Cllr Susan Joan Carey

Cllr Susan Carey (pictured) was first elected to Shepway District Council (SDC) in 1999 for the then seat of Saltwood & Newington. She won the seat with 240 votes gaining 59.1% of the vote on a turnout of 32.2%. She has been re-elected on 4 further occasions; and has been an SDC Cllr for eighteen years.

In 2005 she was elected to Kent County Council (KCC) for the Elham Valley seat with 5,964 votes, gaining 59.8% of the vote on a turnout of 72.8%. She has been re-elected a further three times as a KCC Cllr meaning she has been a KCC Cllr for 12 years.

Now what is interesting about Cllr Carey; who is known as “Scary Carey” for reasons unknown, is that with 30 years combined experience as a KCC & SDC Cllr,  she is either very forgetful, or economical with the truth, we know not which.

On her Register of Interests for KCC she states that she has beneficial ownership in two properties in Kent.

On her SDC Register of Interests she states she has only one beneficial interest in any property in Shepway.

Now as far as we know, 116 North Road Hythe is in Shepway, so ought to be on her Shepway Register of Interests too, but is not as you can see.

Now the land registry also says she has beneficial interests in both 116 & 116A North Road along with two other persons. So the question is: Why has a Cllr with 30 years combined experience not put both addresses on her Shepway Register of Interests as she has done with her Kent Register of Interests?

On the 8th June 2015 Cllr Carey signed her declaration of interests in front of the monitoring officer Amandeep Khroud (pictured above) – Solicitor to the Council.

Yet two years later on the 8/05/2017 she declares to KCC’s monitoring officer – Benjamin Watts, both addresses.

Would you, a member of the public forget you had a beneficial interest in a property or two? According to the Land Registry, Cllr Carey has co-owned 116 and 116A North Road, Hythe, since the 18/12/2012. She with others paid £237,500. Why did Cllr Carey forget – if it be a case of forgetting – to inform SDC’s monitoring officer that she had beneficial interests in 116 North Road, Hythe? Has Cllr Carey been economical with the truth.? From the facts and statements she has made to SDC’s monitoring officer, it would appear so.

Cllr Carey has since April 2013 earned in expenses and allowances, the sum of £190,070. This averages out as an income of £42,238 a year to date.

Also why hasn’t SDC’s Monitoring Officer – Amandeep Khroud, Solicitor to the Council of Shepway (pictured below) – picked up on this anomaly? We’d ask if she, Amandeep, is “fit for purpose“. It is not the first time she has forgot to monitor what she must.

That investigation which took place into Cllrs expenses which states at section 5 “the system of checking Cllrs claims had been relaxed  in the period of time leading up to the current case and had resulted in only spot checks being made. These spot checks did not detect the issue with regards to the subject member’s claim forms.” So no real monitoring then.

We hope that Cllr Carey will self report to the Monitoring Officer about her failure to mention 116 North Road Hythe.

As it appears the monitoring officer is asleep at the wheel, we’d ask any responsible Shepway citizen to bring it to her attention. She can be contacted at:

amandeep.khroud@shepway.gov.uk

Cllr Susan Joan Carey can be contact at

susan.carey@kent.gov.uk

susan.carey@shepway.gov.uk

With 30 years combined experience as a Councillor, Cllr Carey cannot rely on forgetfulness, – as who could forget they were part owner of a property or two? It’s more than being “economical with the truth” too, but we are quite sure the monitoring officer – Amandeep Khroud, who doesn’t appear to monitor much, may well find a plausible excuse for Cllr Carey. What do you think?

The Shepwayvox Team