Kent County Council reshapes its DOLGE efficiency programme into core council business
Kent County Council has rebranded its DOLGE programme as a permanent part of how the authority runs, aiming to cut costs and protect services across the county.
Residents across Kent will see changes to how County Hall manages its day-to-day spending, after KCC’s Cabinet was asked to formally adopt a new “Delivery of Local Government Efficiency” strategy on 22 July 2026. The move takes the DOLGE programme — launched under Reform UK’s leadership in May 2025 — out of its original standalone form and folds it into the council’s normal operations, with no extra staff or budget required.
Four areas are in the frame: simplifying how the council works and cutting unnecessary spending; keeping spend and savings on budget; generating commercial income; and planning for local government reorganisation. The first phase of DOLGE identified over £40 million of potential savings. The second phase is designed to make cost-consciousness a permanent habit rather than a separate project with its own little empire.
Reform councillor Chris Hespe told the BBC that DOLGE’s first year delivered £100 million in savings and reduced future spending by £39.5 million. Those figures weren’t independently verified in the official council material available.
Not everyone’s buying it. Opposition figures say the shift is proof the original DOLGE model has run out of road — that it’s been absorbed into ordinary council business and dressed up as a strategy. The council disputes that framing.
Adult social care features in the new approach, with BBC reporting describing a “star chamber” style oversight of suppliers and contracts. The strategy sits within KCC’s broader “Reforming Kent 2025–2028” plan, and the numbers are significant: according to KCC’s own Productivity Plan, transformation savings are expected to account for 60.6% of total savings in 2025–26, rising to 75.3% the following year.
The proposals went before the Policy and Resources Cabinet Committee on 2 July 2026 ahead of the full Cabinet decision. On 22 July, Cabinet formally adopted the revised strategy, embedding it as part of core council business.
Source: @LeaderofKCC
Published: 30 July 2026