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Deputy leader of Durham County Council Darren Grimes said the figures were ‘no joke’
Athena StavrouTuesday 02 December 2025 14:07 GMTComments
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A Reform UK-led council has approved millions in spending cuts after it’s forecasted black hole in its budget grew by £11 million.
Durham County Council has seen it’s predicted deficit go from £71 million in September to £82 million in it’s latest forecast in November - an £11 million increase in two months.
The council have given a number of reasons for the increased deficit, including pressure from inflation and the cost of children’s social care and school transport.
After the updated figures came to light, the council’s cabinet approved a £10 million list of proposed cuts for consultation.
These include the loss of 88 jobs at the council, a third of which are currently vacant, and an increase in parking charges in various locations across the country saving £565,000.
Other services they are to cut down on include grass cutting, litter picking and bus services as it tries to avoid hiking council taxes.
But the vast increase in it’s financial black hole mean the entirety of these savings have been swallowed up by the cost rises - leaving the council with a £72 million deficit over the coming four years.
open image in galleryDurham County Council has seen it’s predicted deficit go from £71 million in September to £82 million in it’s latest forecast in November (Google Street View)Darren Grimes, deputy leader of the council and former GB News presenter said the figures were “no joke” as he told a Cabinet meeting: “Though looking at the figures, I wish they hadn’t bothered updating them as they make for thoroughly depressing reading.”
“The updated numbers show that the scale of the hole the government leaves us in if the council refuses to increase council tax in line with the government's expectations,” he said.
“They set out in this report that those £10 million pounds in savings, despite them, with no council tax rise, we would face an 18.5 million pound gap next year and around £72.1 million over the medium term. That is obviously not financially sustainable.”
open image in galleryDarren Grimes, deputy leader of the council and former GB News presenter said the figures were “no joke” (Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)He stressed no decision on council tax had been made, but warned the council will “have to make tough choices” to balance the books and accused the government of underfunding “the costs of statutory services to meet parliamentary mandates”.
He added: “The ability to avoid having to make difficult decisions on council tax increases next year is becoming harder based on those updated figures - which wipe out the impact of £10 million of savings we’ve worked hard to develop over the last few months following the election in May.”
Durham County Council was one of the councils Reform UK gained victory in during local council elections in May earlier this year.
open image in galleryDurham County Council was one of the councils Reform UK gained victory in during local council elections in May earlier this year. (PA Archive)Despite vowing to cut unnecessary spending, it has been reported that multiple Reform councils are set to increase council taxes in their first year of leadership.
The party’s experience in local government is a reflection of the obstacles Mr Farage would face if he were elected as prime minister, which includes Reform’s repeated promises to cut taxes and slash public spending.
However, Mr Grimes has insisted he and his colleagues at the council had been “getting under the bonnet” since the election in May, “reviewing contracts, stripping out costs, and binning expensive gimmicks of the last administration”.
He said that if a rise in council tax was “unavoidable” it would be due to a “government designed stealth tax” landing on council tax, and called for a a multi-year settlement and revised funding formula.
The Independent has contacted Durham County Council for a comment.
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