Reform to begin Musk-style audits of councils

growstuff

Just seen this post on X. Sorry, it gave me a giggle (it's been a boring day):

"DOGE means Department Of Government Efficiencies. ReformUK are not in Government. Better to use the correct acronym- DILDOS Department In Local District Offices Squad."

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Brilliant🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Just seen this post on X. Sorry, it gave me a giggle (it's been a boring day):

"DOGE means Department Of Government Efficiencies. ReformUK are not in Government. Better to use the correct acronym- DILDOS Department In Local District Offices Squad."

Something smells very iffy to me

Me too growstuff.

Wouldn’t trust this lot of grifters as far as I could throw them. No doubt some pockets will be lined, at the tax payers expense.

I agree with LizzieDrip. How large is Reform’s majority in Kent? Without wanting to offend anybody I don’t think that audit attracts the brightest accountants and auditing local govt finances is very very granular. Of course the new auditors will find Waste since that is the object of their work.They ought to be finding that council spending needs to be increased as the cost of providing services has greatly increased while local govt finances spending has been cut and cut.
It must be concerning if meetings are not being held and cllrs not allowed to do their work.

I feel genuinely sorry for the people living in Kent who did not vote for these shambolic trouble causers who have only a desire to disrupt and not deliver.
It seems all they can do is copy the disasters occuring across the pond, with no awareness that we have completely different local government systems here, with different responsibilities.
Apparently most regularly-held Kent county council meetings have been suspended. Why? If no decisions are being made what good will an audit do?
If I were living in Kent I would be asking: how much are these 'auditors' who may well not have a clue what the figures they are looking at actually mean, being paid?
If they are willing to work for nothing (a likely story)then why don't they devote their time to helping out some of the disabled and marginalised that are going to suffer as a consequence of the new councils ignorance? Wait- I know the answer- they don't care. Disruption is their only aim.
How much is the leader of the council being paid for effectively doing nothing whilst this audit takes place?
Are any of the Reform councillors contributing their earnings to helping out, or are they also creaming off the council tax and doing nothing in return?
It will only take a few weeks of services being disrupted (an inevitable consequence) for the people who voted for these grifters to realise what a terrible mistake they made- but most of them are likely to pretend it wasn't them and just blame the previous councils for what has gone wrong.

growstuff

Casdon I was being serious about potholes.

It’s a very serious topic I know - any council that resolves all the potholes under their jurisdiction will get a good star I’m sure.

I'm quite grateful that Essex County Council's elections were postponed, initially for a year. Hopefully, Reform will have had an opportunity to show their colours by the time the elections take place. Essex is currently "true blue" - I'm beginning to hope it stays that way.

growstuff

The company went into voluntary liquidation in March 2024. I hope Kent County Council doesn't end up being liquidated.

It really does smell iffy. So he's not even a successful entrepreneur.

Casdon I was being serious about potholes.

The company went into voluntary liquidation in March 2024. I hope Kent County Council doesn't end up being liquidated.

growstuff

My understanding is that the current audits are primarily financial. PSAA checks that contracts have been put out to tender using the correct procedure, that's there no fraud, that the figures add up, etc.

I suspect the new "audit" will be different and will question why and how money is spent and will recommend scrapping projects it sees as pointless.

An example might be installing a children's playground. A traditional audit would check that all procedures have been followed and all money accounted for. The new audit might say it's a waste of money anyway and the whole project might be scrapped.

The majority of County Council spending is on statutory provision (social care and education), but other services such as libraries and country parks will be targets.

PS. Hope somebody does a pothole audit!

Yes, and there are also requirements to justify spending of allocations which are given by central government or other bodies for specific activities, which councils are monitored against. If they fail to deliver they will not be funded in future years. A good example is actually the current potholes initiative.

Wyllow3

Yes, I read the small print on your reference, he's a young techno start up whizz and has no experience whatsoever in providing any kind of public service or indeed working with people in need. Straight from the Musk/DOGE handbook. what a terrific start.

Even more weird, it appears the company has now been dissolved.

find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12058948

Something smells very iffy to me.

Yes, I read the small print on your reference, he's a young techno start up whizz and has no experience whatsoever in providing any kind of public service or indeed working with people in need. Straight from the Musk/DOGE handbook. what a terrific start.

Fried's company, Turgensec, specialises in cyber security, so I'm not sure what that has to do with council finances.

Fried is the one in the baseball cap and trainers.

It would appear the tech entrepreneur is called Nathaniel Fried:

www.ceotodaymagazine.com/issues/2023/06/39/

Arron Banks (remember him?) is an adviser.

My understanding is that the current audits are primarily financial. PSAA checks that contracts have been put out to tender using the correct procedure, that's there no fraud, that the figures add up, etc.

I suspect the new "audit" will be different and will question why and how money is spent and will recommend scrapping projects it sees as pointless.

An example might be installing a children's playground. A traditional audit would check that all procedures have been followed and all money accounted for. The new audit might say it's a waste of money anyway and the whole project might be scrapped.

The majority of County Council spending is on statutory provision (social care and education), but other services such as libraries and country parks will be targets.

PS. Hope somebody does a pothole audit!

What [councils] do is in plain sight.

Exactly.

The thing about Reform is that are always in accusation mode.

Yusuf was interviewed by Lewis Goodall on LBC claiming there was 7 billion savings to made by scrapping DEI according to an independent think tank, the name of which he wouldn’t give on air but would tweet after the show. He hasn’t.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQy6V2pSZF4

And now Reform is claiming to have a team of world class software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors, working for free.

x.com/ZiaYusufUK/status/1929248578951618591

They say they are sending in forensic auditors. Not auditors. Forensic auditors. A forensic auditor is a specialized auditor who uses accounting and auditing techniques to investigate financial crimes, fraud, and misconduct.That is an accusation of concealment not of a policy that they just happened to disagree with because the Orange Oberführer says so.

What appalling people they all are, every last one of them.

Yusuf who bought his job as Reform Party Chair with a £200,000 donation is hardly a glowing example of meritocracy.

I decided to check out my council's audit as to whether it is internal or external and found this

"Yes, X Council is required by law to produce an annual Statement of Accounts, which is subject to external audit.

This audit ensures a true and fair view of the council's financial position, income, and expenditure.

The accounts are reviewed by EY, the external auditors appointed through the Public Sector Audit Appointment (PSAA) process

As regards the Public Sector Audit Appointment :
www.psaa.co.uk/about-us/

As you can read it is definitely an Independent body, however councils can opt out of the scheme.

However, "In the local audit system in England, 315 out of 317 local authorities (and 101 out of 104 police and fire bodies, and 38 of 38 other bodies) utilize Public Sector Audit Appointments Limited (PSAA).

So there is a pre-existing *independent audit body, nearly all councils use it: the information is there for councils to act on and do we need non independent politically biased expensive audits*

It seems to me that what matters is what councils do with these audits.

LizzieDrip

I hope someone (an inquisitive journalist perhaps) will scrutinise these ‘independent teams’.

I have the following questions;

Who are they?

Have they got any affiliation with any Reform councillors / members? Any conflict of interest?

How much are they costing the tax payer?

Are they undertaking their duties according to due process and correct procedures?

Will they have ‘free’ access to individuals’ personal data held by the council? If so … why?

Just as Reform claims not to trust the current establishment I, for one, don’t trust Reform.

IMO these teams will find ‘mismanagement and overspending’, whether it actually exists or not. That’s their agenda; that’s the narrative; whatever they find will fit with that narrative.

God help us!

The reassuring thing is that councils are very target driven, and so much of what they do is reported centrally. Funding is often dependent on bidding processes and achievements. What they do is in plain sight, and they will succeed or fail on that basis.

I hope someone (an inquisitive journalist perhaps) will scrutinise these ‘independent teams’.

I have the following questions;

Who are they?

Have they got any affiliation with any Reform councillors / members? Any conflict of interest?

How much are they costing the tax payer?

Are they undertaking their duties according to due process and correct procedures?

Will they have ‘free’ access to individuals’ personal data held by the council? If so … why?

Just as Reform claims not to trust the current establishment I, for one, don’t trust Reform.

IMO these teams will find ‘mismanagement and overspending’, whether it actually exists or not. That’s their agenda; that’s the narrative; whatever they find will fit with that narrative.

God help us!

I shall be watching Reform with interest generally.
I think it’s good that we have a new political party to challenge the big two, but they will have to prove themselves of course.

Introducing Musk style DOGE audits?
Audits can be useful, if they save more than they cost
They can be ethical, if they use genuine expertise, and not funnel work, resources, money and valuable data into their own businesses.
Has Musk been be ethical and effective? Will Reform follow Musk's example?
We are going to find out.

Cossy

GrannyGravy13

Nothing wrong with an in-depth look at the accounts, as long as they keep essential services.

All businesses and government bodies should look at how and where the money is spent.

Local councils already have governance and scrutiny committees for this and an annual external audit.

….run by councillors themselves of course, not by officers. It will be an interesting experiment I guess, for those who don’t live in the areas affected.