Lincolnshire County Council’s Reform UK leader says no decisions have been made on council tax yet

The leader of Lincolnshire County Council says no decisions have been made on whether to raise council tax next year.

However, Councillor Sean Matthews said that his Reform party was focusing on eliminating waste over keeping taxes low.

There has been speculation in the national media that Reform-led councils will be forced to increase council tax for the next financial year, despite their own manifesto promises.

The Lincolnshire authority is waiting to see how much money the government provides for 2024/25 before making budget decisions.

“[A rise is] not inevitable,” Coun Matthews told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“It’s too early to tell, we have to see what the government gives us in terms of the new funding policy, which comes out,

“We never stood on a manifesto not to raise council tax – we stood on a platform of reducing waste, saving money and having common sense policies.

“That may mean we need to raise council tax.

“With inflation the way it is at the moment, you’re looking at four per cent just to stand still.

“It’s a bit disingenuous for people to claim we said we wouldn’t raise council tax and we are – that’s simply not true.”

He added Reform had more ambitious targets for saving money than before.

The authority aimed to make savings of just over £25 million in the next financial year.

“We are looking at saving more than that. There’s been a lot of waste and that’s what we were elected for,” he said.

Lincolnshire County Council’s share of council tax makes up around three-quarters of the total amount residents pay.

The authority can raise its council tax bill by up to three percent each year, plus an extra two per cent to pay for adult social care.

Councils will set their bills in the early part of 2026 in time for the next financial year.