Row as Reform claim council has '£30m black hole'

The new Reform UK leadership at Barnsley Council claim they have uncovered a "£30 million black hole" in the authority's budget.

Council leader William Brown told a town hall meeting his group was dealing with "the reality of a black hole left by Labour".

Labour said Reform's comments were "disingenuous" as by law, the council had to set a balanced budget, while the Liberal Democrats accused Reform of "playing fantasy politics".

Back in April, Barnsley council tax bills rose by 3.4% and the council said it would need to use £6.8m from its reserves in order to balance the books.

Liberal Democrat leader David Greenhough asked Reform if they would confirm council tax will be frozen next year.

Holding a Reform election leaflet aloft, he told a meeting of the full council: "At the very top of this list is 'freeze council tax'."

Responding, Brown said: "It is right that we are judged on what was said at the time, that was based on information that was publicly available to us at the time.

"But since opening the books, we've already discovered a black hole of over £30m left by Labour.

"That's the reality of what we are dealing with now so ignoring that would not be a responsible thing to do.

"The opposition can play politics with it, but our focus will be doing the right thing, protecting services while keeping council tax as low as possible and being transparent throughout."

After the meeting, Labour leader James Higginbottom said the comments were "frankly disingenuous".

"Councils are not legally able to carry a black hole in their finances, they have a legal duty to set a balanced budget, which was set by the Labour administration in February 2026 and validated by external auditors.

"Under Labour, Barnsley have always set balanced budgets and maintained a strong reputation for sound financial management.

"These claims do a grave disservice to our hardworking finance team and to many years of financial prudence and sustained investment that have transformed our town.

"Like every council, there are future cost pressures that will have to be managed and it is down to Reform to bring forward a plan for how they intend to maintain Barnsley's strong financial position over the next four years."

Greenhough also commented after the meeting, saying: "The finances of the council are public knowledge and Reform should have done their homework before making promises they couldn't deliver.

"They are playing fantasy politics with people's lives and are backtracking on issues they now know they can't give to the public in Barnsley."

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North