershire, meaning even a ten per cent increase would leave tens of millions still to find through cuts, borrowing, asset sales, or further support.
49% : But in December 2025, Worcestershire's Reform‑led cabinet applied to the government for permission to raise council tax above five per cent, including an option up to ten per cent, the largest contemplated rise in the county's modern history.
48% : But for residents, the overarching impression is stark: a party that promised tax restraint now contemplates higher bills -- because the spreadsheets leave them little choice.
42% : By October, the council's own consultation documents acknowledged that previously keeping council tax "as low as possible" was "no longer sustainable" given the pressures in adults' and children's social care.
37% : During the campaign, Reform UK repeatedly styled itself as the party that would "cut waste and taxes."
33% : Reform's pitch to voters -- lower taxes through cutting "waste" -- was always going to be tested by Worcestershire's hard numbers.

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