Reform ‘set to raise Kent council tax’ after Doge cost-cutting fail

"Everyone thought we’d come in and there were going to be these huge costs we could cut away but there just aren’t."

Kent was one of 10 councils that Reform took control of in last year’s local elections, and Nigel Farage immediately boasted about how the party would abolish “wasteful” spending by the council.

A Department of Government Efficiency team was set up, inspired by Elon Musk’s ‘Doge’ initiative in Donald Trump’s government, and run by Zia Yusuf.

But it seems like Reform have discovered simply cutting back on council spending is easier said than done.

The Financial Times reports that Kent county council is likely to have to increase council tax by 5% next year, like most councils in England.

Diane Morton, Reform’s cabinet member for adult social care on Kent’s local authority, told the publication that services in the county were already “down to the bare bones”.

Adult and children’s social care spending, combined with spending on children with special education needs, accounted for about half of the council’s £2.5bn annual expenditure.

The Doge team run by Yusuf has yet to do any detailed work in Kent because of disagreements over unelected party members having access to sensitive council information.

Instead, a department of local government efficiency run by several cabinet members is operating, independent of Reform’s head office.

It claims to have identified £40m in savings that can be made over the next four years. The FT reports that this includes scrapping a £30m programme to make homes more energy efficient and getting rid of a new fleet of electric cars.

Meanwhile, a senior Reform cabinet member on the council told the FT: “Everyone thought we’d come in and there were going to be these huge costs we could cut away but there just aren’t.”