Polly has accused the Reform Leader of Kent County Council of trying to use ‘dodgy figures’ and ‘evasion tactics’ to cover up the fact that Reform UK in Kent are about to break a central pledge on council tax.

In a letter to KCC Council Leader Linden Kemkaran Polly, which can be read in full by clicking here, Polly said:

Reform promised during their county council election campaign to introduce a ‘DOGE for Kent’ modelled on Elon Musk’s state-slashing bonanza in the United States. The promise made by Reform was that by making unspecified ‘efficiency savings’, Kent taxpayers would be spared further tax increases. I am therefore frustrated to have read this morning that the council you lead has made few meaningful savings since entering office earlier this year and is instead planning to raise council tax by the maximum possible amount of 5%.

 

In my view, to do so would be a huge betrayal of those you promised to protect from tax rises, when it is quite clear Reform in Kent simply didn’t have a plan for how such a pledge could be kept.

Her letter comes as the Financial Times reports that Reform in Kent are planning on hiking council tax by the maximum possible amount allowed in law of 5%.

Polly’s letter focused on a claim made by Cllr Kemkaram to have found savings of nearly £40 million by “scrapping the net zero renewable energy programme” and the “transitioning of the KCC vehicle fleet to electric vehicles”.

However Polly, who has an extensive background in energy policy, said that she found “this claim to be highly suspicious and potentially misleading, given that energy efficiency programmes and upgrading to electric vehicles nearly always deliver strong returns on investment when it comes to cutting energy and fuel bills.”

In response to a Freedom of Information request submitted by Polly, Kent County Council admitted that “none of the projects in the Potential Capital Projects section have completed business cases. These projects are very high level and would only go ahead once business cases have been worked up and approved, and when affordable funding solutions have been identified.”

Polly Billington MP said:

In May, voters were led to believe that Reform’s Elon Musk-inspired ‘DOGE for Kent’ – which was announced with much fanfare at the time by Nigel Farage – would mean wild cost savings and no council tax hikes.

 

Yet as with so many of Reform UK’s bombastic claims, this was yet another promise without a plan, which is now colliding with cold, hard reality.

 

Despite the obvious fact that energy efficiency measures lead to lower fuel costs in the long run, Cllr Kemkaran suggested slashing such programmes would create bumper savings. Yet now her own Council has denied these projects ever existed in the first place and is refusing to answer even basic questions about how her claims of savings were even calculated.

 

My constituents in East Thanet need to see Kent being run efficiently and effectively, with a proper plan for keeping taxes low and services running smoothly. Under Reform, all we’ve seen so far is broken promises, dodgy figures, and now inflation busting tax rises coming down the track in Kent.