Reform to begin Musk-style audits of councils

Zia Yusuf announced the first raft of council audits late on Sunday

Reform has announced it will send its first Elon Musk-style Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) team into local authorities to assess "wasteful spending".

The party said the first council to be audited will be Kent County Council (KCC), one of the councils the party took control of in May's local elections.

In a statement released late on Sunday, party chairman Zia Yusuf said it would be "led by one of the UK's leading tech entrepreneurs", although it is not yet known who that is.

The leader of the Liberal Democrat opposition in Kent said he believes it will be "more performance than substance".

It follows the US Doge, which was launched during Donald Trump's presidency to cut federal spending. Billionaire Musk was involved but has since left his position spearheading the unit.

Reform said a team of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors will "visit and analyse" local authorities.

In the elections on 1 May the party took control of eight authorities from the Conservatives, along with Doncaster from Labour and Durham, which was run as a coalition.

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Mr Yusuf said: "For too long British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole. Their taxes keep going up, their bin collections keep getting less frequent, potholes remain unfixed, their local services keep getting cut. Reform won a historic victory on a mandate to change this.

"As promised, we have created a UK D.O.G.E to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Starting with Kent, our team will use cutting edge technology and deliver real value for voters."

Kent's council tax increase of 4.99%, the maximum allowed amount which was agreed in February, was described by the leader at the time as the "right budget for the tough times" the authority was operating in.

Roger Gough, the former Conservative leader, said KCC was under "severe pressure" and that "the bleakest picture of all" remained in adult social care.

KCC said at the time that it had made, and would continue to find, "significant savings" and income amounting to £96m in order to balance its budget.

Reform said Kent County Council's offices in Maidstone will be the first local authority to be visited by its Doge team

But Antony Hook, the Liberal Democrat opposition leader on Kent County Council, questioned the need for a team of outside auditors.

He told BBC Radio Kent: "We have at KCC a governance and audit committee, that was due to have its first meeting since the election next week.

"Reform have cancelled it.

"The health and scrutiny committee was meant to meet, Reform have cancelled it. Reform have cancelled most of the committee meetings for this week or next week, without any explanation.

"They haven't even named who their nominees to chair these important committees are.

"If Reform were serious about making the council work well they would be getting their councillors to do this job, not bringing in unnamed anonymous people who haven't been elected."

'Residents at risk'

The move has also been condemned by the Green Party.

Rich Lehmann, the party's leader on Kent County Council, said: "This move, along with the cancellation of key committee meetings, feels like a blatant attempt to subvert the checks and balances which ensure all of the council's activities are transparent and above board.

"The fact that they have software engineers offering to work "for free" is of particular concern, given that the data they are forcefully requesting access to would include significant volumes of commercially sensitive information and the personal data of many of Kent's most vulnerable residents.

"This is a reckless move that puts vital council operations and residents at risk."