Kent County Council | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Council logo | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Amanda Beer since July 2023 | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 81 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | 4 years |
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post | |
Last election | 6 May 2021 |
Next election | 1 May 2025 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| County Hall, County Road,Maidstone, ME14 1XQ | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Kent County Council is acounty council that governs thenon-metropolitan county ofKent in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than theceremonial county, which additionally includes theunitary authority ofMedway. Kent County Council is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12district councils, and around 300town and parish councils. The county council has 81 elected councillors. It is one of the largest local authorities in England in terms of population served and the largest local authority of its type.[notes 1] The council is based atCounty Hall inMaidstone. It has been underConservative majority control since 1997.
Elected county councils were created in 1889 under theLocal Government Act 1888, taking over many administrative functions that had previously been performed by unelectedmagistrates at thequarter sessions. The areas covered by the new county councils were termedadministrative counties. In Kent the administrative county differed from thehistoric county in a few places:[2]
The first elections to the county council were held in January 1889 and it formally came into being on 1 April 1889, on which day it held its first official meeting at theSessions House inMaidstone.John Farnaby Lennard was appointed the first chairman of the council.[3]
The county council's duties at first were few, but gradually it absorbed school boards, the ruralhighway boards and the boards of guardians. The county council adopted the Sessions House as its meeting place.[4]
In 1965, theLondon Government Act 1963 abolished the existing county of London and replaced it with a larger administrative area calledGreater London, which took over theBexley andBromley areas from the administrative county of Kent. In 1974, theLocal Government Act 1972 saw Kent re-classified as anon-metropolitan county and it gained the formerly independent county borough of Canterbury.[5] Until 1974 the lower tier of local government had comprised numerousboroughs,urban districts andrural districts. As part of the 1974 reforms, the lower tier was reorganised into fourteennon-metropolitan districts.[6]
In 1998 the districts ofGillingham andRochester-upon-Medway were removed from the non-metropolitan county of Kent to become a newunitary authority calledMedway, whilst remaining part of theceremonial county of Kent.[7]
In November 2022, the county council stated it, alongsideHampshire County Council, may face bankruptcy within 12 months due to austerity cuts.[8]
Kent County Council providescounty-level services.District-level services are provided by the twelve district councils:
Much of the county is also covered bycivil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[9][6]
The county council has been underConservative majority control since 1997.
Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:[10]
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 1974–1993 | |
| No overall control | 1993–1997 | |
| Conservative | 1997–present | |
Theleaders of the council since 1974 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Grugeon[11] | Conservative | 1974 | 1982 | ||
| Bobby Neame[12] | Conservative | 1982 | 1984 | ||
| Tony Hart[13] | Conservative | 1984 | 1992 | ||
| Brenda Trench[14] | Conservative | 1992 | 1993 | ||
| Jim Little | Labour | 1993 | 1994 | Joint leaders[15] | |
| Alison Wainman | Liberal Democrats | ||||
| John Ovenden[16] | Labour | 1993 | 1997 | Joint leaders[17] | |
| Alison Wainman | Liberal Democrats | ||||
| Sandy Bruce-Lockhart[18] | Conservative | May 1997 | 12 Oct 2005 | ||
| Paul Carter[19][20] | Conservative | 12 Oct 2005 | 17 Oct 2019 | ||
| Roger Gough[21] | Conservative | 17 Oct 2019 | |||
Following the2021 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to March 2025, the composition of the council was as follows:[22][23][24][25]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 57 | |
| Labour | 6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 6 | |
| Green | 5 | |
| Independent | 4 | |
| Heritage | 1 | |
| Reform UK | 1 | |
| Swale Independents | 1 | |
| Total | 81 | |
The Greens, Swale Independent, and one of the independent councillors sit together as the "Green and Independents" group.[26] The next election is due in2025.
Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 81councillors representing 72electoral divisions, with each division electing one or two councillors. Elections are held every four years.[27]
The council is based atCounty Hall, a complex of buildings on County Road in Maidstone which incorporates the old Sessions House of 1824, which had been the meeting place of the quarter sessions which preceded the county council.[4] The council has various other buildings around the county as well.[28]
The council is responsible for public services such as education, transport, strategic planning, emergency services, social services, public safety and waste disposal.[29]
Kent Top Travel[30] was owned by Kent County Council, and was established by them in 2005. It operated the council's bus network.[31] It was argued that its existence stimulated competition. It also operated a coach charter fleet. The majority of Kent Top Travel's route portfolio comprised rural, evening and Sunday services won under competitive tender from Kent County Council and other local authorities in open competition with private bus operators. Kent Top Travel operatedCanterbury City Council'spark & ride service from October 2008 until 2013.[32][33] Kent Top Travel operated both single and double deck buses as well as charter coaches. Buses were painted in a white and green livery, the Canterbury park & ride fleet silver and green. Coaches were painted both white & red, and yellow.
Following an independent report criticising Kent County Council's trading companies, in December 2012 it was decided to close Kent Top Travel once its existing contracts expired.[31][34][35] Kent Top Travel ceased trading on 1 October 2013.[36]
The Council is structured as follows:[37]
The County Council is made up of 81 elected county councillors. The full council meets seven times a year to agree the council's Constitution and amendments to it, appoint the Leader, and approve the policy framework and budget (including the level ofCouncil Tax).
The cabinet is made up of ten county councillors. The cabinet is responsible for the strategic thinking and decisions that steer how the council is run. The cabinet meets monthly and takes decisions collectively.
Local boards are local community groups that hold regular public meetings across Kent, so that the people of Kent can voice issues that affect their community. They also allocate funding to local projects. There are 12 local boards in Kent, and every county councillor is required to be a member of one local board.
The work of the Council is organized into directorates:
supports the work of the directorates by providing specialist expertise and strategic direction. The department also leads and co-ordinates major change and organisational development.: It manages services that include human resources, finance, governance, law and democracy, strategic commissioning, property and infrastructure, information technology, media and communications, consultation and engagement, customer relations including gateways and contact centre, business intelligence and policy.
It combines Education services with universal and targeted services for children and young people designed to reduce demand for specialist services, also provided in this directorate. By focusing on prevention and early intervention, their aim is to reduce demand in specialist children's social services by helping families earlier, improving parenting skills and the health and educational outcomes of young children, ensuring they are school ready. KCC will intervene earlier to support families in crisis through area based working and joined up teams providing a more seamless service and better working arrangements with partner organisations.: This encompasses the Kent Youth County Council which provides the young people of the county to have a voice on the issues that matter to young people aged 11–18. Successes of the youth council include the introduction of theKent Freedom Pass in 2007, which later rebranded in 2019 to The KCC Travel Saver. The scheme offers significant discounts on bus travel for children and students within Kent, enabling cost savings of up to 50% for eligible users.[38] The Youth County Council holds its elections every November, and four young people from each of the 12 districts are elected to a two-year term. The Kent Youth County Council is also affiliated with theUK Youth Parliament andBritish Youth Council.[39]
Provides support and care for adults who need assistance due to age, disability, or health conditions. It aims to help individuals live as independently as possible while ensuring their well-being and safety.[40]
This includes strategic responsibility for the future of the county in terms of planning, economic development, transport policy, and major transport improvement schemes, waste disposal and recycling services. In addition to a range of leisure and cultural facilities including the Turner Contemporary; country parks; libraries; and enforcement services including trading standards and community safety.[41]
Kent County Council co-operates with theunitaryMedway Council in many ways, for instance in the Kent and Medway Local Plan, and together they run joint agencies. Kent is combined with Medway for the purposes of representation inParliament. The combined area elects 17 MPs, of whom 14 represent seats entirely within the Kent County Council area and another whose constituency is in both Kent and Medway.
| International | |
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| National | |
