Council defends £35k spend on meetings security

A council has spent more than £35,000 on security guards at meetings after one was brought to a halt by protesters.

Staffordshire County Council has regularly used private security guards after police were called to a demonstration by anti-racism campaigners on 11 December.

The Reform UK-led council spent £35,381 stationing guards at entrances and inside County Buildings in Stafford at 31 meetings over five months, a Freedom of Information request revealed.

Opposition councillors have raised concerns about the cost to the taxpayer, but a council spokesperson said everyone's safety "must be the priority".

The full council meeting was brought to a halt in December when members of the Stafford Campaign Against Racism and Fascism began chanting from the public gallery.

They were demanding the resignation of several Reform councillors alleged to have made racist comments on social media, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

The meeting was suspended and police were called, with officers escorting the protesters from the building. It was also claimed an item was thrown from the public gallery, which hit a councillor.

Staffordshire Police confirmed no-one was arrested and no injuries were reported.

During the 2024/25 financial year, the council only spent £330 on security at County Buildings. Reform UK beat the Conservative party to claim control of the council at last year's elections.

Conservative opposition leader, Philip White, blamed Reform UK for the situation.

"While it is important that all councillors feel safe, this is another sign of how toxic the political environment has become in Staffordshire since Reform UK took control of the county council," he said.

"This is now costing taxpayers financially."

Liberal Democrat Stafford borough councillor, Alec Sandiford, previously raised concerns over the level of spending on security guards.

"The figures are staggering and raise serious questions about the priorities of the Reform administration," he said.

Sandiford added while nobody disputed councillors, officers and the public should be safe when attending meetings, residents will question "how spending has escalated from virtually nothing to tens of thousands of pounds in such a short period of time".

"The key question now is: who authorised this spending, on what evidence, and what democratic oversight was there before taxpayers' money was committed?", Sandiford said.

A spokesperson for the council said: "After the police were called to a disturbance at a meeting, it became necessary to increase security at County Buildings both on safety grounds and to allow business to continue without interruption.

"While this has come at an additional cost to the public purse, the safety of everyone attending our public meetings must be the priority."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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