Latest news with #DogeUnit
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Reform Doge review of Kent County Council has no time frame set
Reform UK have warned their Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) unit "will take as long as it takes" to provide Monday the Doge team arrived at Kent County Council (KCC) in Maidstone for their first chairman Zia Yusuf met leader Linden Kemkaran along with senior staff, accompanied by millionaire party backer Arron Banks and Nathaniel Fried, a tech entrepreneur said to be leading the Doge party plans to use artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis tools and forensic auditing techniques to "identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions". The scheme is modelled on the Doge unit created by billionaire Elon Musk as part of Donald Trump's second term as US president.A KCC spokesperson has said the council "has always been committed to transparency and accountability" but will work "collaboratively and professionally" with the Doge said the meeting on Monday was "very productive" but the party had admitted it does not know how long it will take for the unit to produce recommendations. Reform UK took control of eight authorities from the Conservatives, along with Doncaster from Labour and Durham, which was run as a coalition, in the local elections of 1 has said it also intends to send its Doge team into Staffordshire County Council and West Northamptonshire move has been criticised in Kent by both the Liberal Democrat opposition and the county council's Green Party councillors, who both attacked the new administration's decision to cancel several scheduled committee meetings.
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Reform UK's Musk-style efficiency unit will ‘take as long as it takes'
Reform UK have warned that their first Elon Musk-style Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) unit 'will take as long as it takes' to provide recommendations. On Monday, the inaugural Doge team arrived at Kent County Council (KCC) in Maidstone for their first meeting. Advertisement Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf met leader Councillor Linden Kemkaran along with senior KCC staff accompanied by millionaire Reform-backer Aaron Banks and Nathaniel Fried, a tech entrepreneur said to be leading the Doge unit. Reform Councillor Linden Kemkaran, leader of the Reform UK Kent County Council group, at County Hall in Maidstone, Kent (Gareth Fuller/PA) The party plans to use artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis tools and forensic auditing techniques to 'identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions'. It follows the US Doge, which was launched during Donald Trump's presidency to cut federal spending which billionaire Mr Musk was spearheading before his recent departure. A KCC spokesperson has said the council 'has always been committed to transparency and accountability' but will work 'collaboratively and professionally' with the Doge team. Advertisement Reform claims that the meeting on Monday was 'very productive' but the party had admitted it does not know how long it will take for the unit to produce recommendations. A party spokesperson told the PA News Agency: 'We're crunching numbers and producing recommendations and those recommendations will then go to the leadership team at Kent County Council, so the council leader and the cabinet, to kind of make an informed decision on whether some cut backs can be made, or whether some action can be taken. 'From what I've heard it was a very productive meeting yesterday, the council were very co-operative and the team got what they needed so now it's just a case of waiting for those recommendations to be made. 'This is the first one we've done, obviously it's the first one that's ever been done really in this manner so it will take as long as it takes, we're hoping it won't take too long.' Advertisement He added: 'After this is done we will hopefully have a better indication of the kind of time frames for future councils as well.' Mr Fried, who is spearheading KCC's Doge project, was described by Reform as 'one of the country's leading tech entrepreneurs with a specialism in data analytics who has also been a turnaround CEO'. The 28-year-old, from Surrey, co-founded TurgenSec, which developed systems to uncover data breaches for businesses. In June 2023, he told CEO Today that after 'a long line of failed businesses' he put every penny he had into TurgenSec, including his university maintenance loan. Advertisement Mr Banks, who stood to be mayor of the West of England last month but failed to win, will act as an advisor for the unit. Reform took 57 of a possible 81 seats in Kent at the local elections on May 1st, overturning Conservative control of the council for the first time. World Musk calls Trump's tax bill 'a disgusting abominat... Read More On Tuesday, a KCC spokesperson said: 'We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively and professionally with the new administration here at KCC, including the Doge team. 'KCC has always been committed to transparency and accountability and has been consistently praised by external auditors for the accuracy of its accounts and the prudent management of public funds. Advertisement 'Much of our information, including full budget, external contracts register, and auditor's reports, is already in the public domain for anyone to scrutinise and review.'
The Independent
4 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Reform UK's Musk-style efficiency unit will ‘take as long as it takes'
Reform UK have warned that their first Elon Musk-style Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) unit 'will take as long as it takes' to provide recommendations. On Monday, the inaugural Doge team arrived at Kent County Council (KCC) in Maidstone for their first meeting. Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf met leader Councillor Linden Kemkaran along with senior KCC staff accompanied by millionaire Reform-backer Aaron Banks and Nathaniel Fried, a tech entrepreneur said to be leading the Doge unit. The party plans to use artificial intelligence, advanced data analysis tools and forensic auditing techniques to 'identify wasteful spending and recommend actionable solutions'. It follows the US Doge, which was launched during Donald Trump's presidency to cut federal spending which billionaire Mr Musk was spearheading before his recent departure. A KCC spokesperson has said the council 'has always been committed to transparency and accountability' but will work 'collaboratively and professionally' with the Doge team. Reform claims that the meeting on Monday was 'very productive' but the party had admitted it does not know how long it will take for the unit to produce recommendations. A party spokesperson told the PA News Agency: 'We're crunching numbers and producing recommendations and those recommendations will then go to the leadership team at Kent County Council, so the council leader and the cabinet, to kind of make an informed decision on whether some cut backs can be made, or whether some action can be taken. 'From what I've heard it was a very productive meeting yesterday, the council were very co-operative and the team got what they needed so now it's just a case of waiting for those recommendations to be made. 'This is the first one we've done, obviously it's the first one that's ever been done really in this manner so it will take as long as it takes, we're hoping it won't take too long.' He added: 'After this is done we will hopefully have a better indication of the kind of time frames for future councils as well.' Mr Fried, who is spearheading KCC's Doge project, was described by Reform as 'one of the country's leading tech entrepreneurs with a specialism in data analytics who has also been a turnaround CEO'. The 28-year-old, from Surrey, co-founded TurgenSec, which developed systems to uncover data breaches for businesses. In June 2023, he told CEO Today that after 'a long line of failed businesses' he put every penny he had into TurgenSec, including his university maintenance loan. Mr Banks, who stood to be mayor of the West of England last month but failed to win, will act as an advisor for the unit. Reform took 57 of a possible 81 seats in Kent at the local elections on May 1, overturning Conservative control of the council for the first time. On Tuesday, a KCC spokesperson said: 'We look forward to continuing to work collaboratively and professionally with the new administration here at KCC, including the Doge team. 'KCC has always been committed to transparency and accountability and has been consistently praised by external auditors for the accuracy of its accounts and the prudent management of public funds. 'Much of our information, including full budget, external contracts register, and auditor's reports, is already in the public domain for anyone to scrutinise and review.'
