THE REFORM UK run Worcestershire County Council warned it is on the verge of bankruptcy at a press conference earlier today (February 6).
Deputy leader of the party Richard Tice has claimed the authority’s cash problems is the most ‘dire’ of any Reform controlled council in the country.
Mr Tice joined Worcestershire County Council leader Coun Jo Monk and fellow cabinet member Coun Justin Bowen to lay bare the precarious situation the authority is in, which could see them just weeks away from having to issue a Section 114 notice, declaring itself effectively bankrupt.
The Reform group, which was first elected to run a minority administration in May 2025, has asked officers to apply for special support from the government, including permission to be allowed to put people’s council taxes up by almost 10 per cent.
Council documents have shown the authority’s remaining budget gap heading into the 2026/27 financial year is £74.3million.
Bosses have applied for £71.9million of Exceptional Finance Support from the government help plug this gap.
If this is refused, then they will be unable to balance the 2026/27 budget and will have to issue a section 114 notice.
They have also asked the government the give them powers to be able to raise Council tax by up to 9.99 per cent for the next financial year, 5 per cent above the maximum limit.
Coun Monk said the authority has not received an answer on whether either of these measures will be granted, despite the budget being set to go before the council less than two weeks from now.
Approved savings in areas such as changes in pension contributions, highways reorganisation and the decommissioning of County Hall should see £8,975,000 saved in 2026/27.
Mr Tice said Worcestershire was far and away the direst financial situation of any of the 12 Reform led councils in the country.
“We can’t kick the can down the road.
“I speak to the council leader here at least once a week, we want to bring our added national expertise to the significant expertise we already have here to try and sort this issue out.
“We’re going to try and bring a significant transformation plan for savings, we can manage the pension scheme much better, for example.
“Some of this is difficult, some is sensitive and some of it is uncomfortable, but the easy thing to do is to pretend but we want to be honest.
“Once we’ve stabilised Worcestershire’s finances, our goal is to get Council taxes back on track,” he said.
Coun Monk added: “If a Section 114 notice is issued, councillors would no longer be able to make decisions, and we would be given the minimum amount of money to cover the essential services.
“Effectively the government will bring in commissioners who will make all the decisions in terms of Council tax setting and spending on services.”
Local government reorganisation will see the existing council structure replaced in the coming years, with this change currently expected to take place in 2028.
The cabinet member for children and families, Coun Justin Bowen, said: “ Everything that we’re doing now is making us ready for when local government reorganisation happens, so these problems don’t continue into that.
“We won’t solve all the problems by the time local government reorganisation happens, but we can sort out a lot of the problems over the next two years to get to that point.”
The 2026/27 budget is set to be discussed by councillors at a meeting on February 26.
