A Reform UK cabinet member in charge of purging Kent County Council (KCC) of waste and inefficiency has resigned after remarks suggesting the authority had “not made any cuts”.
Matthew Fraser Moat stood down from the top table yesterday evening after giving an interview with the Financial Times (FT), which was published on Monday.
Matthew Fraser Moat is the Reform UK’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Gravesham. Picture: Matthew Fraser Moat
Cllr Fraser Moat claimed pressures of his role at County Hall and running the family business had led to “a lapse of judgement” which led to his words “twisted to fit into an anti-KCC narrative”,
In the article, he was quoted as saying the council “had not actually made any cuts” since Reform UK won a landslide victory last May and pledged to open the books to find where waste might lie.
The head of Reform’s Department of Local Government Efficiency (DOLGE) at KCC, was reported to add that “we haven’t cut front-line services other than what the Conservatives had already planned to do”.
Reform’s Paul Chamberlain celebrates winning the Herne Bay East seat
In the article, Cllr Fraser Moat’s colleague Cllr Paul Chamberlain, a deputy cabinet member, was also quoted as saying: “We made some assumptions that we would come in here and find some of the craziness found in America and that was wrong, we didn’t find any of that.”
Cllr Fraser Moat’s resignation statement said: “It was a great honour to be asked to serve as a Cabinet Member and since then I have tried to balance my Council responsibilities with the responsibilities of my family business.
“The pressure of giving my best to both roles led to a lapse of judgment in a recent conversation with a journalist in which I was very disappointed to see my words twisted to fit what I believe to be an anti-KCC narrative by the newspaper in question.
“It has become clear to me that continuing as head of DOLGE is not sustainable, and now that KCC has delivered a balanced budget and stabilised the council’s finances, I have decided to step down from my role as a cabinet member.”
Reform UK head of DOLGE at KCC, Matthew Fraser Moat, who resigned yesterday
In a statement, Reform UK said the FT article “does not accurately reflect the position at Kent County Council and presents a selective account of the council’s work on efficiency and value for money”.
The authority claims KCC is on course to deliver £100 million savings this year, has reprofiled £39.5 million of potential future spend and reduced debt by £67 million (with a further reduction of £16 million) by the end of this financial year.
It said next year’s budget includes £14 million of savings secured specifically to ensure that council tax increases for residents are kept to a minimum.
The statement added: “KCC has proposed our first ever Commercial Strategy, developed an LGR proposal that is £464 million less expensive than other options, created savings options for the future and begun planning for increased income generation.”
KCC Liberal Democrat opposition leader, Cllr Antony Hook
Liberal Democrat opposition leader Cllr Antony Hook said last night: “On course to deliver £100m savings this year? No. This year is forecast to end with an overspend of £36.5m. The Reform press release reads to me like DOLGE is dead. It did little and was a waste of money.”
Cllr Chamberlain told the FT members of the previous Conservative administration “weren’t crazy, they were business people”.
It has been his job to improve systems and find efficiencies across council services, alongside Cllrs Matthew Fraser Moat and Chris Hespe.
The DOLGE department had the endorsement of Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s former chairman, who was tasked to find waste and fraud in local government.
Cllr Chamberlain told the FT: “I wish we could have found those big savings for Zia; it would have been a better story, but we didn’t.”
Conservative group member Cllr Sarah Hudson said: “Paul Chamberlain is not saying anything that is news to those of us who were in the last Conservative-run administration.
“Every penny of savings that we could find was reinvested into the front-line services we provide to the residents. There was no wastage.
Conservative councillor Sarah Hudson
“And, yes, we were a group of businessmen and women running the authority as well as could be done in the circumstances.”
Green Party KCC member Stuart Jeffery
Green Party member Cllr Stuart Jeffery Said: “I called for the end of the DOLGE debacle at the December full council meeting, Cllrs Fraser Moat, Chamberlain and Hespe have been at the barely beating heart of the project and delivered precisely nothing while costing over £70k in special responsibility allowances between them.”