Nigel Farage’s Doge unit has unearthed a mounting taxpayers’ bill paying for migrants to enjoy golf trips, circus tickets and takeaways.
The money is also spent on gift cards and purchases from Currys, Argos and Amazon.
The leader of Reform UK launched its Department of Government Efficiency, appointing former Chairman Zia Yusuf as the head of the new role set up to identify wasteful spending in the councils it now runs.
The scheme, which Reform claims will save the UK taxpayer vital funds, is based on the US equivalent set up by Tesla chief Elon Musk for Donald Trump.
Nigel Farage’s Doge unit has unearthed a mounting taxpayers’ bill paying for migrants to enjoy golf trips, circus tickets and takeaways
PA
A shocking 2,500 children alone are entering the Kent County Council care system every year, the audit revealed.
In total, 7,380 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children were in council care across England last year, according to the Department for Education.
This figure is nine per cent higher than the 5,080 in 2020.
Yusuf told The Daily Mail: “Asylum is already a heavy burden on the Treasury. The Home Office spent a record £5.38billion on asylum seekers in 2023-24 – up 36 per cent on the previous year. So to blow even a penny of that on crazy golf or skateboarding is a betrayal of the taxpayer.”
Kent County Council Audit
Amazon – £162,077
Fortnum and Mason – £102.95
Currys – £11,521
Argos – £70,056
Voucherline gift cards – £12,328
Santus Circus – £279.91
Local swimming pool – £6,055
Mr Mulligans Crazy Golf – £55.50
Driving lessons – £300
Airline ticket from Virgin Atlantic – £1,972
Domino’s Pizza – £5,793
Pizza Express – £1,127
Kent County Council has claimed these expenses come from central Government.
Most, but not all, of these transactions are reportedly related to asylum seekers and child asylum seekers.
The authority is struggling to cope with the pressures put on services from the 44,000 migrants who have reached British shores via small boats since Labour took power, according to a new audit
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The council said most of the spending highlighted was for unaccompanied asylum seeker children or asylum seekers aged between 18 and 25 who have left the care system but remain the responsibility of the council.
Many Channel crossers’s ages are disputed, with people who may claim they are below 25 able to gain these benefits arriving in Britain with little or no identifying documents.
In the year to June, the Kent council were responsible for 3,036 asylum-seeker children and supported 1,442 “care leavers”.
Children aboard small boats are taken into the care of local councils before being dispersed to different authorities around the country in some cases.
The Council have claimed these expenses back from the central Government
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Kent’s new local Doge unit, set up after Farage’s party won control in May, includes entrepreneur Arron Banks and has already cut £40million in spending on Net Zero projects.
Across the 10 Reform-controlled councils, more than £118,000 had been spent on fast food and £10,000 on TV subscription services, Doge uncovered.
Kent County Council said the money helps integrate young asylum seeker children, resulting in a “incredibly low” level of asylum seeker children that go missing from care “which reduced the opportunity of the children being exploited”.
It added that the Amazon spending included essential spending on clothing and toiletries for asylum seeker children, and helps older asylum seekers furnish their homes after turning 18.
Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer announced a ‘one in, one out’ migrant deal between the UK and FrancePA
