Kent’s Pothole Stats Contradict Each Other: Press Release vs FOI Figures
Newspapers, or bloggers aren’t like the government… if we make state-ments we have to prove they’re true. Kent’s highways story this winter has offered a gentle [...]
Why Benefit Fraud Makes Headlines — and Council Insider Fraud Rarely Does
A familiar story did the rounds in the run-up to Christmas: a benefits claimant exposed by covert video, prosecuted, and written up in a way that leaves little doubt about [...]
Otterpool Park’s 1001-Day Section 106 Delay Exposes England’s Planning Logjam
On 4 April 2023, Folkestone & Hythe’s Planning and Licensing Committee resolved to grant outline planning permission for Otterpool Park—a new garden town proposed at [...]
Folkestone & Hythe DC Funding 2025/26–2028/29: Core Spending Power, Council Tax and the Real Squeeze
On 17 December 2025, Government published the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026/27 to 2028/29 (a three-year settlement, with later years still subject [...]
Kent County Council Funding Explained: Why the “£50m Boost” and “£127m Increase” Are Both True (Fair Funding vs Core Spending Power)
If you ever want to start a festive row in a Kent WhatsApp group, don’t mention politics. Mention “extra government funding” — and then watch three people produce [...]
Draft NPPF 2025 Explained: What’s Changed Since 2024 and What It Means for Planning Decisions, Housing Numbers and the Green Belt
Yes — we know you love it. We know you wanted it under the Christmas tree. And the Government, in the spirit of festive excess, has delivered: a brand-new Draft National [...]
Reform UK’s Paranoid “Coup” Claim in Kent: Political Theatre Meets the Hard Limits of the Law
By any normal standard of political language, accusing the Prime Minister of plotting a “coup” against Kent County Council is the sort of thing you say when you’ve run [...]
Wood-Burner Boom in Folkestone & Hythe District: 1,356 Recorded Installs — and the Council’s Blind Spot
An Environmental Information request has forced Folkestone & Hythe District Council to put hard numbers on something residents have been arguing about for years: how fast [...]
Michael Hadwen at Kent County Council as Reform UK Creates Taxpayer-Funded Political Assistant Roles: Has He Already Been Appointed?
Updated: 19 Dec 15:55 Mr Michael Hadwen was in the Kent County Council chamber yesterday. On its own, that is not a crime, a scandal, or even unusual: local democracy is [...]
“Like Nuclear Weapons”: Kent County Council Approves Political Assistants — Taxpayer Cost Up to £98,564 a Year (Plus On-Costs)
“If my enemy has one, then I ought to have one.” That was the Christmas-season dilemma put to Kent County Council this week as members voted to approve taxpayer-funded [...]
Otterpool Park: More Than £76m Spent, 0 Homes Built — Ten Years After Folkestone & Hythe’s Garden Town Land Buy
More than £38,967,500 has been spent assembling land and property for Otterpool Park (according to the Land Registry and the council’s asset-register spreadsheet). Add [...]
Kent County Council Political Assistants: Reform UK Plan Could Cost Taxpayers Up to £98,564 a Year in Salaries (Plus On-Costs)
Kent County Council will be asked at Full Council tomorrow (Thursday 18 December) to approve the creation of Political Assistant (agenda item 11) posts for qualifying [...]
Part 2 – Lyminge Parish Council in Crisis: Missing Overtime Policy, Governance Gaps and Bullying Concerns
The follow-up to our earlier account is not pretty. Over the last few months of 2025, with the permanent clerk on leave and a temporary clerk in post, the parish council’s [...]
Kent & Medway ICB: DSF Loss, Long NHS Waits and Conflicts of Interest Concerns — What the Board Papers and Spending Data Reveal
The Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) went into its November 2025 board cycle carrying two burdens at once: worsening financial weather, and a governance question [...]
Princes Parade Write-Off and Oportunitas Valuation Error: Audit Scrutiny Intensifies as Folkestone & Hythe Audit & Governance Meeting Is Postponed
Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Audit & Governance Committee was due to meet tomorrow evening (Wednesday 17 December, 6pm) to scrutinise the 2024/25 Statement [...]
Part 1: Beyond the Slogans: Official Figures Show Britain Can’t Fund the NHS or Pensions Without Migration
This three-part blog explores why, in a rapidly ageing, low-fertility Britain, migration is not a lifestyle choice but a basic requirement for keeping the country running. [...]
The Grand Folkestone: Residents Report Utility Billing Disputes, High Energy Charges and Unresolved Fire Door and Corridor Lighting Concerns
Residents at The Grand in Folkestone have contacted us with a new set of concerns about day-to-day management of the building — including what they describe as long-running [...]
Exclusive: The Shepway Vox Team Asks New Kent & Medway NHS ICB CEO Adam Doyle to Clarify Investigations After Procurement and Governance Concerns Emerge
Exclusive We, the Shepway Vox team, understand that a cluster of serious concerns has been raised inside NHS Kent and Medway’s ICB leadership orbit — including potential [...]
Bailiffs Return to The Grand Folkestone: £20,490 Unpaid CCJ Raises Fresh Service Charge Fears for Leaseholders
Bailiffs were reported at The Grand in Folkestone again on Monday 8 December, in what residents say was another confrontation over unpaid electricity linked to flats — a [...]
Freemasons in Local Government: How Secret Membership and £5bn Procurement Fraud Risk Are Undermining Trust in UK Councils
The government’s own anti-corruption documents and fraud figures leave little doubt: local government is now a frontline battleground against fraud and corruption – and [...]
Kent Life Expectancy by District and Constituency (2001–2024): Biggest Gaps, Biggest Gains and What It Means for Folkestone & Hythe’s Ageing Population
Kent is often described as a single place with a single health story. The reality, once you look at the life-expectancy numbers, is very different. Across the county, people [...]
Part 1: Lyminge Parish Council: A Serving Councillor on Bullying, Clerk-Bashing and a Toxic Breakdown in Governance
As a parish councillor with no family ties to the current (on-maternity leave) Parish Clerk, I have watched the behaviour of some of my colleagues on Lyminge Parish Council [...]
Kent County Council’s Own Population Projections Show an Ageing Crisis That Depends on More Migration and Births – While Its Reform UK Leaders Attack Both
When the leader of Kent County Council, Cllr Linden Kemkaran – pictured, went on KMTV after Rachel Reeves scrapped the two-child benefit cap, her message was blunt. [...]
KCC Leaders Meet Sir Roger De Haan in Folkestone: What’s on the Public Record?
A set of photographs posted online by Cllr John Baker (Reform UK, Kent County Council) shows a small delegation meeting in Folkestone with Sir Roger De Haan, followed by what [...]
Community Infrastructure Levy: How Much CIL Your Town or Parish Council Got in Folkestone & Hythe — and Where the Money Went (FHDC Data)
Across Folkestone & Hythe District, a distinct slice of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is passed out of the District Council’s hands and into the accounts of Town [...]