A Reform UK-led council is looking at scrapping English lessons for migrants amid an effort to root out wasteful spending at local government. The party launched its ‘DOGE’ campaign earlier this week, with an eye on examining all local government contracts to secure better value for money for taxpayers.

Now the leader of Reform-run Kent County Council has said English lessons for migrants could be one such cut, suggesting they could use the Duolingo app instead. Linden Kemkaran, the leader of the authority, says she wants to find out if the council-provided classes are “value for money”. She explained that the idea came from the new Reform council cabinet member for education and skills, who found out about the cost of the service.

Ms Kemkaran explained: “She has found out that Kent county council is paying for classes in adult education centres up and down the county that are teaching English as a second language.

“Now I’m saying to my cabinet member, ‘Could we look into this? How much is this costing us? Why are we paying to teach people English as a second language? Shouldn’t the onus be on the individual if you come to this country?’

“You can use Duolingo on your phone for nothing. You can use apps….I have asked my cabinet member to find me the figures and show me how much it’s costing us, and if I don’t think that’s value for money for the taxpayer, it’s going, simple as that.”

She added: “We can absolutely be Reformers cancelling English classes for people who don’t speak the lingo, if it’s costing [Kent Council] a lot of money.”

The DOGE project had been spearheaded by party chairman Zia Yusuf until his dramatic exit yesterday.

He visited Kent County Council to launch the programme earlier this week, with a tech entrepreneur who was set to help run DOGE.

Reform says it aims to “eliminate wasteful spending”, with Mr Yusuf arguing: “For too long British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole.”

Kent County Council has a total debt of £787 million, equivalent to £499 for each resident.

However other councils, such as Birmingham, have much higher levels of debt, as a result of both profligate spending and bad financial investments.

Birmingham has £2.9 billion of debt according to its accounts for the 2023-24 period, Surrey has £5 billion, and Leeds has £2.2 billion.

It’s unclear what will now happen with Reform UK’s DOGE project following the departure of Mr Yusuf.

Asked whether the project will continue, Nathaniel Fried – the tech entrepreneur who was set to help run it alongside Mr Yusuf – said: “I don’t know to be honest, I’m no longer in charge of Reform’s Doge.”

However deputy leader Brian Collins insisted: “Absolutely nothing’s changed.”