No 'DOGE-style' redundancies at North Northants Council but workers WILL be brought back into office, says new leader

Reform UK councillor Martin Griffiths was last night officially made leader of North Northamptonshire Council.

He sat down with the Northants Telegraph for his first interview immediately after the council’s AGM (Thursday, May 22) – which marked the beginning of four years of Reform rule at the authority.

Cllr Griffiths sought to immediately downplay worries among 3,000 NNC staff after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage outlined ‘DOGE-style’ cuts when he spoke to our reporters in April. DOGE refers to the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory body created by US President Donald Trump to cut government jobs and spending, with reports of up to a quarter of a million Government jobs already gone in America.

But Cllr Griffiths did say that he wanted many staff who worked from home to return to the office, and that they will be based at the council-owned RCI building in Kettering.

Cllr Griffiths said: “I don’t like the term DOGE. I like scrutinising, we’re looking at the accounts and expenditure and the fine details.

"We’re looking to deliver efficiencies that will mean we can spend more on things like our roads and children’s services.

"There’s not going to be wide-scale redundancies. I value our staff and I want them to be a part of this journey.

"We’re going to bring the RCI building back in full. When the contracts end on the private tenants we will bring staff back together in that building.

"I am not against working from home but I want it to be the exception, not the norm.”

There has also been some concern that Reform UK leader Nigel Farage would interfere in local politics, with Green leader Emily Fedorowycz using her platform as last night’s meeting to say her party would not support action that is dictated by Westminster. “We don’t want national figureheads or parties running this council,” she said.

But Cllr Griffiths said that although the national party would be supporting their councillors, decisions about North Northamptonshire would be made locally.

"We met with the leadership last week,” said Cllr Griffiths, “and it very much was a case of ‘we will run the council’ but Reform UK will support us in our journey.

"We will be running this council.”

He also used last night’s AGM to unveil his first plan, which is to survey all local people to ensure he is clear about what they expect from the new leadership.

"We’ll be asking what they feel about their council and what’s happening here and what their priorities are,” he said.

Cllr Griffiths, who was the Conservative leader of Welingborough Council until its shut-down in 2021, also promised that Reform UK would have an open working relationship with members of the press and would invite journalists into the council to meet senior members of the team.

In the past, communication between the council’s executive and local reporters has been distant, and at times combative. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has also often been highly critical of working journalists

Cllr Griffiths said: “We’re going to have a positive relationship with the press. I believe if we have a problem I’d rather be open about it with the media.”

You can see how last night’s meeting unfolded here.