Anger over Reform UK 'blocking' scrutiny of upcoming DOGE process
PLUS: Backlash to hotel in Preston being used for migrants is misplaced, says army veteran
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
When we wrote to you on Sunday, we promised you an update on the DOGE process - a phrase we will continue to use even if local Reform appear embarrassed by it - and that’s the focus of today’s edition.
Opposition parties are unhappy they did not get the opportunity to properly quiz the ruling party over the plans, with one leader saying Reform UK are scared of scrutiny.
Stephen Atkinson, the leader of Reform UK charged with carrying out the audit but walking the tightrope of doing so legitimately, has vowed proper process will be followed.
There are also plans for Afghans who supported the British to be resettled in the UK via a hotel close to Preston that has caused the expected online backlash.
But an army veteran from Preston said these were people who looked out for him when he served in Afghanistan - and that they deserve similar treatment from us now.
Reform UK are ‘running scared of scrutiny’ over upcoming DOGE audit at County Hall
By Luke Beardsworth and Paul Faulkner
Opposition group leaders have responded with anger after no opportunity was given to probe an upcoming efficiency review at County Hall.
It was confirmed last week that Lancashire County Council would be next in line to receive a visit from the DOGE unit, created by the national Reform UK party and modelled on the controversial Department of Government Efficiency in the United States, previously run by Elon Musk.
The plans were briefly in doubt after the driving force by Reform’s version of DOGE – the party’s chair, Zia Yusuf – unexpectedly quit.
He was followed out of the door by Nathaniel Fried, the 28-year-old tech entrepreneur and data analytics specialist, whom he had appointed to lead the spend-slashing operation, which has embarked on a tour of the 10 county councils Reform now controls.
However, in an equally unexpected twist, Mr. Yusuf returned to the Reform fold late on Saturday afternoon, describing his decision to quit – after criticising comments made by one of the party’s MPs calling for a ban on the burka – as an “error” brought on by “exhaustion” and racist abuse received online.
Against the backdrop of the DOGE controversy, the first Lancashire County Council cabinet meeting with Reform in charge saw the approval of an “efficiency review” of the authority’s “financial management, procurement and associated governance arrangements”.
Liberal Democrat group leader John Potter condemned the lack of opportunity to probe the efficiency review report, saying he had wanted to raise the related DOGE issue to ask “what qualifications these people have got and whether they will [be able] to retain data that they gather”.
He told The Lancashire Lead: “Despite dropping this DOGE report on Wednesday. Opposition leaders were not able to speak or ask questions on it.
“Questions have to be submitted two days before. (A terrible constitutional standing order we want to change anyway)
“We asked them to waive this standing order due to the circumstances. Reform said no. Talk about running scared of scrutiny.”
That came after official opposition group leader Azhar Ali - who heads Progressive Lancashire - questioned the democratic legitimacy of a DOGE team coming into the authority.
Stephen Atkinson, the Reform UK leader at Lancashire County Council has insisted that ‘proper process’ will be followed.
He told the meeting on Thursday: “It is our intention, like any political party, to engage with its national party – but that will be done through proper process and procedure.”
It is understood that Cllr Atkinson wants any change to procedural rules to await the outcome of an overhaul already being considered by the cross-party political governance working group – and was open to meeting with opposition leaders to discuss the finance review in the interim.
But Tory group leader Aidy Riggott agreed that there was no good reason the rule over questions could not have been waived given the circumstances.
The exact extent of the efficiency review is to be decided by the county council’s interim director of finance and commerce, in consultation with Cllr Atkinson, chief executive Mark Wynn and the authority’s chief legal officer.
It appears there will be some overlap with the stated aims of the DOGE team to focus on the “financial resilience” of the authority and its “contractual arrangements with suppliers”.
According to the report to cabinet on the efficiency review project, it will:
provide assurance with regard to the existing savings plans and financial resilience;
take an insight-led approach involving benchmarking and comparative data analysis;
consider key contractual and procurement arrangements for both revenue and capital funded activities and explore opportunities for savings through the lens of benefit to the public;
establish cross-cutting workstreams potentially covering contracts, assets, digital and income to identify further efficiencies;
consider most effective ways of communicating with the public the council’s efficiency agenda;
understand the impact of [the government’s forthcoming] comprehensive spending review in determining the likely funding envelope for the council over the next three years.
When it set its budget in February under the previous Conservative administration, the authority had already identified the need to make £103m of savings over the next two years in order to balance the books – almost half of which were carried over from cost-cutting ambitions which had not been delivered in previous years or were just one-offs and so non-recurring.
County Hall’s under-pressure adult services department was £31m shy of its near £35m savings target during 2024/25.
Established under the Tory regime, each directorate – or service area – within the authority has a finance monitoring board, chaired by the executive director for that group of services, where savings are reviewed and any issues with the capacity to achieve them are considered.
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“This is about people who served with us during our work out there”
By Ed Walker
An army veteran who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq has spoken out in support of the use of the Tickled Trout hotel by the Ministry of Defence.
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