The initiative, dubbed the “Doge-style scheme,” will be piloted in Kent County Council. The team leading the project includes prominent figures such as Arron Banks, a major Brexit donor, and Nathaniel Fried, a cybersecurity entrepreneur
Reform UK has announced an initiative to scrutinise local council spending, drawing inspiration from Elon Musk’s approach to government efficiency. The party has warned council officers that obstructing the new unit’s work will be considered “gross misconduct.” This move, however, has been met with significant criticism from both local authority figures and opposition politicians, who argue that it is nothing more than “political theatre.”
The initiative, dubbed the “Doge-style scheme,” will be piloted in Kent County Council. The team leading the project includes prominent figures such as Arron Banks, a major Brexit donor, and Nathaniel Fried, a cybersecurity entrepreneur. The decision to implement this scheme has been widely criticised, with many questioning its motives and potential impact.
Robert Hayward, a Conservative peer and pollster, has voiced his concerns about the initiative. He has written to the Electoral Commission, arguing that the Reform volunteers should be scrutinised under political donation rules as a donation in kind. Lord Hayward warned, “Without full disclosure, the risk is that any donation could be buying access or influence election results.”
Reform UK has outlined its plans for the new initiative, stating that the team will begin by examining all council expenditure in Kent County Council. The goal is to identify wasteful spending, similar to the unit set up by Elon Musk under Donald Trump. The party plans to utilise artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis tools, and forensic auditing techniques to “identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions.”
The party has issued a clear directive to all council officers, demanding that they hand over all requested documents, including internal investigations and whistleblowing reports related to financial matters. The instruction, signed by council leader Linden Kemkaran, party chair Zia Yusuf, and Reform leader Nigel Farage, warns that any resistance will be met with a council motion to compel compliance. Obstruction of the councillors’ duties will be considered gross misconduct, though the party hopes that such measures will not be necessary.
Announcing the scheme, Zia Yusuf expressed his frustration with the current state of local government spending. “For too long, British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole,” he said. “Their taxes keep going up, bin collections become less frequent, potholes remain unfixed, and local services continue to be cut. Reform won a historic victory on a mandate to change this. As promised, we have created a UK Doge to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Our team will use cutting-edge technology and deliver real value for voters.”
Nigel Farage added that all participants in the initiative are volunteering their time and expertise. “This is day one of Doge,” he said. “The Doge team has gone into County Hall in Maidstone in Kent this very morning. These young tech entrepreneurs are not being paid. They are doing it of their own free will, and we are going in to have a look at Kent, the contracts, and the expenditure. We hope that the Kent chief executive and the council will work with us because many of the spending decisions would have been political decisions. Doge is active, up and running as we speak.”
However, not everyone is convinced that this initiative will yield positive results. John Merry, the deputy mayor of Salford and chair of the Key Cities group of 24 councils across the UK, has dismissed the scheme as “absolutely the last thing local authorities need right now.” He explained, “I hear daily from members facing mounting pressures across vital services like SEND [special educational needs and disabilities], social care, and homelessness. In this context, it is difficult to see how Reform’s Doge initiative offers any meaningful solution. What councils need now is not inefficient cost-cutting at the margins, but a serious commitment to long-term funding reform – one that aligns grant allocation with local needs and supports a resilient foundation for economic growth.”
Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, also weighed in on the controversy. “If you’re looking at Elon Musk’s Doge and thinking that is how we want to have our bins collected and potholes filled, you might be learning the wrong lesson,” he said.
As the debate over Reform UK’s Doge-style scheme continues, it remains to be seen whether this initiative will lead to meaningful changes in local government spending or simply add another layer of political controversy.
