Reform UK claim to have saved £331m at English councils – but do the numbers stack up?

Experts on local government say it was always going to be a struggle for Reform to identify wasted spending that could be cut. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

Reform UK has ignored requests to share the evidence for its claim to have saved £331m since it took charge of 10 English councils in May, prompting questions over whether the figure is true.

The party has boasted that it had achieved £331m worth of savings at English councils it controls. Warning of a “blob” of vested interests devoted to “ripping off” taxpayers, Richard Tice, the new head of the party’s self-styled ‘Doge’ cost-cutting unit, added: “We’re going to war with these people”.