EXPOSED: Nigel Farage's Doge unit reveals taxpayers footing bill for migrant golf trips, circus tickets and takeaways
In total, 7,380 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children were in council care across England last year
Don't Miss
Most Read
Trending on GB News
Nigel Farage's Doge unit has unearthed a mounting taxpayers' bill paying for migrants to enjoy golf trips, circus tickets and takeaways.
The money is also spent on gift cards and purchases from Currys, Argos and Amazon.
The leader of Reform UK launched its Department of Government Efficiency, appointing former Chairman Zia Yusuf as the head of the new role set up to identify wasteful spending in the councils it now runs.
The scheme, which Reform claims will save the UK taxpayer vital funds, is based on the US equivalent set up by Tesla chief Elon Musk for Donald Trump.
Reform UK managed to uncover the latest findings after a turquoise tidal wave swept Kent County Council away from the Conservative Party.
The authority is struggling to cope with the pressures put on services from the 44,000 migrants who have reached British shores via small boats since Labour took power, according to a new audit.
The number of migrant Channel crossings in the year since Sir Keir Starmer entered No10 is 40 per cent higher than those made during Rishi Sunak’s last 365 days in Downing Street, GB News' number-crunchers last week revealed.
Starmer’s average arrival rate from a total of 44,069 migrant crossings currently stands at 120 per day, well above that of the previous Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s daily figure of 58 Channel crossing asylum seekers.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Nigel Farage's Doge unit has unearthed a mounting taxpayers' bill paying for migrants to enjoy golf trips, circus tickets and takeaways
PA
A shocking 2,500 children alone are entering the Kent County Council care system every year, the audit revealed.
In total, 7,380 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children were in council care across England last year, according to the Department for Education.
This figure is nine per cent higher than the 5,080 in 2020.
Yusuf told The Daily Mail: "Asylum is already a heavy burden on the Treasury. The Home Office spent a record £5.38billion on asylum seekers in 2023-24 – up 36 per cent on the previous year. So to blow even a penny of that on crazy golf or skateboarding is a betrayal of the taxpayer."
Kent County Council Audit
Amazon - £162,077
Fortnum and Mason - £102.95
Currys - £11,521
Argos - £70,056
Voucherline gift cards - £12,328
Santus Circus - £279.91
Local swimming pool - £6,055
Mr Mulligans Crazy Golf - £55.50
Driving lessons - £300
Airline ticket from Virgin Atlantic - £1,972
Domino's Pizza - £5,793
Pizza Express - £1,127
Kent County Council has claimed these expenses come from central Government.
Most, but not all, of these transactions are reportedly related to asylum seekers and child asylum seekers.
The authority is struggling to cope with the pressures put on services from the 44,000 migrants who have reached British shores via small boats since Labour took power, according to a new audit
GETTYThe council said most of the spending highlighted was for unaccompanied asylum seeker children or asylum seekers aged between 18 and 25 who have left the care system but remain the responsibility of the council.
Many Channel crossers's ages are disputed, with people who may claim they are below 25 able to gain these benefits arriving in Britain with little or no identifying documents.
In the year to June, the Kent council were responsible for 3,036 asylum-seeker children and supported 1,442 "care leavers".
Children aboard small boats are taken into the care of local councils before being dispersed to different authorities around the country in some cases.
The Council have claimed these expenses back from the central Government
GETTY
Kent's new local Doge unit, set up after Farage's party won control in May, includes entrepreneur Arron Banks and has already cut £40million in spending on Net Zero projects.
Across the 10 Reform-controlled councils, more than £118,000 had been spent on fast food and £10,000 on TV subscription services, Doge uncovered.
Kent County Council said the money helps integrate young asylum seeker children, resulting in a "incredibly low" level of asylum seeker children that go missing from care "which reduced the opportunity of the children being exploited".
It added that the Amazon spending included essential spending on clothing and toiletries for asylum seeker children, and helps older asylum seekers furnish their homes after turning 18.
The council highlighted that it has a legal duty to ensure asylum seeker children and youngsters are given the same care as other young people.
The findings come just days after Sir Keir Starmer agreed to pilot a 'one in one out' landmark migrant return deal with France.
The arrangement, announced on Thursday, also allows France to veto which small boat migrants Britain sends back, sparking fears that the agreement will leave the most dangerous criminals in Britain.
The pilot scheme is set to begin within weeks with up to 50 exchanges weekly, equating to only one in 17 small boat arrivals being returned at current crossing rates.