Despite the fanfare of Reform UK’s Doge initiative, AI and tech experts alone will not solve the problems besetting local authority finances. If only it were that simple.
As Reform sends its Doge team into Kent County Council for the first of its “local government efficiency audits”, I am sure they will learn this soon enough.
When they start to examine in more detail the councils they now run, what the Doge team will discover is the good work of the many experienced and committed staff battling to deliver the best they can for local communities with limited resources and complex constraints.
As the chair of a network of 25 UK local authorities, I hear daily from members with a deep understanding of this reality. Local authorities across the UK are grappling with funding gaps, the social care crisis, housing shortages and infrastructure deficits. These gaps are holding many back from delivering on improvements to vital services, which form the backbone of many election promises.
Urgent cost-cutting measures are already being brought in. Key Cities’ recent survey of council leaders found that many are already turning to financial reserves and service redesigns, with asset sales, salary reductions and redundancies under active consideration.
We need a fundamental reset of local government funding and powers to better equip cities to meet these challenges head-on.
Ours is a cross-party group of local authorities dedicated to sharing best practice and exploring the challenges faced by all. I sincerely believe that behind early posturing among Reform’s representatives, there is a genuine desire to improve the lot of the local constituents they represent. If so, they are welcome to draw on the experience of our members and share in their situation and challenges too.
But having explored the issues with council leaders from across the political spectrum and from all parts of the UK, it’s hard to understand how the Doge agenda could help. With councils running out of ways to trim bills, politicians of all stripes must accept that local authorities need absolutely urgent and vital additional funding.
So, let’s eschew inefficient cost-cutting at the margins and instead commit to long-term funding reform that aligns grant allocation with local needs and provides a foundation for economic growth.
Let’s find ways to grow, not even more cuts
This doesn’t mean local authorities shouldn’t take responsibility to deliver local growth in support of the British economy. At the UK Cities Forum in Stoke-on-Trent last month, we brought together some of the most innovative thinkers working in local government alongside business leaders to identify barriers to growth and ways to overcome them.
One of the most pressing challenges we face is the shortage of housing. To tackle this, the government should introduce a Public–Private Accelerator Fund aimed at unlocking dormant housing developments and encouraging sustained private sector investment. This initiative would play a key role in easing the housing crisis and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to live in a safe and stable home. Additionally, it’s essential to reform the tax system to address deep-rooted structural problems that cannot be solved through isolated funding measures.
Investment in essential infrastructure is equally important. Local authorities should be equipped with mechanisms such as land value capture, the retention of local business rates and greater flexibility in borrowing. These tools would give councils the powers we need to councils to fund vital infrastructure – such as roads, schools, and utilities – that underpin sustainable development.
Perhaps a silver lining of the Doge initiative is to highlight that we do urgently need to rethink the way central and local government work together. The era of one-year funding settlements and short-term competitive grants should be replaced by longer-term strategic partnerships in national renewal – not the “black hole” into which former Reform chair and Doge team member, Zia Yusuf, believes taxpayer money “disappears”.
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