A Reform UK-led council has been forced to apologise after workmen repainted road markings outside a school that has been closed for nearly a decade, in what has been described as a 'farce' by local representatives.
The Southdown Road Blunder
Kent County Council (KCC) admitted it was an 'error' to daub fresh yellow zigzags and 'School Keep Clear' warnings outside the former site of Halfway Houses Primary School in Sheerness. The school actually relocated to another location back in October 2016, making the new road markings completely redundant.
The council sold the disused school buildings and grounds to Government agency Homes England in March this year, yet the highways department proceeded with repainting the obsolete markings. The cost of the mistaken work was revealed to be £350, taken from the council's annual £1 million signs and lines replacement budget.
Local Outrage and Council Response
Mike Whiting, an independent councillor for Swale Borough Council, didn't hold back in his criticism of the wasteful spending. He described the road repainting as 'a farce' and urged KCC's departments to 'talk to each other more'.
In a strongly-worded Facebook post, Mr Whiting wrote: 'What on earth is going on at cash-strapped Kent County Council? Rather than saving money, they have just repainted the yellow 'School Keep Clear' lines in Southdown Road, Halfway, almost 10 years after the school closed.'
He added: 'How many times are we told there's not enough money for really important projects, yet they waste money like this, painting irrelevant signs, both sides of the road.'
Reform UK's Peter Osborne, cabinet member for highways and transport for KCC, issued an apology stating: 'The repainting of the 'School Keep Clear' markings on Southdown Road was carried out in error, and we're sorry for any confusion this may have caused.'
Mr Osborne emphasised: 'We take our financial responsibilities seriously to ensure public money is spent carefully and mistakes like these are exceedingly rare.'
Broader Context for Reform UK
The incident comes despite Reform UK claiming today that its councils have saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds in little more than six months since taking control. The party seized KCC with 57 out of 81 seats at the local elections in May, overturning a 30-year Tory majority.
Richard Tice, the head of the party's cost-cutting unit, produced figures reportedly showing that Reform's local authorities are making savings totalling £331 million by ending wasteful spending. The party also claims to have filled in more than 136,000 potholes across its council areas.
Many of the cost savings highlighted come from Reform-led councils abandoning green policies. In both Kent and County Durham, the party claims it will save tens of millions by 'undeclaring' the climate emergency declared by previous administrations.
However, the road markings blunder in Sheerness serves as an embarrassing reminder that even the most cost-conscious administrations can make expensive mistakes when communication between departments breaks down.
