Dr Susan Priest

Folkestone & Hythe Council Tax Rise Explained: Where the Money Goes and What It Means for Local Services

January 14, 2026 // 1 Comment

Folkestone & Hythe District Council has begun the annual civic tradition of explaining why everything costs more, while promising not to make it feel like it does. Last [...]

UK Shareholder Register Gag: Companies Act 2006 Sections 116–119 Chill Public Scrutiny

December 2, 2025 // 1 Comment

In modern Britain, public money flows out through contracts every day — from Whitehall to county halls, from councils to the NHS. And so a simple, legitimate question [...]

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 [...]

Is this surprising? UK Local Government: About 75% of Britons Feel Little or No Influence Over Local Decisions

September 18, 2025 // 0 Comments

Only 23% of Britons say they have any influence over decisions in their local area. About three-quarters (75%) say they have little or no influence over local decisions; 23% [...]

Council Fails Own Rules: £81,974 Paid to Three Contractors with No Public Contract Record

September 8, 2025 // 0 Comments

Part 10 of Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Constitution is explicit: “All contracts of a value of £5,000 or more are to be included on the Council’s [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council FOI Fiasco Returns: Housing Data Contradictions

August 29, 2025 // 0 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council has turned transparency from a legal duty into a parlour trick. Once is a mistake, twice is a pattern, three times is a habit—and [...]

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 [...]

Folkestone & Hythe District Council Faces £250K Spending Scandal in 2024/25 — Latest Chapter in Financial Failures Dating Back to 2018

August 3, 2025 // 0 Comments

The history of financial and contractual irregularities at Folkestone & Hythe District Council is well documented on the pages of the Shepway Vox Team’s blog. Since [...]

More Contract & Financial Irregularities At Folkestone & Hythe District Council

July 26, 2025 // 2 Comments

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s contract register shows that on 5 February 2024 it awarded Threds Construction Ltd a £25,060 contract for [...]

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

July 23, 2025 // 1 Comment

Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Contract Standing Orders could not be clearer: any officer who wants to buy something costing more than £10,000 without first [...]

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

July 2, 2025 // 0 Comments

A quiet storm is brewing over three core issues at Folkestone & Hythe District Council: conflicting borrowing figures between the council and central government, [...]

Council Leader Jim Martin Knew of £21M Princes Parade Offer, Leaked Email Reveals

June 30, 2025 // 5 Comments

At a full meeting of Folkestone & Hythe District Council on 26 February 2025, Cllr Jenny Hollingsbee (Con) asked Council Leader Cllr Jim Martin (Green) whether he was [...]

Council Leader Jim Martin Accused of Lying About £21m Princess Parade Offer

June 18, 2025 // 9 Comments

At a full meeting of Folkestone & Hythe District Council on 26 February 2025, Cllr Jenny Hollingsbee (Con) rose to ask a pointed supplementary question to Council Leader [...]

Discrepancies Found in Kent Election Data Under Dr. Priest’s Oversight

May 3, 2025 // 1 Comment

In the Kent County Council election held 1 May 2025, official results published on the council’s Democracy portal reveal minor inconsistencies in the vote tallies for six [...]

Otterpool Park: “on the cusp of moving into much welcomed delivery”

April 26, 2025 // 3 Comments

“Otterpool Park has been in gestation for a very long time, but we are now on the cusp of moving into much welcomed delivery” ~ Dr Susan Priest, 22 April 2025, [...]

Council Officers’ Gourmet Adventures: A Masterclass in Sarcasm and Procurement Card Etiquette

March 7, 2025 // 0 Comments

Ah, the life of a council officer—where the pursuit of “approved duties” apparently includes indulging in the finest culinary delights, all on the taxpayer’s [...]

Forgetfulness And a Slap Up Meal On Taxpayers’ money in Harrogate

March 6, 2025 // 0 Comments

You’ve seen it, you’ve heard it, and believe it you must—because this is the kind of nonsense that makes your blood boil. At the full council meeting on February 26th, [...]

Part 2: The Peculiar Case of Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Procurement Practices

February 20, 2025 // 2 Comments

Updated 08:00 – 21/02/25 When examining the payment data for suppliers where contracts began before they were officially awarded, numerous anomalies emerge. These [...]

A Peculiar Case of Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Procurement Practices

February 18, 2025 // 0 Comments

Updated 14:05 on 19/02/2025 How Can Six Contracts Start, End, and Then Be Awarded? A Peculiar Case of Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Procurement Practices In [...]

Council sell Biggins Wood land for £4.5m to Wickhambreaux Developments Ltd

January 25, 2025 // 0 Comments

After eight years it has been sold for £4,518,000, according to the land registry. The site was purchased in Dec 2016, by the Council, under urgency powers, by the now Chief [...]

Biggin Wood Cheriton: Not a house or commercial unit built after 8 years of council ownership

November 25, 2024 // 2 Comments

Eight years on since the Council purchased the Biggins Wood land (pictured below) in Cheriton, for £1.5m, not one of the 77 homes,including 23 affordable homes; or the 54 [...]

More than £9m spent on temporary staff in last eight years

November 10, 2024 // 0 Comments

In the last eight financial years, Folkestone & Hythe District Council have spent £9,118,847 on temporary staff, according to their spend data. This is an average spend [...]

Council Interim s151 Officer earning £721 per day.

November 7, 2024 // 3 Comments

A long time ago, but not in Bethlehem, or a galaxy far far away, Folkestone & Hythe District Council were seeking an interim s151 officer. This was set out in report [...]

Council doesn’t cut the mustard while the fish rots from the head down

December 4, 2023 // 6 Comments

Whichever way you try to cut the mustard the numbers do not reconcile, but given this is Folkestone & Hythe District Council we are talking about, you really [...]

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