Opposition groups question council's 'Doge' review

Reform UK won control of Lancashire County Council in May's local elections

Plans by Reform UK to bring in a team of central advisors to scrutinise Lancashire County Council's operations have been questioned by opposition members.

Reform's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) is already working in some local authorities that the party has run since May's local elections.

Some opposition councillors in Lancashire said they were worried about information the Doge team would have access to at County Hall, and how they could use it.

But the council's deputy leader Simon Evans said: "Any efficiency findings are being done in partnership with the council. Agreements are still being sorted out - we're not at [that] point yet - but it will happen soon."

'Disappointing'

Opposition group leader, Independent councillor Azhar Ali, said he would meet chief executive Mark Wynn to discuss his concerns about how any Doge visit would sit with the local authority's GDPR obligations.

Ali said: "People call it Doge - I call it dodgy, there's no structure to it.

"I just think this is a way of deflecting from the difficult decisions that the new Reform administration needs to make."

No date for when the Doge team will arrive at County Hall in Preston has been set, something the Conservative group leader Aidy Riggott said was "disappointing".

"We are now almost 12 weeks on from the elections and... the county council still hasn't provide any update or shared any communication with councillors as to how this process might work, or what safeguards are in place."

Rigott said that while he would welcome Doge's visit, it was "highly unlikely" that the team would uncover "any scandal or ridiculous waste of taxpayers' money".

But Reform UK's Evans said: "We've already found £500m government bonds bought by the last administration that are only worth £120m - we are finding out quite a lot."

'Finding waste'

The leader of the council's Labour group, Mark Clifford, also expressed concerns about how sensitive data could be accessed and used by the Doge team.

"Where will this information end up? These entrepreneurs [who are part of Doge] are saying they're going to do it for free.

"Does that mean that they are never going to sell any of the information on, they're never going to apply for a contract at any council in the UK in future?"

Evans said many people "get Doge all wrong - they think it's all about cutting - it's really not, it's about finding waste, and redirecting that to the front line".

But Ali said: "If there is waste, they've got 53 councillors who have time on their hands, who can come in and start going through the books, this is a waste of time."

The BBC has approached Reform UK's national headquarters for comment.