Staffordshire County Council has spent more than £35,000 on security guards at meetings after one was halted by protesters in December.
The Reform UK-led authority has been deploying private security guards at County Buildings in Stafford on a regular basis since police were called to a demonstration by anti-racism campaigners on Thursday 11 December 2025.
Figures released following a Freedom of Information request show that the total spend on security at County Buildings from 11 December to the end of April was £35,381.
Security guards were used at 31 meetings over the five-month period, stationed at the entrances and inside the building.
In the whole of 2024/25, the council spent £330 on security at County Buildings.
Opposition councillors have raised concerns over the cost to the taxpayer, but the council says the security guards are needed to keep people safe.
A spokesperson for the authority 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.”
The full council meeting in December was brought to a halt when members of the Stafford Campaign Against Racism and Fascism started chanting from the public gallery.
They were demanding the resignation of several Reform councillors who had been accused of making racist comments on social media.
Just days before the meeting, Cllr Ian Cooper had stood down as council leader after Reform had revoked his party membership over undeclared social media accounts.
The meeting was suspended and police were called, with officers escorting the protesters from the building after around 40 minutes.
It was claimed that during the disturbance, an item was thrown from the public gallery and struck a councillor.
Staffordshire Police confirmed there had been no arrests and no injuries reported.
Since then, security has been ramped up for public council meetings at County Buildings.
Members of the press and public are still allowed to watch meetings, but they are told to remove their coats and may have their bags searched.
Conservative opposition group leader Cllr Philip White believes Reform are to blame for the situation.
He said
“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. This is now costing taxpayers financially.
“Reform seem to want to push the blame for this onto others. Instead, they need to take responsibility for the actions of their councillors, which is the biggest reason we find ourselves in this situation.”
Liberal Democrat Stafford borough councillor Alec Sandiford has previously raised concerns over the level of spending on security guards. He says there should be more transparency on the issue.
Cllr Sandiford said
“The figures are staggering and raise serious questions about the priorities of the Reform administration.
“Nobody disputes that councillors, officers and members of the public should be safe when attending council meetings. However, residents will rightly 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?”
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