Extraordinary meetings called by councillors have cost Doncaster Council nearly £8,000

Extraordinary meetings called at the City of Doncaster Council have cost the authority nearly £8,000, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) can reveal.

The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, relates to costs associated with two extraordinary meetings (EGMs) of full council, held on October 23, 2025, and March 6, 2026, as well as an extraordinary meeting of audit committee, which was scheduled for March 31, 2026, but was cancelled the evening prior.

According to the FOI response from the council, the quantifiable costs relating to the three meetings was £7,778.

The response also stated: “We can confirm that the arrangements for, the holding and administration of the meetings in question have involved a significant amount of council officer time that would have otherwise been directed to other council business.”

Both the extraordinary meetings of full council were called in requisitions led by the Reform UK group.

Responding to the figures, Councillor Craig Ward, Reform UK group leader, said: “£7,778 is the cost of scrutinising a £57million decision. If the Labour administration had followed due process before committing tens of millions of pounds of public money, none of these meetings would have been necessary.”

Only one of the three extraordinary meetings called by Reform UK related to the £57million loan, mentioned by Cllr Ward, approved for the reopening of Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) in November 2025.

Doncaster Council did not provide any further comments when approached by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

In October 2025, the EGM involved a major reshuffle for committee leadership. It followed the resignation of Councillor Rachel Reed as chair of the overview and scrutiny management committee (OSMC).

Cllr Reed’s vice-chair at the time was Labour councillor Jane Kidd, who became interim chair.

However, with Mayor Ros Jones’ plans for reopening DSA due to go before OSMC in the following months, Reform UK called the EGM to install one of their own members to lead the committee.

They appointed Cllr Karl Hughes as chair and Cllr Steve Cox, the Conservative group leader, as vice-chair. A reshuffle of other committee chairs, such as the quasi-judicial planning committee, also took place.

Controversy surrounded the full council EGM on March 6, 2026, as well. The meeting lasted around an hour, before it was adjourned to a later date.

In the meeting, Cllr Charity, falsely accused officers of changing the wording of motions put forward by Cllr Craig Ward, the Reform UK leader.

Members of the Conservatives and Advance UK groups said Cllr Ward has been adamant he had not approved changes. However, it subsequently transpired that he had in WhatsApp messages to the council’s chief executive, Damian Allen.

When this meeting was reconvened on April 2, 2026, a breakdown in the relationship between opposition councillors and senior council officials was thrust into the public sphere.

Long-standing Conservative Cllr Cynthia Ransome called for government intervention in the council.

At the time, a spokesperson for CDC responded: “Working collectively together as a council underpins a productive and functioning authority.

“Any intervention by an external third party would be the last option considered in any governance conversation and any matters would ideally be resolved internally before reaching such a stage.”

It was also at this EGM that Cllr Charity announced Reform UK’s intention to reverse its November 2025 approval of the loan to support the reopening of DSA.

The announcement has prompted uproar from Labour figures across the region, including MPs Ed Miliband and John Healey, the Net Zero and Defence Secretaries in Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet.

Reform UK have insisted they continue to support the reopening of DSA, but not at any cost to the taxpayer. The party suggested it had been made to approve the loan without all the facts relating to the decision.

Oliver Coppard, the Mayor of South Yorkshire, has said in recent weeks that Reform UK leadership, including Cllr Charity, were offered briefings and presentations on the facts, but they were not taken up.

The audit committee meeting scheduled for March 31, 2026, was intended to discuss work by the council’s internal audit team relating to DSA. It followed a disagreement between Cllr Charity, who is chair of audit committee, and Peter Jackson, the council’s head of internal audit, over whether changes to the audit plan, relating to the airport, required committee sign-off.

The meeting was cancelled the evening prior, and a row over external legal advice erupted.

Reform UK Doncaster took to social media following the cancellation to suggest councillors on the committee had requested external legal advice, but this had been blocked by senior officials.

Cllr Charity confirmed to the LDRS that this was in-spite of the fact officials had themselves taken external legal advice.

Doncaster Council did not respond to questions relating to legal advice its officers had obtained, but a spokesperson did confirm the meeting had been cancelled in line with the authority’s constitution.