Cllrs need to step up their game understanding council finances.
In the 10 years Folkestone & Hythe District Council have been publishing their spend data, £179m or 48% of the spend has been on premises related expenditure, as the [...]
Council Tax
Delays in software leads to residents frustration over £150 Council Tax rebate during cost of living crisis.
Updated May 26 @ 16:35 On the 3rd Feb 2022, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £150 council tax rebate for millions of households to help with soaring energy bills. The [...]
It’s official: We have the highest council tax in Kent for the nineteenth year in a row.
Cllr Susan Carey (Con) got it wrong. The figures as published by the Ministry of Levelling Up Housing and Communities [MLUHC], on the 30 March 2022, once again, Folkestone [...]
Tory Cllr Susan Carey lies and spreads misinformation as fact about Council Tax
Ever since we, The Shepway Vox TEAM, first informed you that residents of Folkestone & Hythe District Council have had the highest council tax in Kent since 2004/05, many [...]
Council Tax set to rise by £60, with New Romney leading the way.
New Romney, Hawkinge and Folkestone are set to have the three highest Council Tax rates across the district, using the band D average. It’s inevitable that Council Tax [...]
Council Tax rises to add to cost of living misery for Kent residents
Two down, three to go. It’s that time of the year Parish Councils, District Council’s the County Council, Kent Police and Kent Fire & Rescue Service (KFRS), [...]
Kent County Council Draft Budget – it ain’t good news
On Thursday Feb 10, 2022, Kent County Council [KCC] will be setting it’s budget. But before we begin, we wish to draw your attention to a matter which needs raising. [...]
Educashan, Educashan, Educashan
Something half sensible came out of last week’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee, who meet on the 9 Nov. The Chairwoman of the committee, Cllr Michelle Keutinius (Lab) [...]
Further budget cuts at KCC will mean more inflation busting Council Tax increases
Like night follows day, like sunshine follows rain, the raising of Council Tax bills in Feb 2022 across all Kent district councils is inevitable due to KCC looking to plug a [...]
Ain’t no rest for the wicked
Many of you already know Folkestone & Hythe District Council have had the highest council tax of all Kent local authorities for the last eighteen years. Council tax is [...]
Learning from mistakes
We the Shepway Vox Team get it wrong sometimes. When we do we like to be open about our mistakes, and if necessary apologise. This is one of those ocassions where we need to [...]
Shepway Green Party misinformation about Royal Military Canal
Updated: 17/03/21 @08:40 Charles Dickens put it most aptly when he said “Now, what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted [...]
Liberal Democrats forget they are responsible for residents having Highest Council Tax in Kent
So on the 24th Feb 2021, Folkestone & Hythe District Council voted to raise the district part of Council Tax by 1.99%. This means band per band our Council has the [...]
Hypocrisy by District and Kent County Cllrs over Council Tax
For those of you not aware, Council tax debt is the most common debt seen by Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) advisers. The CAB estimated in the first 3 months of Coronavirus, [...]
FHDC look set to have highest Council Tax in Kent for eighteenth year in a row
On the 24 February 2021, Report A/20/08 will go before Folkestone & Hythe District Council Full Council at 7pm. This report concludes the budget setting process for [...]
15% of all Kent Households claiming Universal Credit
Another 3,364 people claimed Universal Credit (UC) in Kent in Dec 2020, meaning that nearly 13.11% of the working population aged between 16 – 64 is now unemployed in the [...]
Inheritance, not work, will become the main route for home ownership in our district
In early January 2018, LUC published the Proposed Submission Sustainability Appraisal Report – Non-Technical Summary – for Folkestone & Hythe District Council. At [...]
28% of all Households in the district are claiming Council Tax Reduction
Figures revealed by Folkestone & Hythe District Council Cabinet Member, Tim Prater, make it clear that 28% of chargeable households for Council tax are in receipt of [...]
£40,000 Pay Rise For Failing Chief Exec of Folkestone & Hythe District Council
She says she understands the importance of transparency and is able to discharge responsibilities to the highest standards of probity. Dr Susan Priest, the Chief Executive of [...]
Record Breakers: Folkestone & Hythe District Council Break Two Records in One Day
It’s getting to be a habit with Folkestone & Hythe District Council breaking records. – 1; – 2; – 3 For the seventeenth (17th) year in a row, [...]
More missing flats – another mystery at the Grand
At a time when our local council is haemorrhaging cash at an alarming rate, and revenues have plummeted, the income from business and domestic rates is vital to maintain [...]
Council Tax Set to Rise By £74 On Band D Property
Tomorrow (19/02/20), Folkestone & Hythe District Council will set its Council tax rate for 2020/21. It will come as no surprise to many of you that Council tax will rise. [...]
Locked Out – Housing benefit freeze is making and keeping people homeless
Families on housing benefit are priced out of almost all homes to rent in districts across Kent, according to new research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, in [...]
242 Homeless Households Moved Out Of Our Communities In Thirty Months.
More than 240 households have been sent away from the Folkestone & Hythe District and placed into temporary accommodation elsewhere in the last thirty months, as there [...]
East Kent Housing: Major failings and historic mismanagement rewarded with £110,000 a year
Appendix 3: Audit report for East Kent Housing (EKH) – tenant health and safety is a restricted document, as such it will not be available for the public to see, nor EKH [...]