Reform UK 'never intended' to scrap £57m Doncaster Sheffield Airport loan, deputy leader claims
Councillor Jason Charity claims a threat to cancel the loan was just meant to get Labour Mayor Ros Jones to talk
Reform UK never intended to rescind a £57million loan for Doncaster Sheffield Airport, a party councillor has said.
Councillor Jason Charity, deputy leader of Reform UK Doncaster, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that the threat to cancel the loan was merely intended to spur the City of Doncaster Council into negotiating with the party.
The comments come after weeks of uncertainty over the future of the airport, which, by Cllr Charity’s own admission, had hit business confidence in the region and after an amended motion allowed the loan to continue as planned, but with conditions dictated by Reform.
Mayor Ros Jones said during an extraordinary meeting on May 11, 2026, that the uncertainty had led to staff who had been given jobs at Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) opting not to take up their new roles.
Speaking to the LDRS following the meeting, Cllr Charity said the motion was “always intended” to be negotiated on.
“People had said ‘why did you do a motion, why kill the airport’, some of that was negotiation. If we had started with the amendment, it would probably be watered down to a set of safeguards that probably wouldn’t have done much,” he told the LDRS.
He later added: “We’ve always said, and I know Labour probably didn’t believe this, but we’ve always said we’re pro-airport, pro-growth, pro-jobs, all of that good stuff.
“However, we can’t with a blank cheque, we can’t at any cost. The deal has to be a decent deal on the table.
“Of course Labour will call it a u-turn, what I would call this is a refinement of the deal.”
Doncaster Council has been working towards reopening DSA since the airport closed in 2022, settling on the publicly-funded route to reopening after the procurement process for a private operator was unsuccessful.
Cllr Charity insisted that threatening to rescind the loan and the knock on effect on business confidence was worth it for a longer term vision.
He said: “Honestly, there was some business confidence eroded through this. My perspective then and now is we’ve got to look long-term.
“So for a short couple of weeks where you’ve got a little bit of confidence knocked, not knowing which way it’s going to go, it’s a small price to pay for having a deal that could mean DSA is a long-term success.”
Negotiations on the loan had been taking place for over a week before the May 11 meeting, with sources close to Mayor Ros Jones’ office suggesting discussions took place each day of the recent bank holiday weekend and into the following week.
Reform UK claimed a victory for scrutiny as the amendment, which allowed the loan to continue, required whatever new lease is agreed between Doncaster Council and the airport landowners, the Peel Group, must be seen by councillors before approval.
Cllr Charity told the LDRS: “I think we’ve got to a position where DSA is more likely to succeed than fail.
“We’ve landed in a position where this council will now see the renegotiated lease before it’s approved, which I think is a big deal.
“There’s been a lot talked about today about scrutiny and audit, there’s been a lack of it, historically, in this council. We want to change that, so I’m hoping today there’s also a bit of a cultural reset.”
However, Mayor Ros Jones, whose Labour cabinet is in control of the council, said the amendment was “the u-turn that we all wanted to see”.
She said: “The £57m loan is cashflow funding that we’re borrowing for, in order to get money up-front now and will be paid back later with gainshare, therefore not costing Doncaster council taxpayers anything.”
Gainshare funding is a £160m pot of money from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) approved in September 2025. The money is currently being withheld from Doncaster until the lease between the council and Peel is renegotiated.
The lease was leaked to journalists in January 2026, revealing a number of controversial clauses.
The SYMCA requires Doncaster Council to renegotiate break clauses relating to passenger and freight targets, and a “turnover rent” clause which would see 20 per cent revenue above base rent paid to Peel.
Council papers published ahead of the meeting revealed the renegotiation of the target-linked break clauses had been successful, but the financial uncertainty over the loan and stalling discussions over the turnover rent clause had put renegotiations on hold.
Mayor Jones said the council “has to get it sorted” to a standard acceptable to the SYMCA.
A City of Doncaster Council spokesperson said: “The decision taken at today’s Extraordinary Full Council meeting means that the airport programme can recommence. In addition, discussions with the landowner will now be restarted and reported accordingly.
“We remain committed to reopening Doncaster Sheffield Airport and delivering the jobs and growth it will bring to the region.
“Work will continue at pace, in partnership with SYMCA and other stakeholders, subject to ongoing risk management and the progression of funding agreements.”