“There’s been no evidence of Doge anywhere in sight.”
Leader of the Labour group in West Northamptonshire, councillor Sally Keeble, has said that Reform’s Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) initiative “seems to have been a complete non-event”.
“Despite all the noise, nothing has happened,” she told Left Foot Forward.
She added “It’s been a complete damp squib.”
Keeble said that Reform claimed in July that they had saved almost £1 million over three years on a Microsoft software contract. However, she said “It seemed that all the preparatory work for that had been done by the Conservatives.”
The Labour councillor for Dallington Spencer, who was a Labour MP from 1997 to 2010, said that since the IT deal in July, “There’s been no evidence of Doge anywhere in sight.”
In June, then head of Doge Zia Yusuf visited West Northamptonshire to meet with Reform council leader Mark Arnull and other senior officers.
“They [Doge] arrived all guns blazing, they had a big meeting and a photograph, but after that it all just vanished into a puff of smoke frankly,” Keeble said.
“In terms of Doge delivering anything it’s been zero, completely zero,” she added.
In July, West Northamptonshire was the first Reform council to secure an agreement to share data with the Doge team. Despite this, Doge has not published any figures showing what savings, if any, have been identified.
Since Reform deputy leader Richard Tice took over as head of Doge in October, Keeble said there had been no further updates about the cost-saving team’s plans in West Northants.
Keeble said this “was in some ways quite surprising as Richard Tice grew up in Northampton”.
The Labour councillor said that apart from Reform scrapping West Northamptonshire Council’s net zero targets and planning “enforcement action” against asylum hotels, “Reform has actually continued very much with the Conservative programme”.
“The Conservatives had a programme set up quite long-term because obviously they didn’t expect to lose control of the council. Reform has basically just continued with their policies and model of business,” she said.
Keeble said that the draft 2026/27 budget that the Reform-run council has put out to consultation includes “the usual combination of cuts and rearranging of council finances”.
Reform’s draft budget claims it will make £24.6 million in savings, by reducing temporary accommodation costs, staffing costs and renegotiating specialist care contracts.
Reform has proposed increasing council tax by the maximum amount of 4.99%, and is considering raising council rents by 4.8%.
This is despite Reform having promised voters that it would cut taxes and root out wasteful spending.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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