Kent County Council

Lost in Translation, Left in Danger: Reform UK’s Kent Interpreter Vote Ignites a Safeguarding Storm

November 6, 2026 // 1 Comment

Reform UK has won its vote to pursue cuts to interpreter and translation spending at Kent County Council. Restore Britain wanted tighter financial reporting but withdrew its [...]

Saving Lives, Accused of Encouraging Trafficking: Reform UK’s RNLI Controversy in Kent

November 6, 2026 // 0 Comments

Two Reform UK councillors linked the RNLI to allegations of human trafficking during a heated Kent County Council debate. One was warned by the Chairman, another refused to [...]

Kent’s £144m SEND Crisis: Private School Costs Soar as Parents Fight for Places and New Schools Stall

November 5, 2026 // 0 Comments

Kent County Council is spending more than five times as much sending children with special educational needs to private schools as it did six years ago. Yet the number of [...]

Lost in Translation, Left in Danger: Kent’s Proposed Interpreter Cuts

November 4, 2026 // 0 Comments

Reform UK and Restore Britain want Kent County Council to change how it pays for translators and interpreters. But who pays the price if a vulnerable child cannot explain [...]

What Doesn’t Reform UK Want Kent Taxpayers to See? Another Council Audit Meeting Goes Dark

November 4, 2026 // 0 Comments

For the second time in less than three weeks, Kent County Council’s Governance & Audit Committee has met without an accessible live webcast. With millions in [...]

Kent Grooming Gangs: 355 Historic Cases Flagged as Ofsted Exposes Safeguarding Failures

November 3, 2026 // 0 Comments

There are two very different stories about how Kent protects vulnerable children. One is about safeguarding partnerships, specialist police teams, training programmes and [...]

Kent County Council Promotes a Pothole to Senior Management – Then Pays to Make It Bigger

November 1, 2026 // 1 Comment

In a remarkable breakthrough for local government efficiency, Kent County Council has discovered a senior manager who never complains, doesn’t require a salary and can [...]

Reform UK Promised to Watch Every Penny – So Why Has KCC’s Oracle Cost Forecast Risen £21.5m on Its Watch?

October 29, 2026 // 0 Comments

Kent County Council’s Oracle Cloud Programme has more than tripled against its original £15 million implementation budget. More than two-thirds of the subsequent [...]

Every Penny Counts? Kent Councillors Reject Urgent Review Amid £19.8m Children’s Care Overspend

October 23, 2026 // 0 Comments

“Can anyone explain to me why these very expensive contracts shouldn’t be reviewed, as Mr. Rayner suggested.” It was a straightforward question from Liberal [...]

Kent’s Childhood Lottery: £23.20 a Year, and a Generation Falling Through the Cracks

October 21, 2026 // 0 Comments

£23.20. That’s how much Kent County Council (KCC) reported spending on youth services in 2024/25 for every young person aged between 13 and 19. Not £23.20 a week. Not [...]

£267m in KCC Payments to Care Providers as One in Five Kent and Medway Homes Require Improvement or Are Inadequate

October 19, 2026 // 0 Comments

Nearly £267 million. That’s how much Kent County Council (KCC) recorded in residential and nursing-care payments between April 2022 and June 2026 to suppliers linked [...]

Every Penny Watched? Reform UK’s Kent County Council Gets Three Red Audit Warnings as Public Webcast Goes Dark

October 16, 2026 // 0 Comments

When Reform UK swept to power at Kent County Council in May 2025, its newly appointed leader, Linden Kemkaran, told BBC Politics South East she’d approach running the [...]

Otterpool Park: £500m at Stake — and No Meetings on the S106 Financial Package

October 9, 2026 // 0 Comments

There are two numbers worth remembering when looking at Otterpool Park: £250 million and more than £500 million. The first is our best estimate of the potential value of [...]

Cllr David Wimble: A Stranger to the Truth? The False Claims Behind His Immigration Speech

October 8, 2026 // 4 Comments

“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on.” At Folkestone & Hythe District Council full council last night, Cllr David Wimble delivered [...]

Five Reform Councils Pay 55p a Mile — So Why Are KCC Staff Still Getting 45p?

September 29, 2026 // 0 Comments

This is a Guest post by a Kent County Council employee I work for Kent County Council. My job requires me to travel across a wide operational area, around Kent and sometimes [...]

Your Home Flooded? Look at the Drain — It Could Decide Whether FHDC or KCC Is Liable

September 28, 2026 // 0 Comments

Autumn is already here. Leaves are falling, the days are shortening and winter is approaching — which means the question of whether Folkestone & Hythe’s gullies and [...]

Storm Goretti Was Lydd’s Warning — Nine Months Later, Its Community Resilience Plan Still Doesn’t Exist

September 24, 2026 // 1 Comment

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 [...]

£9m Later, the Wait Is Still a Mystery: Folkestone & Hythe’s Disabled Facilities Grants

September 17, 2026 // 1 Comment

In 2018/19, Folkestone & Hythe District Council said there was “currently no waiting list” for its Disabled Facilities Grant scheme. Today, the council tells [...]

Kent County Council Paid £27m to Place Children in Unregistered Homes Over Two Years.

September 11, 2026 // 0 Comments

Last month, The Shepway Vox Team revealed how Kent County Council paid Catalyst Care Limited £2,419,480.59 between 2021 and July 2025. Catalyst’s two controlling directors [...]

Kent County Council Register of Interests: Questions Extend Beyond Reform UK

September 8, 2026 // 0 Comments

Byline Times says it’s “not politically partisan” and promises to follow stories “wherever” they go, “without fear or favour”. Yet its investigation into [...]

Kent and Medway LGR Paused as Government Reviews Option 4B and Orders Councils to Stop Work

September 7, 2026 // 0 Comments

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

September 7, 2026 // 0 Comments

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 [...]

Part 3: Hodson’s Chilmington Green Collapse — £211.9m in Creditor Claims, Six Administrations and 5,750 Homes at Stake

September 4, 2026 // 2 Comments

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

September 3, 2026 // 0 Comments

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

September 2, 2026 // 0 Comments

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 [...]

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