Two weeks after its Doge unit set up shop at County Hall, Reform UK has revealed details of council spending it says is questionable. But is everything as it seems?

Not according to The KCC Insider - KentOnline’s new columnist who has intimate knowledge of how the authority works.

As reported in the national media this morning, Reform’s Zia Yusuf says the party’s Doge squad has identified KCC spending into the tens of thousands on asylum seeker “jollies”.

This includes paying for TV licences, taking people trampolining, bowling, and to the cinema, plus spending at JD Sports and PC World.

All costing more than £24,000 of taxpayer cash.

Mr Yusuf is quoted as saying: “For too long, British citizens have been prosecuted for not paying for a TV licence, yet asylum seekers are having theirs paid for by taxpayers.

“The old Tory regime at Kent County Council has a lot to answer for. Reform will fight for taxpayers.”

As I mentioned in my column last week, context is everything. Anyone can go into any organisation and pluck out costs and spending which makes great headlines.

But with most things in life - not just in the boring old world of local government - the devil’s in the detail.

The first thing to say about this morning’s claims is that Kent taxpayers won’t be footing the bill for anything, as central government will be reimbursing KCC for any such costs.

Although they’re talking about “asylum seekers”, if true, the spending will certainly only refer to those who arrived as Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Child (UASC).

There’s no way any of these claims arise in relation to adults.

My best guess regarding the TV licences, which cost £174, is that they’re part of the wider cost of older UASCs living in semi-independent accommodation, or, possibly more likely, those living in reception centres.

When UASCs arrive in Kent, they go into a reception centre for 10 days before they’re moved onto the national processing scheme.

Again, such costs will be met by central government and not KCC, which is simply meeting its legal responsibilities to care for children who arrived on our shores.

The argument will no doubt be: ‘Well, the UK taxpayer is still footing the bill’. Yes, that’s true, but take it up with the government then.

Whitehall will have a detailed explanation on why they’re doing what they’re doing - but it will be technical, legal and really dull, certainly not the stuff of banner headlines.

Yes, that’s true, but take it up with the government then…

Mr Yusuf said on his X account: “It’s incredible how little of a council’s time and money is being spent on doing things working people expect it to do.”

Responding to this, it’s important to make the point I made last week about the scale of the task facing KCC and its thousands of dedicated workers.

Even with a £2bn annual turnover, running a local authority is incredibly hard with things like adult social care, children’s services and SEND being hugely expensive to provide.

I’d humbly suggest that rather than gimmicks, Reform should spend its time getting to grips with the above services.

Long after the shock and awe headlines are gone - that’s what’s going to bankrupt KCC and affect thousands and thousands of residents across Kent.