Musk-style Doge audit planned for council
BBCA council is set to undergo an Elon Musk-style review into its spending.
Reform UK, which took charge of Durham County Council following the elections in May, has set up a unit to look into "wasteful spending", inspired by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in the United States.
The party said teams of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors would "visit and analyse" local authorities it controlled, starting with Kent County Council this week.
Promoting the party's scheme, Durham County Council leader Andrew Husband posted on social media: "Coming to a county near you."
Party chairman Zia Yusuf has said that Lancashire and West Northamptonshire would be the next local authorities visited by the unit, but no timeframe has been confirmed for Durham yet.
"The taskforce will identify wasteful spending, increasing transparency and ensuring taxpayer money is spent solely on activity that benefits local people," a Reform party spokesman said.
The US Doge advisory body was created by an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump to cut federal spending.
Tesla boss Musk has since left the Trump istration and his role in the body.
The Durham Liberal Democrats - who previously ran the council as part of a coalition - said the local authority's work and s were independently audited regularly and it had "nothing to hide".
"After over 14 years of austerity in local government there is likely to be very little 'waste', different political priorities, yes, but not waste," said former council leader Amanda Hopgood.
GoogleReform said it would use artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis tools and forensic auditing techniques to "identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions".
The extensive review would consider contractual arrangements with suppliers and consultants, all capital expenditure, and the use of reserves and financial resilience, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
Husband recently played down a warning from Nigel Farage that council staff working on diversity or climate change initiatives should seek "alternative careers" and said staff should not be concerned.
After becoming leader of the local authority, he said the party would take its time to review council data before making any decisions.
"We have to work with transparency and we want to share as much information as we can with the public and do things differently," Husband said.
"We have to do the due diligence and take our time to make sure we have the right information to fulfil our objectives. It feels like we don't have enough raw data to start making some immediate decisions."
Husband added that due to budget shortfall, there had to be "honest conversations" with the management team on "what is justifiable and can we spend the money better".