Efficiency review finds £2.7m savings for Reform-run Staffordshire council

Staffordshire County Council’s ruling Reform UK group announced the efficiency review after taking control of the authority in the May elections.

This review has now resulted in seven individual efficiency proposals, which will result in a £2.67 million in savings next year – the county council had an overall net revenue budget of £734 million in 2025/26.

A review of the council’s mobile library service is set to save £130,000, while a review of contractual expenditure with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector will save a further £150,000. Changes related to concessionary fares will save £1 million in 2026/27, falling to £500,000 in subsequent years, and there will also be a one-off saving of £500,000 due to waste-to-recycling increased revenue being brought forward.

Other savings including a review of pooled buildings budgets (£750,000), increased income from enterprise centres due to greater capacity (£100,000), and a review of community safety contracts (£42,000). Further efficiencies and savings are set to be revealed as part of the council’s medium term financial strategy, due to be published in early January.

Councillor Chris Large, cabinet member for finance and resources, said: “We are committed to delivering maximum value for money for Staffordshire taxpayers and making sure the funding we have stretch as far as possible to deliver the biggest benefit to the county.

“Our internal efficiency review identified savings which can be carried forward year on year. We are now finalising our full financial position including full savings, efficiencies and spending priorities and will publish our plans early in the New Year.”

Following the local elections in May, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said his party would look to make major savings at the county council, specifically mentioning climate change policy and ‘DEI’ as potential targets. Reform UK also set up a ‘DOGE’ unit to find examples of waste at the authorities under its control, although it has yet to visit Staffordshire.

Council leaders were quizzed on the efficiency review during October’s meeting of the corporate overview and scrutiny committee. Conservative opposition leader Philip White asked whether the outcomes of the review would be brought to the committee for scrutiny, but Cllr Large said there were no plans to do this, and that the results would be fed into cabinet decision making, strategic planning or the MTFS.

Cllr White suggested at the time that this meant the review was simply ‘business as usual’ and had uncovered any major examples of wasteful spending at the council.