Reform UK has formed a minority administration to run East Sussex County Council and appointed Rye and Eastern Rother Councillor Dan Bradley as the lead member for children and families.
The role includes adoption and fostering services, safeguarding, SEND support, family hubs, early intervention, children in care, support for care leavers, youth services, mental health and wellbeing, education support, kinship care and services for vulnerable families.
Dan Bradley said his appointment was one he felt strongly about both personally and professionally. “This is an area that matters deeply to me. Families need systems that work properly, communicate clearly and provide support before situations reach crisis point. Like many families, I understand some of the challenges around navigating support systems, particularly relating to autism and SEND provision. That experience has given me a strong appreciation for the pressures many parents and carers deal with every day.”
On Thursday 21 May East Sussex Councillors chose Andy Woolley, leader of the council’s Reform UK group, as their leader. Councillor Woolley was elected with 25 votes – 21 votes were cast by Reform councillors, with the remaining votes coming from the council’s three Conservative councillors and its sole independent.
He explained he had spent 40 years working in insurance in the City of London. “I tell you this so you understand how I think about money that passes through this council. It is not abstract, it belongs to the people and we owe it to them to spend it as though it does. This council must protect the services that matter most —adult social care, children’s services, SEND — they are not line items in a spreadsheet, they are the point of this council’s existence. We will lobby the government hard for funding that reflects the true cost of care in this county like ours.”
Conservative group leader Paul Redstone, councillor for Northern Rother, set out why his group had voted the way it did. “Let me be absolutely clear. There have been no deals — either formal or informal — with Reform, Liberal Democrats or Greens. As Conservatives we care deeply about our community and the three of us will seek to be the voice of reason. We will be constructive opposition looking at each issue on a case-by-case basis, at all times thinking about the interests of the residents of East Sussex. We will seek to hold Reform as the executive to account.”
The council’s other 24 councillors — made up of 13 Liberal Democrats and 11 Green Party councillors — had voted for Lib Dem group leader Kathryn Field. She set out what she saw to be the greatest challenge facing the council. “Years of underfunding from central government have contributed to an enormous debt. It is not my place to lecture anybody here about matters of government underfunding, but suffice it to say that running a local authority is not the same as running a business in the private sector. We need a repayment plan, which doesn’t hurt residents.”
New Green group leader Julia Hilton set out what she saw as her party’s role as she addressed Councillor Woolley. “As Greens we pride ourselves on collaboration, so where there is common ground and an ambition to be better we will happily contribute our knowledge and experience to the future shaping of services and hope that you will be open as an administration to working with all of us across the chamber. I was pleased to hear that you are wanting to focus on local issues and that you as leader want to distance yourself from some of the more extreme elements of your party. The Green group will certainly be on the lookout for any signs of pandering to a divisive agenda.”
At the same meeting Martin Kenward, Reform UK councillor for Bexhill East, was elected as the council’s chairman.
Image Credits: LDRS , Dan Bradley , ESCC .