Latest news with #LindenKemkaran
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
English classes for migrants face the axe under Reform-led council
A Reform-led council could abolish English language classes for immigrants, its leader has said. Linden Kemkaran, the new leader of Kent county council, has launched an investigation into how much the authority is paying for English lessons. And the Reform UK councillor, who is trying to tackle the council's £780 million debt, said the classes were 'going' if they did not provide 'value for money'. She told the Daily T podcast: '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.' It comes as part of Reform's push at local government level to root out waste, influenced by the work of Elon Musk's department of government efficiency (Doge) in the US. 'They can use Duolingo' Cllr Kemkaran, whose council is the largest led by Reform, told the podcast that immigrants could use language apps such as Duolingo free. She explained: 'I've just come out of my first informal cabinet meeting five minutes ago, talking to my cabinet member for education and skills. '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.' Local authorities in England are allotted Central Government funding from the Department for Education to offer adult education programmes. That budget is used to fund provision for a range of programmes, such as technical qualifications, maths, digital skills and English as a Foreign Language (ESOL) courses. Local authorities can decide how to allocate the cash, subject to statutory requirements. Kent county council could in principle stop funding ESOL provision and direct the money elsewhere. The council cannot choose, however, to use the central Government funding for anything other than adult skills programmes. Some councils put additional money into funding adult education courses, but it is unclear if Kent does so. Asked whether her position was compatible with Reform's push for migrants to speak English to integrate, she 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'. Cllr Kemkaran said she would also be looking into whether the classes could be done remotely to save money. Kent is the first council in England to have a Doge unit set up, and the leader confirmed she had created a Doge position in her council cabinet, as well as a 'deputy Doge' role. A report into opportunity and integration led by Baroness Casey in 2016 recommended that community-based English language provision be improved to bolster social cohesion. In 2020, Robert Jenrick, as communities minister, announced a £5.1 million fund to provide language classes in 30 areas across England, which he said would help immigrants to make a 'positive contribution to the UK'. Funding has also been given in grants from the Education and Skills Funding Agency, now part of the Department for Education, since 2007. The number of students starting funded ESOL courses fell by 36 per cent between 2009-10 and 2016-17, the most up-to-date figures. Government funding from the adult education budget fell more sharply, by 56 per cent in real terms over the same period.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The Daily T: Is Farage coming for Scotland?
It's Farage's big test in Scotland. For years it was a political dead-end for Reform party leader - heckled in Edinburgh, chased from restaurants in Aberdeen, and repeatedly rejected at the ballot box. But in today's Holyrood by-election in Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse, Reform UK is mounting a serious challenge. With Farage back in charge and his candidate Ross Lambie gaining ground in an SNP stronghold, could this be the moment his party makes a breakthrough north of the border? And while the Tories remain locked in internal warfare, we speak to Reform's most senior council leader, Linden Kemkaran, on how the party plans to cut spending with their own version of Elon Musk's DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) department, and why she wants to end taxpayer-funded English lessons for migrants.
South Wales Guardian
5 days ago
- Business
- South Wales Guardian
Reform UK's Musk-style efficiency unit will ‘take as long as it takes'
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.'
Belfast Telegraph
5 days ago
- Business
- Belfast Telegraph
Reform UK's Musk-style efficiency unit will ‘take as long as it takes'
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.'
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Reform UK's Musk-style efficiency unit will ‘take as long as it takes'
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. 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.'
