Council relationships 'badly eroded', says review

An independent review into Doncaster Council has criticised aspects of the authority's governance and called for changes to its organisational culture and decision-making processes.

The review by the Local Government Association (LGA) said that the council's governance had been "significantly tested" since the elections in May 2025, when Reform UK gained an overall majority.

It recommended setting up a shadow cabinet and introducing a cross-party budget development process, adding that anyone unable to make the necessary changes should "consider their continuing role".

A joint statement from all party leaders said they were committed to "supporting the implementation of all of the actions".

The review, which the council commissioned, was undertaken by an independent team of local government peers, councillors and officers.

It described how an influx of new councillors brought "new perspectives and shifted the cultural dynamics of the council", particularly at senior officer and elected member level.

Despite Reform UK winning an overall majority of councillors in 2025, the directly elected mayoral model means the party has limited influence over key decisions.

As a directly-elected mayor, Labour's Ros Jones has the same powers as a council leader and serves a four-year term of office.

"Relationships have been badly eroded amongst a small cohort of people at the senior leadership level politically and managerially and trust has been eroded between a significant proportion, but not all, of the elected membership and the senior officer leadership," the review said.

"There appears to be a lack of acceptance of the realities of what the democratic outcomes from the elections mean, in terms of decision-making within an elected mayor model, for a political group with a large majority on the council."

Since the election, internal conflict within the Reform group over the future of Doncaster Sheffield Airport has caused significant upheaval.

The leader of the Reform UK group in Doncaster, Guy Aston, stepped down in November 2025, claiming he had received "vitriolic texts that border on abuse" from members of his own party over a statement in which he supported the reopening of the airport.

The LGA report highlighted the relationship between council officers and elected members as "one of the most contentious areas", with officers becoming "cautious about sharing information".

"An environment needs to be created in which information flows more readily and openly," the report said.

The peer team made several recommendations, including providing accessible training and development for elected members and introducing a member-officer protocol to clarify roles and responsibilities, promote mutual respect and set clear expectations for behaviour.

In a joint statement, party leaders, including Jones and Reform group leader Howard Rimmer, said Doncaster Council welcomed the review's findings and accepted all its recommendations.

"We acknowledge that there are things that are working well and things that could be better, and we are committed to supporting the implementation of all of the actions, to deliver the improvements for the people of Doncaster," it said.

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