Durham County Council

Council Spending and Efficiency · drafted 2026-07-02 · accepted · 10 finding(s)

← council-level findings on this theme

18 Jun 2025In June 2025 Cabinet minutes, County Durham's Reform Leader described a process under way of bringing the Reform 'Department of Local Government Efficiency' (DOLGE/DOGE) into the council to audit its books, alongside the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge, as part of the administration's ambition to eliminate waste. [1]

27 Jun 2025At Audit Committee on 27 June 2025, the Corporate Director of Resources confirmed that despite press comments about DOLGE/DOGE, there were no plans to bring in further auditors (Mazars remained the council's appointed auditors), the council had not yet had a DOLGE visit, and no personal data or information had been provided to Reform UK or any other outside body not commissioned by the council itself. [2]

21 Jul 2025At Cabinet on 21 July 2025, when agreeing an interim Council Plan framework, the Leader and Cabinet described DOLGE work as still being planned: the report stated that governance and delegation arrangements would be established for any data-related DOLGE activities, and that this work was intended to complement the council's own Transformation Programme and MTFP process. [3][4]

11 Feb 2026As part of the MTFP(16) 2026/27 savings package, Durham County Council Cabinet proposed (19 November 2025, restated 21 January 2026) deleting the Grade 14 NETPark Project Director role within Business Durham, saving £68,200 a year, and on 11 February 2026 Cabinet formally decided to approve recommending this and the wider Appendix 4/5 savings package to full Council for final approval on 18 February 2026. [5][6][7]

11 Feb 2026Cabinet on 11 February 2026 approved recommending to County Council a savings plan for the 2026/27 Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) totalling £5.662 million of MTFP(15) savings and £9.807 million of new MTFP(16) savings, profiled at £12.914 million in 2026/27, alongside a 2026/27 Net Budget Requirement of £674.060 million. [8][9]

At full Council on 18 February 2026, in response to a question on the 2026/27 MTFP16 budget, the Corporate Director of Resources confirmed that the council had had no engagement with the Reform DOGE initiative and that no budget savings had come from that process. [10]

At the same 18 February 2026 Council meeting, the Leader characterised 'DOGE' not as an external unit but as an internal practice of members and officers scrutinising the budget line by line for underspends, describing it as a 'culture' to watch council spending. [11]

County Durham Council's MTFP(16) Cabinet Report (considered 19 November 2025 and again 21 January 2026, as part of the Resources savings package) included a specific £0.100 million saving titled 'Reduction of Professional Fees Budget', explicitly reducing the use of consultants because a full-time Project Manager was appointed in-house instead. [12][13]

The same MTFP(16) Cabinet report's summary of the £5.684 million 'back office and operational efficiencies' savings package lists 'reduced professional fees such as the use of consultants' as one of its component savings lines for 2026/27 onward. [14]

County Council formally adopted the Medium Term Financial Plan 2026/27 to 2028/29 and Revenue and Capital Budget 2026/27 on 18 February 2026, moved by Deputy Leader and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Finance Councillor D Grimes, who described it as the first budget of the Reform administration elected in May 2025; the report and recommendations, including the savings plan, were resolved to be adopted in full on a recorded vote. [15][16][17]

References (17)
  1. Minutes, 18 June 2025 “This joint approach extended to the process of bringing the Reform Department of Local Government Efficiency into this council to audit the books.”
  2. Minutes, 27 June 2025 “there was no plans to bring in further auditors – Mazars were the councils’ appointed auditors. The DOLGE efficiency reviews were targeted at finding waste but the Council had not had such a visit and no personal data or information had been provided to Reform UK or to any other outside body that had not been commissions by the Council itself.”
  3. Minutes, 21 July 2025 “The DOLGE work being planned under the Reform Council initiative was seen as an additional tool to identify new opportunities.”
  4. Minutes, 21 July 2025 “Governance and delegation arrangements would be established for any data-related work, including DOLGE activities.”
  5. Document “It is proposed to delete the Grade 14 NETPark Project Director role within Business Durham.”
  6. Document “(c) Deletion of NETPark Project Director role (£0.068 million)”
  7. Decisions, 11 February 2026 “approve the recommending of the updated savings proposals set out in Appendix 4 and Appendix 5 and summarised in Table 3 and Table 4 to Council for approval on 18 February 2026”
  8. Decisions, 11 February 2026 “approve recommending the savings plans detailed in Appendix 4 (MTFP(15) savings totalling £5.662 million) and Appendix 5 (MTFP(16) savings totalling £9.807 million (was £10.057 million)) and which are profiled in total £12.914 million in 2026/27”
  9. Decisions, 11 February 2026 “approve the 2026/27 Net Budget Requirement of £674.060 million (was £673.733 million) for consideration by County Council on 18 February 2026”
  10. Minutes “He confirmed that they had had no engagement with the reform DOGE initiative so no savings had come from that process.”
  11. Minutes “The Leader clarified that this was part of DOGE, members and officers looking at everything line by line seeing underspends across portfolios and the culture of DOGE was to watch the money we spend.”
  12. Document “Reduction of Professional Fees Budget Following a review of the budget requirement, opportunities have arisen to make efficiencies and reduce the use of consultants, directly due to the appointment of a full time Project Manager, saving £0.100 million.”
  13. Document “Reduction of Professional Fees Budget Following a review of the budget requirement, opportunities have arisen to make efficiencies and reduce the use of consultants, due to the appointment of a full time Project Manager, saving £0.100 million.”
  14. Document “reduced professional fees such as the use of consultants”
  15. Minutes “In Moving adoption of the Cabinet reports, Councillor D Grimes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Finance made a statement on the budget proposals”
  16. Minutes “The budget put forward was the first for this administration and set a historic moment for all Reform members and followed months of hard work that commenced after the election in May.”
  17. Minutes “Resolved: That the report and its recommendations be adopted in full.”