Reform UK took control of Lancashire County Council in May 2025. A year on, in July 2026, the council’s cabinet received the year-end figures for that first full year in charge. They are worth reading, because they are the council’s own numbers, not a campaign claim, and because Burnley and Padiham’s roads, social care and children’s services are all run from County Hall.
Gripping the finances
The council closed 2025/26 just £3.0m over on a budget of £1.24bn, a variance of 0.24 per cent, after a pressure of nearly £28m had been identified in the first quarter of the year. In plain terms, a budget that was heading well into the red was brought back to balance.
Behind that sits the harder number: 98 per cent of the planned savings for the year were delivered, worth £58.7m. The council’s own efficiency review has since found almost £22m more to come over the following years. Savings on that scale are not painless, but delivering nearly all of what you promised is a world away from the previous record, where less than half was reported delivered.
Value for money
Reform’s first budget held the council tax rise to 3.8 per cent, the lowest in twelve years, after the Conservatives had charged the 4.99 per cent maximum two years running. Councillors also turned down a pay rise for themselves, saving about £92,000, on the simple principle that you tighten your own belt before anyone else’s.
The administration also brought into the open the long-dated bonds the previous leadership bought in 2021 and 2022: around £436m that had fallen to roughly £156m in value by March 2025. Those are unrealised, on-paper losses rather than cash out of the door, because the bonds still pay interest and run for years yet, but they are a real risk the council now says it is managing in the open rather than leaving buried in the accounts.
Roads and services
The pothole queue was cut by 42 per cent, from 61,063 defects to 35,514 in a year. The backlog of overdue special educational needs assessments was cut by around 80 per cent, from 1,801 to 360, one of the changes that matters most to the families living it.
Reform vs Conservative, by the numbers
| Measure | Under the Conservatives | Under Reform |
|---|---|---|
| Council tax rise | 4.99%, the maximum, two years running | 3.8%, the lowest in 12 years |
| Savings delivered | Less than half | 98% |
| Councillor allowances | Pay rises | Frozen, about £92,000 saved |
| Pothole queue | 61,063 defects | 35,514, down 42% |
| SEND assessment backlog | 1,801 overdue | 360, down 80% |
None of this is the finished job, and a council the size of Lancashire always has more to fix than any single year can deliver. But for Burnley and Padiham, whose county councillors are part of this administration, it is the difference between drift and grip, and it is all there in the council’s own reports for anyone who wants to check.
