We're in a meeting...or maybe not...

Kent County Council scraps meetings as opposition parties complain Reform failing transparency test.

Depending on who you are listening to, Reform UK is finding the task of setting up a new political administration at Kent County Council rather more complicated than it expected.

That is hardly surprising.

The party’s euphoric mood in securing a huge majority and displacing the Conservatives has been replaced by a nervous and uncertain one.

The cancellation of committee meetings with no explanation; a warning to unions not to speak to the media and questions around whether some candidates stood and unexpectedly won are conspiring to underline that winning is one thing but delivering is another.

Behind a PR row over what flags can and can’t be flown at County Hall, the political leadership of the Reform-led council seems to have agreed - or maybe were told - that it should be a test bed for a range of other policy commitments.

The desire to be seen as the party most in tune with those struggling with the cost of living led to a ham-fisted arrival of a task force, swooping into County Hall like local government ghostbusters, charged with identifying inefficiencies and extravagant expenditure.

So, what is the problem?

In one sense, there isn’t one: an incoming administration of any political colour would probably do the same. The Reform party has dubbed the scheme “DOGE” - a no-cost audit of the authority’s spending, using unpaid experts to root out inefficiency.

The difficulties are that council budgets are predominantly mandatory: you cannot pick and choose which ones you want.

And as to the pledge to re-examine contracts for road repairs, it is highly unlikely that any contractor will simply acquiesce to a demand to hand it over, or cut the costs of the project.

And while there is an appetite for disclosure and transparency, opposition parties are sceptical, fearing that the cancellation of several committee meetings could become a habit.

Still, party leader Nigel Farage may feel the political tide is still running his way with enough goodwill from voters to see his party through a potentially tricky period - and there have been signs that he is beginning to receive more scrutiny when the party’s spending programme was unveiled.

As to what we might learn about KCC and its financial situation, it seems there is a potential route that could be taken by the opposition parties. It would involve a request for the all-party cabinet scrutiny committee - chaired by a Liberal Democrat - arrange a meeting at which members could question the council leader and others about what is happening; why meetings have been cancelled at the 11th hour and any key discoveries made.

That’s a fair few meetings but in the circumstances, justifiable.

ONE area of spending that might just catch the eye of the Reform Party is the huge sums paid to auditors to check that the authority’s sums add up.

Kent County Council is a large authority with a large budget, but even so, the audit fees seem quite extraordinary - and they are going up. For the financial year 2024-25, the sum will be £462, 551 - a figure that is some 3.5% up on the previous year. With councils shrinking, there ought to be a case for audit bills to come down, rather than up.