Local Government
As autumn closes in and another winter approaches, Lydd, like the rest of us towns and villages, is heading back into the season of strong winds, heavy rain, high seas and [...]
Grand Burstin Fire: How Hundreds Got Out Alive — and Why Folkestone’s Crisis Isn’t Over
Four days after flames and thick smoke poured from beneath Folkestone’s Grand Burstin Hotel, firefighters were back. At 8.36am on Wednesday, Kent Fire and Rescue Service [...]
Poor Beaches, Damaged Businesses, No Report: FHDC’s ‘Urgent’ Water Quality Work Goes Nowhere
On 1 April 2026, Folkestone & Hythe District Council agreed that investigating water quality across Romney Marsh and the East Stour should happen “as a matter of [...]
FHDC Housing Allocations Policy: ‘Fully in Line’ With the Law?
Tonight, Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee will be asked to examine a new 78-page Housing Allocations Policy — the rulebook [...]
Folca 2 Planning Application: Two GP Surgeries Drawn In, Commercial Space To Let — But NHS Sign-Off Is Still Pending
Walk past Folca 2 on Sandgate Road today and there’s a fairly blunt message hanging from the scaffolding: “SUBSTANTIAL COMMERCIAL PREMISES – TO LET.” Behind that [...]
If Intent Is a ‘Fuzzy Line’, How Can FHDC Call It Fraud? Cllr Tim Prater and the £1.266m Question
When our public face asked Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance and Governance how much of £1.266 million was actually fraud, Cllr Tim [...]
Kent and Medway LGR Paused as Government Reviews Option 4B and Orders Councils to Stop Work
Kent and Medway’s Local Government Reorganisation hasn’t been cancelled. But Whitehall has now told councils to stop implementing July’s decision because ministers may [...]
Kent County Council Staff Suspensions: Seven Cases Lasted a Year or More as Average Hit 166 Days
Kent County Council says disciplinary issues should be dealt with through a “swift and effective process”. Yet its latest figures show staff suspensions averaging 166 [...]
Folkestone & Hythe: 155 Children in Temporary Accommodation as Costs Double and Out-of-Area Placements Soar
The number of children living in temporary accommodation arranged by Folkestone & Hythe District Council has more than doubled in two years. Now, as the Government [...]
Part 3: Hodson’s Chilmington Green Collapse — £211.9m in Creditor Claims, Six Administrations and 5,750 Homes at Stake
Chilmington Green was supposed to be much more than a housing estate. Ashford planned for a new community of up to 5,750 homes, schools, shops, parks and roads, backed by [...]
Kent Local Government Reorganisation: KCC Considers Judicial Review of Option 4B
Reform-led Kent County Council says the Government selected a financially weaker model for reorganising Kent and failed to address serious concerns about the county’s [...]
Bradstow School Closed — Now Kent and Wandsworth Are Fighting Over £4.58m in SEND Fees
Bradstow School in Broadstairs educated and cared for children with some of the most complex special educational needs and disabilities. Kent County Council didn’t merely [...]
Kent LGR Secrecy: FHDC Withholds MoU Figures Under FOI Section 22 — Even Though They’re Already Public
An FoI request submitted to Folkestone & Hythe District Council on 30 July 2026 asked for the Local Government Reorganisation Implementation Reserve Memorandum of [...]
Folkestone & Hythe Complaints Surge 88% as 60 Residents Demand a Second Answer
Folkestone & Hythe District Council makes residents a pretty clear promise on its website: “We aim to resolve any complaint at stage one.” Yet in 2025/26, 60 [...]
Kent Council Debt: Borrowing Reaches £2.45bn as Medway Overtakes KCC Ahead of Local Government Reorganisation
New Government figures show nine of Kent’s 14 councils borrowing more than two years ago. With four new unitary councils due in 2028, those liabilities aren’t simply [...]
Kent Fire Response Times Worsen: One in Seven Dwelling Fires Takes 15 Minutes or More
If your home catches fire in Kent, the latest government figures raise a pretty fundamental question: how quickly will the first fire engine actually arrive? Our analysis of [...]
Exclusive: Kent and Medway Councils Agreed £11.9m LGR Fund Before Government Chose Option 4B
On 16 July 2026, ministers finally settled the future shape of local government in Kent and Medway. Option 4B had won. Four new unitary councils would replace the existing [...]
Kent County Council Exit Payments: £1.66m Gap Between Official Figures
Kent County Council says its efficiency drive is about making “every penny count”. Yet its 2025/26 accounts record £1.112m of exit packages while the Government’s [...]
Kent Right to Buy: Eligible Sales Jump 143% After Discount Cuts
MHCLG’s newest figures record 192 eligible sales classed as Right to Buy across Kent’s seven council landlords in 2025/26, against 79 a year earlier. Four east Kent [...]
Kent Housing Conditions: Government Data Models One in Five Homes as Non-Decent in Four Council Areas
Less than two years after Kent’s own housing officers said the evidence base on local housing conditions was “scarce”, a new government model has put numbers against [...]
Folkestone Town Mayor Jackie Meade on Community, Charity and Civic Pride
Folkestone’s Town Mayor for 2026/27 talks to The Shepway Vox Team about unfinished business after Covid, residents priced out of the town’s success, unheard unpaid [...]
Kent Local Government Reorganisation: The Unanswered Questions Facing Mid Kent Council
Folkestone & Hythe says it is preparing for its own abolition. Yet scrutiny revealed that the money, legal timetable, councillor workload, headquarters, assets and parish [...]
Folkestone & Hythe Council Is Being Scrapped: The £130.9m Mid Kent Merger Explained
Folkestone & Hythe District Council is helping to build the authority that’ll replace it. The chosen scheme promises simpler government and savings, but its own papers [...]
Kent County Council Reform UK Led Audit Committee ‘Not Effective’ as Camilla Black May Resign
Kent County Council’s only independent audit committee member says the body isn’t working, serious questions aren’t being answered and the people responsible for [...]
Martello Lakes Pool Promise Replaced as Hythe Pool Refurbishment Could Cost £10.7m
When Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Cabinet meets on 22 July, members will be asked to set two leisure projects moving. One involves spending £353,000 [...]