Kent County Council

Responsibilities

The council is responsible for public services such as education, transport, strategic planning, emergency services, social services, public safety and waste disposal.

District councils

Ashford Borough Council

Canterbury City Council

Dartford Borough Council

Dover District Council

Gravesham Borough Council

Maidstone Borough Council

Sevenoaks District Council

Shepway District Council

Swale Borough Council

Thanet District Council

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council

Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

Council structure

The Council is structured as follows:

County Council

The County Council is made up of 84 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 of Council Tax).

Cabinet

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 take decisions collectively.

Local Boards

Local boards are local community groups that hold regular public meetings across Kent so that the people of Kent to 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 departments and divisions.

Business Strategy and Support

This department is responsible for running the council. It manages personnel and development, finance, legal and democratic services, corporate policy and performance management, public health, information technology, communications, commercial services, and partnerships with other agencies. Also manages finance, value for money, external funding, audit and procurement under Finance and Procurement.

Customer and Communities

The role of this department is to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to play active roles in their communities. It is organized into units for adult education, community safety, cultural development, emergency planning, libraries and archives, the Kent drug and alcohol team, Kent scientific services, Kent Volunteers, registration services (births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships), sports development, Kent Trading Standards, the Turner Contemporary, youth offending service, and youth services. 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 the Kent Freedom Pass, which allows unlimited travel around Kent for a year at the cost of £100. 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 the UK Youth Parliament and British Youth Council.

Education and Learning Skills

provides education to Kent's children, young people, their families and communities.

Families and Social Care

provides social care services for Kent's children. Also provides services for older people and adults with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, sensory disabilities or mental health needs.

Enterprise and Environment

Kent highway services, environment and waste, change and development, resources strategy and planning, regeneration and economy.

Elections and the democratic process

The most recent Kent County Council elections were held in 2013. See also Kent local elections, Ashford local elections, Canterbury local elections, Dartford local elections, Dover local elections, Tonbridge and Malling local elections

History

The Local Government Act 1888 created an administrative county of Kent, with its own county council, in 1889. At the same time the northwestern extremities of the historic county of Kent came under the County of London, while Canterbury became a separate county borough with powers similar to that of a county. The county council's duties at first were few, but gradually it absorbed school boards, the rural highway boards and the boards of guardians.

The London Government Act 1963 created an enlarged Greater London, established in 1965, which took in more of northwestern Kent. The Local Government Act 1972 abolished the previous structure of local government as from 1974. Kent became a non-metropolitan county, divided into districts, including a new City of Canterbury, which combined the former county borough (now abolished) with other areas to form a single district under the county council.

In 1998 the districts of Gillingham and Rochester-upon-Medway were removed from the control of the county council to come under the control of a new unitary authority, Medway Council.

In September 2007, Kent County Council launched Kent TV, the first local authority funded internet-based community television channel. The channel is run by independent media company Ten Alps Digital, a subsidiary of Bob Geldof's production company Ten Alps PLC. Following economic cutbacks, it was announced in February 2010 that funding for Kent TV would be withdrawn by the county council, leading to closure. Other options for maintaining the service are currently under consideration.

Joint arrangements with Medway

Kent County Council co-operates with the unitary Medway 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 in Parliament. 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. The combined area is also part of the South East region of the UK, which elects a total of ten members to the European Parliament.

Section 28

The Conservative-run Kent County Council decided to ignore the government's decision to pass legislation to repeal Section 28 (An amendment to the Local Government Act 1988 that stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship") and create their own version to keep the effect of the now repealed law in their schools. This was replaced with provisions stating that heterosexual marriage and family relationships are the only firm foundations for society on 16 December 2004.

Credit crunch

Kent County Council is one of a number of authorities that invested in the Icelandic banks that have since been taken over by the Icelandic Government as result of the Icelandic financial crisis. KCC invested a total of £50m of taxpayers money that could be at risk. A 2009 report by the Audit Commission claimed KCC was negligent by continued investment in Icelandic banks after being informed not to do so. KCC is now threatening the Audit Commission with legal action.

Investment in the tobacco industry

In August 2011 it was revealed that Kent Council had around £24m of its pension fund for employees invested in the tobacco industry. The authority has about £13.5m in the Altria Group; £3.6m in Philip Morris; £3.5m in Imperial Tobacco and £3.4m in Japan Tobacco.

County Hall

The Council use the Grade II listed Old Sessions House designed by the Architect Sir Robert Smirke in 1824. It is now called County Hall. The council also uses the nearby Invicta House as well. The hall was also used by the Centre for Kentish Studies, which moved into its new, specially-commissioned building, along with Maidstone Library, in 2012. This is now known as the Library and History Centre and is situated by the roundabout at the end of Royal Engineers Road.