It’s looking like a bumper day for Reform in the local elections, and with it comes a promise to have ‘British DOGE in every county’–at least according to party leader, Nigel Farage.
DOGE–or in its extended form, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency–is the brain-child of multibillionaire X and Tesla owner, Elon Musk. Established with a view to reduce inefficiency and cut wasteful government spending, it has already led to thousands of job cuts, with many probationary government employees out the door and some specialists too.
But if you think chainsaws à la Mr Musk are about to be taken to the branches of local authorities, then yield hailing timber: Reform councillors might not have quite the same mandate as Trump’s protégé.
‘There’s a lot of wasteful spending and a lot of complacency, and a lot of people being paid a lot of money working for councils where debts have been racked up and are getting worse.
‘We should ditch the stuff that I think county councils shouldn’t be getting involved with at all. Slimmer government, leaner government. And a different culture.’
With local authorities buckling under the pressure of spending cuts, recent inflationary pressure, and more and more people trying to access services, there is a basic logic to what Farage says; more money will be needed from central government to ensure the upkeep of vital services. But as to ditching ‘stuff’: what stuff?
And it’s a false premise to think Reform can march auditors into councils across the country and sack workers on the spot, in the manner of U.S. DOGE. With stronger rules here than the U.S., those Reform-led councils would quickly find themselves with a flurry of employment tribunal claims, and the mission of reducing spending gone with the wind. So if not the staff, then how about the services?
Some services are statutorily mandated for councils to provide, including: social care services, waste collection, and housing services. The requirements for some of these services are heavily influenced by central government, and so Reform councillors will find little mileage making cuts here. But other mandatory services are given leeway in how they are delivered, such as libraries. Should they look to these areas, again they must tread carefully: precisely as Northamptonshire county council apparently didn’t, when they ended up in a court case over their own attempts to close libraries in 2018.
There is a lot of speculation here, and it is mostly because Reform and their leader have been fairly vague in what they mean by British DOGE. Stopping councillors from ‘dabbling in climate change and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion’–as Farage has said–is not going to bring about the systemic change which is needed to stop the bleed in local authorities across the country. For, reinvigorating our councils might need more than American imitation.
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Standfirst
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Headline‘British DOGE’: How far could Reform really go?
Short HeadlineCan Reform bring 'British DOGE' to councils?
StandfirstReform are hoping to cut wasteage and bring a new era of efficiency to local government
It’s looking like a bumper day for Reform in the local elections, and with it comes a promise to have ‘British DOGE in every county’–at least according to party leader, Nigel Farage.
DOGE–or in its extended form, the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency–is the brain-child of multibillionaire X and Tesla owner, Elon Musk. Established with a view to reduce inefficiency and cut wasteful government spending, it has already led to thousands of job cuts, with many probationary government employees out the door and some specialists too.
But if you think chainsaws à la Mr Musk are about to be taken to the branches of local authorities, then yield hailing timber: Reform councillors might not have quite the same mandate as Trump’s protégé.
‘There’s a lot of wasteful spending and a lot of complacency, and a lot of people being paid a lot of money working for councils where debts have been racked up and are getting worse.
‘We should ditch the stuff that I think county councils shouldn’t be getting involved with at all. Slimmer government, leaner government. And a different culture.’
With local authorities buckling under the pressure of spending cuts, recent inflationary pressure, and more and more people trying to access services, there is a basic logic to what Farage says; more money will be needed from central government to ensure the upkeep of vital services. But as to ditching ‘stuff’: what stuff?
And it’s a false premise to think Reform can march auditors into councils across the country and sack workers on the spot, in the manner of U.S. DOGE. With stronger rules here than the U.S., those Reform-led councils would quickly find themselves with a flurry of employment tribunal claims, and the mission of reducing spending gone with the wind. So if not the staff, then how about the services?
Some services are statutorily mandated for councils to provide, including: social care services, waste collection, and housing services. The requirements for some of these services are heavily influenced by central government, and so Reform councillors will find little mileage making cuts here. But other mandatory services are given leeway in how they are delivered, such as libraries. Should they look to these areas, again they must tread carefully: precisely as Northamptonshire county council apparently didn’t, when they ended up in a court case over their own attempts to close libraries in 2018.
There is a lot of speculation here, and it is mostly because Reform and their leader have been fairly vague in what they mean by British DOGE. Stopping councillors from ‘dabbling in climate change and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion’–as Farage has said–is not going to bring about the systemic change which is needed to stop the bleed in local authorities across the country. For, reinvigorating our councils might need more than American imitation.
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