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Reform UK's DOGE efforts 'save more than £100m in council spending in 100 days' since local elections as Nigel Farage's party 'rolls back Net Zero'

Reform UK's DOGE efforts 'save more than £100m in council spending in 100 days' since local elections as Nigel Farage's party 'rolls back Net Zero'

Daily Mail​8 hours ago
Reform UK claims to have saved taxpayers more than £100million in council spending in 100 days since this year's local elections.
Nigel Farage 's party won more than 650 council seats and took control of 10 local authorities in contests across England in May.
It established a 'DOGE' unit - based on the Department of Government Efficiency set up by Tesla boss Elon Musk in the US - to try and cut spending by councils.
Reform said, since the local elections on 1 May, it has now made about £110million in savings.
This has included scrapping Net Zero initiatives within local councils, 'streamlining and modernising' services, and focusing on pay and allowances, the party added.
Mr Farage said: 'On May 1, we showed that if you vote Reform, you get Reform.
'In the 100 days since, Reform UK councils across Britain are actioning the change we promised and already delivering on their manifesto commitments.
'From rolling back the devastating Net Zero agenda on a local level to cutting wasteful spending, Reform councils are standing up for the priorities of local people, not the whims of bureaucrats or the entrenched elite.'
In Durham, the Reform-led council last month rescinded a formal declaration of a 'climate emergency' and claims to have saved £25million.
This included not upgrading to a fleet of electric vehicles, scrapping the installation of a heat pump in the new county hall, and scaling back investment in solar panels.
In Kent, Reform said it had saved £32million in spending over four years, which had been earmarked to make buildings more energy efficient.
In Staffordshire, the party claimed to have saved £4.5million by halting the roll out of electric vehicle charging in areas where there is little to no customer demand.
But this was said to be central government funding and not from the council's budget.
The Liberal Democrat opposition in Durham claimed Reform's actions would cost the council money in the long run.
They argued that investments made in solar panels and heat pumps had so far saved the council more than £9million and attracted central government grants.
Reform's claims of success 'should be nominated for a fiction prize', added Lib Dem councillor Amanda Hopgood.
A Labour spokesman said Reform's first 100 days in local government had been 'beset with chaos' and full of 'vanity spending of taxpayers' cash'.
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