Finances

Part 3:Roger De Haan Charitable Trust: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Folkestone’s Million-Pound Philanthropy – A ShepwayVox Investigation

November 23, 2025 // 0 Comments

The Roger De Haan Charitable Trust (RDHT) – charity no. 276274 – is a family-run grant‐making foundation focused on Folkestone and south-east Kent. Its stated [...]

Part 2: Creative Folkestone’s charity arm accounts (2019–2024): A Shepway Vox Investigation

November 21, 2025 // 1 Comment

Creative Folkestone, the visionary arts charity at the heart of this seaside town’s cultural revival, has ridden a rollercoaster of fortunes over the past five financial [...]

Kent County Council Budget Overspend at Half-Time: Reform UK Era Faces Adult Social Care Crisis

November 19, 2025 // 0 Comments

Half-way through the 2025–26 financial year, the scoreboard at County Hall does not make pretty reading. Against a net revenue budget of £1.53 billion, Kent County Council [...]

Otterpool Park Exposed: How Folkestone & Hythe’s 10,000-Home ‘Garden Town’ Is Spending Millions Without Planning Permission

November 18, 2025 // 3 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council is gearing up for yet another intense round of work on Otterpool Park – still without an actual planning permission in place, more [...]

Folkestone & Hythe Council Housing: Strong Budget, Slow New Homes

November 18, 2025 // 0 Comments

By any normal measure, Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is being run cautiously. At the halfway point of 2025/26, the latest [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Budget Half-Time Score: Council Tax, Reserves and Capital Borrowing Explained

November 17, 2025 // 0 Comments

Six months after councillors approved this year’s budget on 26 February 2025, new second-quarter (Q2) monitoring reports show a familiar picture at Folkestone & Hythe [...]

Kent County Council audit: clean opinion, deep financial risks

October 23, 2025 // 0 Comments

Kent audit signs off the Tories’ final year — but warns of structural risks the new Reform UK leadership must now tackle Grant Thornton will issue an unqualified opinion [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Budget 2026/27: Council Tax Rises, Services, and Risks

October 15, 2025 // 1 Comment

Folkestone & Hythe District Council published its 2025/26 Budget Strategy last December and its 2026/27 Budget Strategy this October. Read together, they show a Council [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Expenses: Missing Receipts and Audit Rights

September 29, 2025 // 0 Comments

In a plot twist nobody saw coming (except literally everyone), a diligent resident exercised their lawful right to look at how Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s top [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Performance: Waste, Housing, Planning—What to Know

September 22, 2025 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe’s Q1 performance, 2024/25 vs 2025/26: where the council’s flying, where it’s flagging, and where the lid’s still stuck on the recycling bin. If [...]

Grant Thornton Audit Fees Tripled Across 12 Kent Councils

September 11, 2025 // 0 Comments

Kent’s 12 district councils are grappling with a dramatic rise in the cost of their annual audits, as new data reveals fees tripled between 2022/23 and 2023/24. The [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Withhold Audit Records, Breaching Public Inspection Rights

August 18, 2025 // 0 Comments

One week after the statutory 30-working‑day inspection period closed (1 July–12 August 2025), residents report that Folkestone & Hythe District Council (FHDC) has [...]

“Buy Local” Tony Vaughan MP Spends £346 on Non-Local Plants — Some Imported from China

August 12, 2025 // 1 Comment

When Tony Vaughan KC MP for Folkestone & Hythe (pictured) penned his 24 July 2025 column, Buying Local is the Bedrock of Community, it was an unambiguous call to arms. [...]

Kent County Council Still Rents £60k Brussels Office Under Reform UK as £140m Cuts Loom

August 11, 2025 // 3 Comments

Kent County Council (KCC) is facing renewed criticism after it emerged the authority continues to rent office space in Brussels – nearly five years after the UK formally [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Spent £3.1 Million Outside Contract Rules, Records Reveal

August 6, 2025 // 2 Comments

Calls are mounting for Grant Thornton the external auditors to intervene at Folkestone & Hythe District Council, after new evidence emerged of more than £3.1 million in [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Under Fire: Nearly £500,000 in Unexplained Payments Exposed Amid ‘Highest Standards’ Claim

August 4, 2025 // 4 Comments

The rot at the heart of Folkestone & Hythe District Council (FHDC) is no longer a matter of opinion—it is now demonstrably a pattern. What began as seven questionable [...]

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Finances

Part 3:Roger De Haan Charitable Trust: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Folkestone’s Million-Pound Philanthropy – A ShepwayVox Investigation

Part 2: Creative Folkestone’s charity arm accounts (2019–2024): A Shepway Vox Investigation

Kent County Council Budget Overspend at Half-Time: Reform UK Era Faces Adult Social Care Crisis

Otterpool Park Exposed: How Folkestone & Hythe’s 10,000-Home ‘Garden Town’ Is Spending Millions Without Planning Permission

Folkestone & Hythe Council Housing: Strong Budget, Slow New Homes

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Budget Half-Time Score: Council Tax, Reserves and Capital Borrowing Explained

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Budget 2026/27: Council Tax Rises, Services, and Risks

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Expenses: Missing Receipts and Audit Rights

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Performance: Waste, Housing, Planning—What to Know

Grant Thornton Audit Fees Tripled Across 12 Kent Councils

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Withhold Audit Records, Breaching Public Inspection Rights

“Buy Local” Tony Vaughan MP Spends £346 on Non-Local Plants — Some Imported from China

Kent County Council Still Rents £60k Brussels Office Under Reform UK as £140m Cuts Loom

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Spent £3.1 Million Outside Contract Rules, Records Reveal

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Under Fire: Nearly £500,000 in Unexplained Payments Exposed Amid ‘Highest Standards’ Claim

More Contract & Financial Irregularities At Folkestone & Hythe District Council

Audit calls foul: Folkestone & Hythe Council’s £1.74 m no‑bid contracts branded a “huge own‑goal”

Kent County Council Paid Out £10.7 Million in Secret Exit Deals — But Only Reported £3.65 Million

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Leaves £30m Unspent While Services Decline

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Plans 100% Council Tax Reduction: £1.75m Shortfall Looms

Selling the Family Silver: Is Folkestone & Hythe District Council Mortgaging the Future?

Millions in Borrowing Unexplained as Executive Pay and Councillor Costs Surge at Folkestone & Hythe District Council

EXCLUSIVE: Council Fraud Crisis: New Data Shows £100 Billion Lost Since 2010