ShepwayVox Dissent is not a Crime

EXCLUSIVE: Oliver Davis Bankrupt – £676,225 in the Red, £21 in the Bank and Still Listed as a Company Director

November 11, 2026 // 3 Comments

Kent property developer Oliver Gordon Davis has been declared bankrupt (pictured) after a London finance company took him to court. But seven years of company accounts reveal [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council: A Formula One Finance System, a Broken Reply Button and Accounts the Public Can’t Fully Inspect

November 11, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council has a new finance system, a £650,000 project budget and a legal duty to let the public inspect its accounts. Yet 90 days after the [...]

EXCLUSIVE | Leas Pavilion, Folkestone: A £350,000 Sales Office, a £2 Debt Deal and a Mortgage Mystery

November 11, 2026 // 0 Comments

The former sales office for Folkestone’s unfinished luxury flats was transferred to the building contractor as part of a debt settlement. But company records reveal [...]

Kent’s AI Border Towers: Millions Spent, Boats on the Beach and a Contract Mystery

November 10, 2026 // 0 Comments

Two small boats reached Kent’s beaches on consecutive days, just as a £21 million surveillance contract approached its final possible expiry date. Weeks later, the [...]

Paradise to Retire. Hell to Get Care? The East Kent NHS Crisis Nobody Can Ignore

November 9, 2026 // 2 Comments

Two major reports, five years apart, and the same uncomfortable warning. England’s Chief Medical Officer says coastal and rural communities need healthcare designed [...]

Oportunitas Ltd: £14 Million in Property, Four Councillors and Twelve Years of Broken Promises?

November 9, 2026 // 0 Comments

In 2014, Folkestone & Hythe Council expected its new property company to deliver a 7.3% investment return. Twelve years later, Oportunitas owns £14.35 million in [...]

Five Days Married. Then War Made Her a Widow: The Heartbreak Behind Folkestone’s Remembrance Sunday

November 8, 2026 // 0 Comments

There is an empty chair at a table somewhere. A photograph of a young man who never grew old. A wedding that lasted just five days. Children who grew up without their father. [...]

Lost in Translation, Left in Danger: Reform UK’s Kent Interpreter Vote Ignites a Safeguarding Storm

November 6, 2026 // 2 Comments

Reform UK has won its vote to pursue cuts to interpreter and translation spending at Kent County Council. Restore Britain wanted tighter financial reporting but withdrew its [...]

Saving Lives, Accused of Encouraging Trafficking: Reform UK’s RNLI Controversy in Kent

November 6, 2026 // 2 Comments

Two Reform UK councillors linked the RNLI to allegations of human trafficking during a heated Kent County Council debate. One was warned by the Chairman, another refused to [...]

Kent’s Deadly Drug Trade: Record Deaths, Million-Pound Gangs and the Dirty Money Trail

November 6, 2026 // 0 Comments

A record 138 drug-poisoning deaths were registered in Kent in 2025. Behind those figures are grieving families, people struggling with addiction and communities dealing with [...]

The BBC Pays KentOnline to Ask Awkward Questions. So Here’s One for Them.

November 5, 2026 // 0 Comments

The BBC funds journalists to hold councils to account. But how much has gone to Iliffe Media, which owns KentOnline, and what has the public received in return? Shepway Vox [...]

Kent’s £144m SEND Crisis: Private School Costs Soar as Parents Fight for Places and New Schools Stall

November 5, 2026 // 0 Comments

Kent County Council is spending more than five times as much sending children with special educational needs to private schools as it did six years ago. Yet the number of [...]

Lost in Translation, Left in Danger: Kent’s Proposed Interpreter Cuts

November 4, 2026 // 0 Comments

Reform UK and Restore Britain want Kent County Council to change how it pays for translators and interpreters. But who pays the price if a vulnerable child cannot explain [...]

What Doesn’t Reform UK Want Kent Taxpayers to See? Another Council Audit Meeting Goes Dark

November 4, 2026 // 0 Comments

For the second time in less than three weeks, Kent County Council’s Governance & Audit Committee has met without an accessible live webcast. With millions in [...]

Kent Grooming Gangs: 355 Historic Cases Flagged as Ofsted Exposes Safeguarding Failures

November 3, 2026 // 0 Comments

There are two very different stories about how Kent protects vulnerable children. One is about safeguarding partnerships, specialist police teams, training programmes and [...]

Napier Barracks: 38 Affordable Homes Vanish as Taylor Wimpey’s Figures Don’t Add Up

November 3, 2026 // 0 Comments

Eleven years after ShepwayVox first investigated Shorncliffe Garrison, Taylor Wimpey wants to remove every affordable home from the latest phase of Napier Barracks. Our [...]

The Landlord Gets a Head Start. The Tenant Gets a Queue: Folkestone & Hythe Council’s Damp and Mould Waiting List

November 2, 2026 // 1 Comment

Tenants complain about damp, mould, electrical safety and questionable certificates. Folkestone & Hythe District Council puts them on a waiting list while landlords can [...]

Kent County Council Promotes a Pothole to Senior Management – Then Pays to Make It Bigger

November 1, 2026 // 1 Comment

In a remarkable breakthrough for local government efficiency, Kent County Council has discovered a senior manager who never complains, doesn’t require a salary and can [...]

The 3.30pm Crash Peak: 965 Collisions Near Kent and Medway Schools

October 30, 2026 // 0 Comments

An investigation by The Shepway Vox Team has identified 965 police-reported injury collisions within 250 metres of schools across Kent and Medway between 2021 and 2025. The [...]

Reform UK Promised to Watch Every Penny – So Why Has KCC’s Oracle Cost Forecast Risen £21.5m on Its Watch?

October 29, 2026 // 0 Comments

Kent County Council’s Oracle Cloud Programme has more than tripled against its original £15 million implementation budget. More than two-thirds of the subsequent [...]

Kent Council Tax Arrears Soar to £199 Million as Nearly 40,000 Debts Are Referred to Bailiffs

October 28, 2026 // 0 Comments

Unpaid council tax across Kent’s 12 district councils has risen by almost £77 million in four years. More than half the outstanding debt dates back at least two years, [...]

One in Seven Before Six: Folkestone & Hythe’s Childhood Obesity and Food Poverty Divide

October 27, 2026 // 0 Comments

A child arriving at primary school in Folkestone & Hythe is more likely to be living with obesity than one living in any other Kent district. Meanwhile, a household [...]

Eamonn Rooney (1944–2026): The Man Who Knew Folkestone’s History Like No Other

October 26, 2026 // 6 Comments

Folkestone has lost one of its great keepers of memory. With the passing of Eamonn Rooney (pictured), the town says goodbye to a man whose knowledge of its history was second [...]

Folkestone’s Folca 2: £13.2m to Bring Debenhams Back to Life — But Who’s Picking Up the Bill?

October 26, 2026 // 0 Comments

Folkestone’s former Debenhams has acquired another eye-watering price tag. On 19 October, Folkestone & Hythe District Council (FHDC) advertised a £9 million contract [...]

Folkestone & Hythe Council’s Halloween Nightmare: The Night Councillors Were Forced to Tell the Truth

October 25, 2026 // 0 Comments

The following is a work of satire. All events and dialogue are fictional, although the councillors named are real. Folkestone & Hythe District Council held an [...]

	Rich on EXCLUSIVE: Oliver Davis Bankru…
	Matt on EXCLUSIVE: Oliver Davis Bankru…
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	John on Lost in Translation, Left in D…
	Bobby on Saving Lives, Accused of Encou…