Folkestone & Hythe District Council is in hot water — or perhaps melted gelato — after failing to publish Government Procurement Card (GPC) transaction since Nov 2024. This omission is not just poor admin. It’s a clear breach of the Local Government Transparency Code 2015, and it raises one deliciously uncomfortable question: What exactly are they trying to hide?
Rules, Schmules
The law — yes, the actual law — says councils must publish procurement card data every quarter, no later than one month after the quarter ends. This includes dates, departments, suppliers, amounts, and crucially, why public money was spent.
That means data for Dec –March 2024/25 was due by 30 April 2025. It is now mid-June, and the council’s webpage for “Procurement Card Transactions 2024–25” is still emptier than a staff fridge after HR has hosted a “Wellbeing Afternoon.”
No files. No spreadsheets. Not even a humble CSV. Just a link to nowhere — the bureaucratic equivalent of shrugging and saying “Oops.”
A Pattern of Pudding
You might think this is all innocent delay — until you look at why this data matters.
Back in March, The Shepway Vox Team lifted the lid on the Council’s past spending. And what a buffet it was:
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£250 on ice cream from King’s Cones — presumably vital for morale.
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£215 at Sotirios Restaurant for “Professional Advice & Fees” — also known as sea bass with a side of plausible deniability.
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£154 on a lavish lunch at a gastro-pub — no word on the wine pairing.
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A flurry of smaller, fancier bites, including Chez Antoinette and Lulivo, just in case your taste buds were feeling underrepresented.
While councillors are officially limited to meal claims under £10.06, officers armed with GPCs appear to enjoy a more generous interpretation of subsistence — ideally with gelato for dessert.
Quarterly Cover-Up?
According to paragraph 27 of the Transparency Code, all GPC data must be released quarterly — and on time. No excuses. No asterisks. No mysterious delays pending “internal review of the tiramisu.”
And yet, the Council is now six weeks overdue, with no explanation, no schedule, and no apology. Not even a whipped-cream-coated promise of “coming soon.”
This isn’t just administrative forgetfulness. It’s a fundamental breakdown in democratic accountability. Transparency isn’t optional. It’s the minimum public right to know how their money is being spent — whether on park benches or pistachio sorbet.
The Final Scoop
At this point, the only thing more inflated than the Council’s appetite is its sense of immunity. The procurement card data is so late, it ought to arrive with a fork, napkin, and apology card from the finance team.
Is this fear of public scrutiny? A bureaucratic love affair with soft-serve secrecy? Or just the latest in a long tradition of expenses being whipped into frothy oblivion?
If there’s nothing to hide, publish the receipts. If there is… brace for the full menu — because when the truth finally leaks, it might not just be the ice cream that’s soft. It might be the Council’s credibility that’s completely melted.
The Shepway Vox Team
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