Kent County Council met on 10 July 2025, and among other business, members discussed local government reorganisation, violence against women and girls, and the blue badge system. They voted to approve a cut in member allowances, and reallocate the money to member grants.

Chairman's Announcements

Councillor Richard Palmer, Chairman of the Council, congratulated the Kent recipients of Birthday Honours awarded by the King in June. He also announced that his two chosen charities for the year were Satida, a domestic abuse charity, and the Young Lives Foundation, a charity for young people.

Marilka Garland and Lauren Crude from Satida gave a presentation explaining that the charity supports women and children experiencing domestic abuse across Kent. They highlighted that one in five recorded crimes in Kent is related to domestic abuse, and that 24,000 children in Kent and Medway are growing up in households impacted by abuse.

Stephen Gray, Chief Executive of the Young Lives Foundation, then gave a presentation about the charity, which supports over 2,000 young people across Kent each year. He explained that the charity has three pillars: advocacy programmes, youth programmes, and support for care leavers.

Questions

The council then moved on to questions from members.

Mark Hood asked the Leader of the Council about public engagement on local government reorganisation. The Leader of the Council responded that she had requested an extension to the deadline for full proposals for local government reorganisation from the Minister for Local Government and English Devolution, Jim McMahon, but this had been rejected. She said that her administration would do all it could to raise awareness of local government reorganisation, but that the timetable was being imposed by the government. She also said that she was considering a referendum on the matter, but that she would not take the decision to call a referendum lightly, given the cost to the taxpayer.

Stuart Jeffery asked the Leader of the Council about her position on violence against women and girls. The Leader of the Council responded that she was totally in favour of preventing violence against women and girls wherever possible. However, she said that there were two large elephants in the room: the number of undocumented young males invading the county via small boats across the channel, and the fact that some people still did not know what a woman is. She claimed that foreign-born nationals are three and a half times more likely to be arrested for sex offences against women and girls than their British-born counterparts.

Alistair Brady asked Peter Osborne, Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, what would be done differently to fix potholes, or whether he was continuing with the previous administration's policies. Peter Osborne responded that he was developing a new proactive and long-term approach to reforming Kent's roads, moving away from the previously reactive and short-term blitz campaigns.

Another question was asked regarding blue badge processing times in Kent.

Leader's Report

The Leader of the Council gave a report on her administration's progress since taking office in May. She said that her team had been working hard to find savings across the board, and that at the next meeting, these would be reflected in the strategic statement and key decisions.

She announced that her proposal to take a 5% cut in member allowances would generate £202,500, which would be reallocated into member grants for each councillor to spend in their division. She also said that since taking office, the level of debt had reduced by some £16 million, and that the 'no more borrowing' policy would reduce this debt even further.

The Leader of the Council said that she had been briefed about the work ongoing to try and find savings in home to school transport, and that she would be able to tell members more at the next meeting. She also said that her team had indicated that they could avoid a future increase in capital spending by scrapping the net zero renewable energy program of property modifications, saving £32 million over four years, and by scrapping the net zero transitioning of the KCC vehicle fleet to electric vehicles, saving a further £7.5 million by 2030. She added that she was looking at subscriptions to organisations to see if they represented value for money, and believed that they could save up to £180,000 by giving notice on various memberships.

The Leader of the Council said that she had written to the minister requesting that the deadline for a full business case for local government reorganisation be pushed back from November to March, but that this had been rejected. She pledged to ensure that Kent was properly represented, but that she was not beaten yet.

She said that in light of local government reorganisation, she had asked for plans to be reviewed concerning previous decisions taken around the headquarters buildings in Maidstone. She said that she would like to place a stop on the proposed exit from and sale of Sessions House, and the renovation of and move to Invicta House. Her immediate plan was for all Maidstone based staff to move into Sessions House, beginning in August.

The Leader of the Council said that she had recommissioned the coffee cart, which would be reopening in the Sessions House cafe on 21 July. Her longer-term plan was for the cafe to be open to the public and be available to hire for conferences and after work events, thus generating revenue for the council. She also said that she was working closely with the chief executive to implement an office repopulation plan, and that she had been given projected figures which showed that by the end of this financial year, they would have increased office-based capacity by 500 desks.

The Leader of the Council said that in the autumn, she would be convening a twin event to highlight the importance of the Eurostar services stopping in Kent once more. She said that her event would bring together decision makers, local business owners, key service providers, and local councillors and MPs to showcase what Kent has to offer, with a view to persuading them to reintroduce their stopping services at Ashford and Ebbsfleet.

She said that she was keen to support the employment task force to get people into work or training in Kent and Medway, and that she would enjoy working with Councillor Vince Maple to ensure that this was a success. She also said that they were saving money in integrated children services by bringing children's care homes back in house and purchasing four properties, which would yield a saving of £1.5 million over the two financial years starting in April 2026.

The Leader of the Council said that she had written to the Home Secretary about her concerns regarding the insufficient funding for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who then become care leavers, and that she wanted the government to either make faster decisions or fund them properly to deal with the implications of their delays. She also said that she had written to the minister to request that some of the vast profits made from the increase in toll charges at the Dartford Crossing be diverted to the highways budget.

Finally, the Leader of the Council said that there was a lot more money going into roads and all highways assets, with £79.3 million in the capital budget, which is more than £10 million higher than last year.

Responses to the Leader's Report

Councillor Antony Hook, Leader of the Opposition, responded to the Leader's report by saying that meetings matter because they bring information out of the private offices into the open. He said that the agendas of several meetings, including this one, had been thin, and that he wanted to see proper meetings. He also said that verbal reports do not count for very much, and that no policy of this council can change on a verbal report, and no money can be spent on a verbal report.

Councillor Hook said that what was proving wrong with Reform run Kent was primarily about sound bites, photos with party VIPs, announcing policy on social media without informing the chief executive first, threatening staff with gross misconduct when they have done nothing wrong, and damaging morale with attacks on flexible working and pensions, and not actually running the council.

Councillor Mark Hood said that Nigel Farage, the absentee MP for Clacton, has one of the worst attendance records in parliament and absolutely no jurisdiction in Kent. He also said that it isn't good enough to keep pointing at large numbers on the balance sheet and hoping for another headline while failing to offer any answers to the many complex conundrums.

Councillor Harry Rayner said that he still has the scars on his back in terms of the costs involved in running Sessions House, and that the Leader will find that this is a significant black hole in the council for some time. He also said that the intended arrangements from the last administration were to address that matter and take into account the advantages of the sale of Sessions House.

Councillor Alistair Brady said that Kent residents tell him that they want a more efficient form of local government, with their council being accountable for all services. He also said that stopping the sale of Sessions House is just another sound bite without detail, and that this place is a money pit.

Member Allowances Scheme

The council then moved on to the member allowances scheme. The Leader of the Council proposed that £202,500 be taken from the budget for member allowances and reallocated into member grants, to allow each councillor to spend an extra £2,500 in their division for this financial year.

Councillor Alistair Brady proposed an amendment to reduce the special responsibility allowance¹ by 10%, and to ask the panel to look at abolishing the special responsibility allowance for deputy cabinet members. This amendment was not carried.

Councillor Harry Rayner proposed an amendment to ask the Member Remuneration Panel (MRP) to consider and report on application of the basic allowance reductions/penalties on the basis of attendance records. This amendment was also not carried.

The council then voted to approve the member allowances scheme as amended by the Liberal Democrats amendment, with 69 votes in favour and one abstention.

Motions for Time Limited Debate

The council then moved on to motions for time limited debate.

Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls

Councillor Mark Hood proposed a motion on preventing violence against women and girls. The motion called on the executive to develop a broader and comprehensive VAWG strategy, promote a Women's Night-Time Safety Charter, work with district and borough councils to encourage the use of licensing tools to enhance the safety of women and girls, make women's safety central to responses to planning applications, agree an ongoing commitment to be a White Ribbon Accredited Organisation, note a key White Ribbon UK message, and recognise that this ongoing accreditation will demonstrate the council's commitment to tackling violence and abuse.

Councillor Trudy Dean proposed an amendment to investigate the process and cost of setting up a program for schools targeting young boys and their attitudes, relationships, and abuse. This amendment was accepted by Councillor Hood.

After debate, the motion was not carried, with 22 votes in favour, three abstentions, and 41 against.

Improving KCC's Blue Badge System

Councillor Antony Hook proposed a motion on improving KCC's blue badge system. The motion expressed appreciation for the team who deal with blue badge applications, requested that the application of the blue badge rules and the determination of blue badge applications should be as generous as possible to residents making blue badge applications, requested that a comprehensive report on the waiting times for blue badge applications and how this can be improved be provided to the appropriate committee, and requested that the executive write to government asking for necessary changes to be made to legislation governing blue badges so that the three-year rule is abolished.

Councillor Diane Morton proposed an amendment to remove the request that the application of the blue badge rules and the determination of blue badge applications should be as generous as possible to residents making blue badge applications, and to replace the request that the executive write to government asking for necessary changes to be made to legislation governing blue badges so that the three-year rule is abolished with a request that the executive consider writing to government asking for necessary changes to be made to legislation governing blue badges so that the three-year rule is abolished. This amendment was carried.

The council then voted to approve the motion as amended.