Kent County Council

Council Spending and Efficiency · drafted 2026-07-02 · accepted · 11 finding(s)

← council-level findings on this theme

16 Jul 2025Kent's Scrutiny Committee (16 July 2025) and a subsequent Cabinet governance paper explicitly distinguished Kent's own internally-run DOLGE unit from Reform UK's national 'DOGE' branding/project, describing them as separate initiatives, though members raised concern about how interlinked the two were. [1][2]

18 Sep 2025At Kent County Council (Full Council) on 18 September 2025, Ms Kemkaran proposed and Mr Collins seconded the 'Senior Management Structure' motion (Item 9), which Council RESOLVED to approve, agreeing changes to the senior management structure. [3][4]

18 Sep 2025The 18 September 2025 Kent County Council decision specifically deleted two senior management posts — General Counsel and Director of Human Resources and Organisation Development — as part of the restructure, alongside reporting-line changes for the Director of Infrastructure and redesignation of the Head of Law as Monitoring Officer. [5]

23 Sep 2025Kent's Personnel Committee (23 September 2025) was told by officers that agency staff costs were on a reducing trend, particularly in Children, Young People and Education, but this was an officer response to a Member question, not a cabinet/budget decision or a stated reduction target -- the Committee's formal resolution was only to note the annual workforce profile report. [6][7]

13 Nov 2025Kent County Council's Cabinet took a formal decision (26/00031) to approve and adopt the Delivery of Local Government Efficiency (DOLGE) Strategy, whose 'core principles' commit to challenge all council spend, but neither the decision record nor the DOLGE update report to the Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee sets a specific £ reduction or cap target for consultancy or agency/interim-staff spending -- the Committee Chairman explicitly noted the report 'set out the framework rather than specific savings'. [8][9][10]

12 Feb 2026Full County Council formally adopted the Revenue Budget 2026-27, 2026-29 Medium Term Financial Plan and 2026-36 Capital Programme on 12 February 2026, on a motion moved by Deputy Leader Brian Collins and seconded by Leader Linda Kemkaran, setting a net revenue budget requirement of £1,648.1m for 2026-27 and formally noting that the budget/MTFP carried a savings and income requirement. [11][12][13]

Kent County Council's Reform administration established the Department of Local Government Efficiency (DOLGE) — its own internal DOGE-equivalent efficiency unit — with the Leader creating it in May 2025 to identify savings and efficiencies across the council. [14]

DOLGE, led by Matthew Fraser Moat (Cabinet Member for Local Government Efficiency), is mandated to challenge all budgetary spend for value for money, focusing on immediate savings, future cost avoidance and contract/procurement renegotiation, but as of November 2025 minutes recorded no specific headline savings figure and only around a quarter of an FTE officer post supporting it. [15][16]

Kent County Council's Reform administration's draft Revenue Budget 2026-27 and Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2026-29 -- introduced by Deputy Leader Brian Collins to the Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee on 14 January 2026 -- carried a headline savings figure of £61.7m of new/full-year savings plus £14.6m of income generation, offsetting £179.5m of core funded spending growth; the Committee resolved to note the Administration's draft budget proposals. [17][18]

KCC's Cabinet Member for Local Government Efficiency reported on 8 January 2026 that the CURRENT year's (2025-26) budget -- which had been set by the previous (pre-Reform) administration -- required £121m of savings and increased income, of which approximately £100m was forecast to be achieved by year-end, with the remainder reset into the following year's budget; this is a pre-Reform-owned figure, distinct from the Reform administration's own first (2026-27) budget savings figure. [19]

The Reform administration created a new Department of Local Government Efficiency (DOLGE) portfolio when it took office in May 2025, led by a dedicated Cabinet Member supported by two Deputy Cabinet Members, tasked with identifying efficiencies and savings across KCC and feeding proposals into the 2025/26 in-year and 2026/27-plus medium-term savings programme. [20][21]

References (21)
  1. Minutes, 16 July 2025 “Mr Watts, General Counsel updated Members on the legal advice given in relation to DOLGE and DOGE.”
  2. Minutes, 16 July 2025 “Concerns were raised of the 12 unanswered questions on DOGE within the report and how interlinked DOGE and DOLGE public output was.”
  3. Minutes, 18 September 2025 “3) RESOLVED that Council: 1. Agrees the proposed changes to the senior management structure.”
  4. Minutes, 18 September 2025 “18. Senior Management Structure (Item 9) 1) Ms Kemkaran proposed, and Mr Collins seconded the motion that:”
  5. Minutes, 18 September 2025 “2. Agree the deletion of the General Counsel and Director of Human Resources and Organisation Development posts.”
  6. Minutes, 23 September 2025 “In response to a question about agency staff Ms Christie confirmed that there was a long term trend in relation to agency staff but the costs of this were reducing”
  7. Minutes, 23 September 2025 “RESOLVED that the Personnel Committee note the latest annual workforce profile for 2024-25”
  8. Decisions “Cabinet agrees to: (a) APPROVE and ADOPT the Delivery of Local Government Efficiency (DOLGE) Strategy”
  9. Decisions “the draft strategy presents a number of ‘core principles’ for implementation across the authority and used to challenge all spend”
  10. Minutes, 13 November 2025 “The Chairman emphasised that the report set out the framework rather than specific savings”
  11. Minutes, 12 February 2026 “Mr Collins proposed, and Ms Kemkaran seconded the following motion: “County Council, having given due regard to the s25 Report (published for consideration and noting as agenda item 5 of this meeting), is asked to agree the following:”
  12. Minutes, 12 February 2026 “(c) The net revenue budget requirement of £1,648.1m for 2026- 27.”
  13. Minutes, 12 February 2026 “To note the ongoing and escalating cost pressures on the Council’s budget alongside insufficient funding in the multi- year local government finance settlement and knock on requirement for savings and income in the final draft 2026-27 budget and 2026-29 medium term financial plan.”
  14. Decisions “Kent County Council’s Department of Local Government Efficiency (DOLGE) was established by the Leader in May 2025.”
  15. Decisions “DOLGE will challenge all budgetary spend to ensure expenditure is necessary and provides value for money for Kent’s residents.”
  16. Minutes “Mr Fraser Moat confirmed that approximately a quarter of a full-time equivalent (FTE) officer post provided secretarial support.”
  17. Minutes “He explained that the draft budget included £179.5m of core funded spending growth and reversals of £28m of previous savings. These spending pressures were offset by £14.7m of net reserve movements, £61.7m of new or full year savings, and £14.6m of income generation, resulting in a net change of £116.5m in revenue spending.”
  18. Minutes “RESOLVED to note the Administration’s draft capital and revenue budget proposals.”
  19. Minutes “It was noted that the current year’s budget had been set by the previous administration and had significantly underestimated the actual costs and pressures associated with delivering statutory adult social care services, some of which had experienced double-digit inflation. The budget had also required £121m of savings and increased income to be delivered during the year. Forecasts indicated that approximately £100m would be achieved by year-end, with the remaining savings being reset into the next year’s budget.”
  20. Decisions “3. Background 3.1 KCC’s Department of Local Government Efficiency was formed as a new portfolio when the new Administration was appointed in May 2025. A Cabinet Member is in place who is supported by two Deputy Cabinet Members (Deputy Cabinet Member for Finance & Cross-Cabinet Activity and Deputy Cabinet Member for Corporate and Traded Services) to deliver the required activity.”
  21. Decisions “DOLGE will have an initial specific focus on the delivery of 2025/26 in-year savings but also, the medium-term savings for 2026/27 and beyond to ensure a planned and sustainable approach.”