Taxpayers are to save more than £40m after councils led by Reform UK scrapped net-zero policies, the party has claimed. [emphasis, links added]
In Reform’s first 100 days of power, the party’s leaders say they have also cut more than £50m of wasteful costs in other areas.
Costs axed by the party include scrapping upgrades of council cars to electric vehicles and reducing spending on solar panels.
Reform also says it has cracked down on overcrowded housing for asylum seekers and removed Pride flags from town halls.
Nigel Farage’s party swept to victory in 10 councils in May, taking eight from the Conservatives and two from Labour.
He said the councils’ achievements showed that Reform was fulfilling its election promises, adding:
“On May 1, we showed that if you vote Reform, you get Reform.
“In the 100 days since, Reform UK councils across Britain are proving they’re the change we promised and already delivering on their manifesto commitments.
“From rolling back the devastating net zero agenda on a local level to cutting wasteful spending, Reform councils are standing up for the priorities of local people, not the whims of bureaucrats or the entrenched elite.”
Since last May, Reform has prioritized reductions in spending on net zero.
Staffordshire County Council has prevented 63 farms owned by the authority from being used for solar, wind, or battery farms, meaning they will continue to produce food.
Durham County Council was the first British council to scrap its “net-zero emergency declaration”, instead declaring a care emergency to recognize the escalating crisis in children’s social care and special educational needs provision.
A Reform cost-cutting unit sent into Kent County Council has recommended scrapping plans to modify council-owned property to make it compatible with net-zero obligations, saying £32m over four years.
It also recommended scrapping the net-zero transition of the council’s vehicles to electric vehicles, saving a further £7.5m by 2030.
Read rest at The Telegraph
