Reform-led council threatens to scrap English classes for migrants - 'Not good value for money for the taxpayer!'

The Maidstone South East councillor suggested the use of language apps like Duolingo in order to save money.

It comes as Reform UK councils are claiming they want to emulate the US Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in order to cut costs.

Councillor Kemkaran said the idea came about after speaking to her cabinet member for education and skills, Beverley Fordham.

Kemkaran told The Telegraph: "She has found out that Kent county council is paying for classes in adult education centres up and down the county that are teaching English as a second language.

"Now I’m saying to my cabinet member, 'Could we look into this? How much is this costing us? Why are we paying to teach people English as a second language? Shouldn’t the onus be on the individual if you come to this country?'

"You can use Duolingo on your phone for nothing. You can use apps....I have asked my cabinet member to find me the figures and show me how much it’s costing us, and if I don’t think that’s value for money for the taxpayer, it’s going, simple as that."

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Under regulations set by the Department of Education, local authorities in England are allotted funding to offer adult education programmes.

It is up to local authorities to decide how to allocate the cash, subject to statutory requirements. Kent County Council (KCC) could, in theory, stop funding English as a Foreign Language (ESOL) provision and direct the money elsewhere.

However, the council cannot repurpose the central Government funding for anything other than adult skills programmes.

Asked if the proposal is incompatible, Kemkaran said: "We can absolutely be Reformers cancelling English classes for people who don’t speak the lingo, if it’s costing KCC a lot of money."

Kent County Council was the centre of Reform's Doge UK move spearheaded by former Chairman Zia Yusuf.

Yusuf, who quit Nigel Farage's party in dramatic fashion last night, had appeared at County Hall in Maidstone earlier this week alongside Councillor Kemkaran and tech entrepreneur Nathaniel Fried.

Fried confirmed last night "leave with" Yusuf, writing on social media: "I have absolute confidence that the Reform Doge will succeed without me."

Speaking about Yusuf’s resignation, leader of the Green Group at KCC, Councillor Rich Lehmann described the situation as "chaos", telling KentOnline: "This bizarre and unexpected move feels like it could go one of two ways.

"On the one hand, the controversial flag policy and the rushed 'Doge' announcement both appeared on Yusuf’s Twitter feed before anywhere else, so there was a sense that, despite being an unelected bureaucrat, he was very much running things at KCC instead of the locally elected representatives."