Reform UK is preparing to launch its Doge-style crackdown on wasteful spending from next week, GB News has been told.
Nigel Farage is expected to start instructing auditors to inspect the finances of county halls across England once Reform takes formal control of all 10 of its local authorities over the coming days.
The process is expected to be completed early next week, with just one Reform-run council having already sworn in its fresh-faced set of councillors.
“We get to see the books from next week onwards,” a Reform source told GB News.
Nigel Farage on the campaign trail ahead of May 1
PA
In a dossier shared with the People’s Channel, Reform UK exposed some of the most egregious spending sprees raked up by local authorities, which were swept up by the turquoise tidal wave earlier this month.
Reform UK slammed Durham County Council for setting aside £120million to meet net zero targets ahead of 2030.
Meanwhile, a net zero consultant was paid £44,000 as part of plans to draw up a waste strategy in West Northamptonshire.
Neighbouring North Northamptonshire separately forked out £1.1million for a four-year contract to hand out free vapes for people looking to quit smoking.
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Lincolnshire County CouncilWikICommonsReform UK also included a series of staff-related costs in its dossier, including £11,500 a year for Lincolnshire County Council to run eight diversity courses and Lancashire County Council spending £520,000 on a four-year contract for ergonomic chairs.
However, other spending sprees focus on inefficient projects, ranging from £150million for a disused waste recycling plant in Derbyshire to Doncaster splurging £20million on bike lanes that failed to result in a cycling surge.
Nottinghamshire County Council was even noted as having spent £150,000 on the development of its MyNotts mobile app.
Despite Robin Hood Country being home to 825,000 people, the app received just 60 reviews on the Google Play store and an additional 16 on Apple’s app store.
Two local authorities were also found to have spent thousands of pounds outside of the UK, with Kent County Council opening an office in Brussels and Staffordshire County Council sending five members of staff to the South of France for a five-day property conference at the cost of £12,000.
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice gestures as he walks to the stage to speak during the Reform UK local election launch rally at the Utilita Arena Birmingham
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Soaring council tax rates have sparked cries for a crackdown on wasteful spending, with Lancashire announcing a five per cent hike and Lincolnshire pushing through a three per cent increase.
Other council areas have been forced to drastically reduce services, with the Birmingham bin strikes continuing to wreak havoc in the West Midlands.
After Reform UK shared its dossier with GB News, Richard Tice argued it is time for local authorities to put residents first by cracking down on ballooning costs and delivering better services.
He told the People’s Channel: “The level of overspending and waste in our councils is incomprehensible.
“Councils are now hundreds of millions of pounds in debt, CEOs are paid astronomical salaries, and the daily interest on that debt — paid by local taxpayers — is often tens of thousands of pounds.
“Public services are crumbling, potholes plague our streets, and bins go uncollected. Yet council tax continues to rise every year, and the cost of living keeps soaring. Our councils are failing to deliver for working people.
“Reform UK will send in specialists to examine the finances, slash wasteful contracts, and expose reckless overspending.
“We will eliminate unnecessary expenses, including DEI programs and asylum hotels. In essence, we will put residents first and deliver real value for taxpayers.”
An image of Reform UK's West Northamptonshire administration
NIGEL FARAGE
Ahead of the 2025 Local Elections, Farage confirmed plans to create a “UK Doge” after revealing that Reform UK had submitted 3,000 Freedom of Information requests to local authorities.
The Reform UK leader said: “We’ve been preparing for this for a long, long time. I simply can’t believe the money that’s being spent on consultants.
“I can’t believe the money that’s being spent on agency workers. I can’t believe areas like climate change or teeth brushing.
“These are all areas where council tax money, taxpayers’ money, is being spent that I don’t think is the remit of a local council.”
However, Reform is facing calls to deliver on its wasteful spending crackdown after receiving its mandate on May 1.
William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Taxpayers are rightly fed up with how local authorities waste their hard-earned money.
"At the same time as they see their council tax bills increasing, they see frontline services crumbling and public spaces in disarray.
"If Reform wants to prove that they're more than just a party of protest, they need to deliver on their promises to clean up local councils.”
