Ashby councillor Harrison answers questions on key service areas as Reform UK takes control of County Council
Leicestershire County Council has a new party in control but, other than a promise to take a hard look at spending, little is known about its policies.
Reform UK became the largest party on the authority after this year's local elections.
The party secured 25 of the 55 seats available – just shy of what it needed to form a majority.
The Conservatives, which had led the council continuously for more than two decades, became the main opposition, falling from 42 seats in 2021 to 15.
Little was known about Reform's intentions for Leicestershire ahead of the vote, however, with the group previously telling the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) it did not have an official manifesto locally.
It did promise a deep dive into the council's finances to root out any wasteful spending. Leicestershire County Council has long prided itself on being one of the most efficiently run councils in the country.
LDRS spoke to Reform UK leader on the authority, Ashby-de-la-Zouch-based Dan Harrison, ahead of his first full council meeting in charge to ask about key service areas. Find out what he had to say below.
Flooding
Question: Communities in Leicestershire have been hit hard by flooding in recent years, with many homes and businesses left underwater for the second time in around 12 months this January. What will Reform do to reduce risk and support those impacted?
Answer: I've already arranged to meet with senior officers. We've got a list of priorities, that will be one of our priorities to discuss because we've got to do something. We can't just allow certain areas of Leicestershire to be badly flooded every year.
What we've got to do is something soon. We've got to have planning and we're going to have to see if we can budget this. So there's going to be lots of movement because that'll be a big budget.
Q: So it's wait and see what the officers say and go from there?
A: No, we know what we want to do.
Q: What do you want to do?
A: We've got to support the people who live in flood areas. We've got to take positive action.
So we've got to establish an account. How much money is that? Is it a million pounds? Is it £5 million? We've got to know what we're trying to achieve.
If we've got that budget, then we can do it. We know what we're doing. It's all part of a whole range of things that we're looking at that's very, very important.
Social care
Q: We receive a lot of concerns over social care from those who rely on it. How will you make sure the most vulnerable adults and children are supported?
A: We're going to be supporting them. The Conservatives have cut lots of services. We're not.
We're not going to be cutting any services, we're going to be looking at the ability of the county council and the efficiency [of the council to pay for them], and this will be an external company of experts who'll make that case for us.
Local Government Reorganisation
Q: Three plans have been put forward for the potential political restructure of Leicestershire. One would see a single council created for Leicestershire on existing city/county boundaries. The second would see two councils created for Leicestershire, again on existing city/county boundaries. The third would see Leicester's borders extended into Leicestershire. Which plan do you support?
A: At the moment I am supporting Leicestershire, but I will be meeting leaders of the seven district councils soon. So I will be trying to do things and look at other people, how they see it and view it. But, it's all about the money. Which will be the most efficient?
And at the moment I think that's the [single council for Leicestershire].
Q: And no extension of Leicester's borders?
A: No, we won't be ceding territory to the city at a blink as the Tories did. We're going to be different, we're going to do things in a different way.
Transport services
Q: What will you do to ensure rural communities have access to public transport?
A: If we've got efficiency and if we've got savings, we can then do something. But, we've got to review the buses because the problem was we had buses driving around with two or three people in and there was no take-up.
So when it suddenly goes, everybody wants to join a petition to say 'yes we want it back'. So it's one of those, if you're not using it, you could lose it.
What was happening was they [passenger numbers] were going down, but the costs were still the same for the operator, so we [the council] had to put more money in.
Finances
Q: Reform UK has promised an audit of the county council's finances to identify waste and efficiencies. How are you going to fund the audit given the council's difficult financial position?
A: We'll find that sort of money because it's vital. It's vital. We'll be able to do that, don't worry.
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