No Use Empty, Kent County Council’s award-winning empty homes initiative has announced a new £12 million fund to bring derelict sites back to life. The scheme provides loans to developers to bring derelict land and empty homes back into use. No Use Empty already has several new projects in the pipeline in Dover, Folkestone and…
Health experts from One You Kent will be offering free social media sessions on how to quit smoking, eat a healthier diet, cut down on alcohol or just feel better about life from today (Tuesday, May 26). Advisors for the programme will be offering 10 to 15 minute sessions throughout the week that people can…
Kent County Council (KCC) Leader, Roger Gough has written to the Home Secretary, Priti Patel this morning seeking “immediate help with resolving the crisis that is engulfing services for Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC)” outlined as “a burden currently being borne almost exclusively by Kent County Council”. After trying for some time without success to work…
With the warm weather expected to continue for the next few days, KCC has expressed serious concerns about members of the public flocking to the county’s most popular attractions and beauty spots, without taking enough notice of the appropriate Covid safety measures. The government’s priority is to save lives and says the best way to…
Public Health England has confirmed further coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Kent, bringing the total to 4835 in Kent and 760 in Medway (26 May). This equates to a rate per 100,000 of population – 294.4 for Kent and 266.7 for Medway. The Public Health England figures are issued on a daily basis and are based…
Kent County Council (KCC) needs to recruit new foster carers to provide safe and loving homes to vulnerable children and families in the county. The council has been backing Foster Care Fortnight 2020, a national awareness raising and recruitment campaign run by The Fostering Network (11 – 24 May), and is now calling on residents…
As part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Kent residents are being urged to join their local Sheds project which aims to support wellbeing by encouraging people to make friends, share skills and support their local community. During the current social distancing guidelines, a number of Sheds have adapted to offer members support on a virtual…
Kent’s residents have made full use of the new booking system for the Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs). Over 26,000 slots were booked for the first nine days of availability with new slots being released a day at a time to maintain the nine-day window. Over 11,000 visits were made to Kent’s 18 HWRCs in…
Changes introduced by the government to streamline the death registration process during the current lockdown have been successfully implemented and had a positive impact on the service in Kent. Ensuring death registrations are completed effectively is a necessary part of our society and like everything this has had to adapt to the changes required as…
Kent and Medway residents are being reminded of support services available during COVID-19 as Mental Health Awareness Week (18-24 May) highlights the theme of kindness. Health partners and providers, local authorities, emergency services and community groups across the county are working together to provide local support services to help people’s mental wellbeing during the ongoing…
Maintenance work has been carried out on the Grove Ferry Bridge earlier than planned due to lockdown. The bridge, first renovated by KCC back in 2000, needed a new waterproofing layer and surfacing. Work was brought forward after KCC and maintenance contractor Amey took the lockdown opportunity to review its programme of work and carry…
Updates and further information on the partial closure of Kent schools, and provision for children and young people, will be published here as it becomes available Council supporting schools in their preparations to welcome more pupils back from June 1 Head teachers and their staff in schools across Kent are working extremely hard…
The majority of Kent County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) reopen today (Friday) for those who have booked a slot. Strict new rules are in place to not only protect staff but those using one of the county’s 18 HWRC sites as well. Since Wednesday, over 15,000 people have booked a slot either online…
Booking to use Kent County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres starts tomorrow (Wednesday). People can book a slot either online at www.kent.gov.uk/hwrcbook or by phone on 03000 417373 from 11am on Wednesday. Depending on demand, you may be placed into a virtual queue. Government advice about essential visits to HWRCs is that journeys must only…
Help to Care, an innovative new mobile phone app, has been launched to support people who care for others in Kent and Medway. The app, which has been created by The Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP), is the latest digital innovation from the NHS and social care in Kent and Medway. It…
Kent Highways crews are continuing to find and fix potholes and resurface the county’s roads during the covid-19 lockdown. Since most of the county became housebound, KCC has patched 89,212m2 of roads and filled 5,669 potholes. In the month before lockdown, 47,073m2 of road was patched and 6,453 potholes were filled. Pre-planned work has been…
From next Friday (May 15), Kent County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) will open to the public for essential use. On Wednesday, May 13, people will be able to book a slot to use one of the county’s 18 HWRCs which closed on March 23 as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown. People can…
