KCC’s Country Parks team is celebrating the news that eight of its parks – one more than previously – have been recognised with the prestigious Green Flag Award. Parks and green spaces across the country will today be raising their Green Flag Award with pride in a year when millions of people have seen the…
More than 1,400 Kent homes and businesses are to be given greater protection against flooding thanks to a scheme to increase reservoir capacity. KCC is helping to fund work at the Leigh Flood Storage Area, to be carried out by the Environment Agency following approval by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural…
KCC is celebrating national Libraries Week (4-10 October) by focusing on the innovative and surprising activities that libraries are undertaking to support the county’s communities. Libraries Week is an annual showcase and celebration of the best that libraries have to offer and this year’s theme is “Taking action, changing lives”. This celebrates the central role…
No Use Empty, the longest-running empty property initiative in the country which is run by KCC, is expanding its operations by partnering with Medway Council. Latest council tax records show that there are a total of 6,798 long-term vacant dwellings in Kent alone. However, without the 500 properties per year which NUE is returning to…
More than 12,000 children signed up to take part in this year’s Summer Reading Challenge through Kent’s libraries. This year, for the first time, children were able to participate either physically, by visiting a Kent Library, or virtually, by visiting the Summer Reading Challenge website. The topic changes each year, this year’s being Wild World…
Plans for a new strategy for Adult Social Care have been announced by KCC, focusing on how it intends to deliver more person-centred care and support for individuals, their carers and families. Its proposals are outlined in a six-week consultation launched this week. KCC says it intends to change its approach over the next five…
KCC has announced today that it will once again be admitting unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) into its reception centres. However, it has warned that the current level of arrivals across the Channel makes it unlikely it will be able to safely accommodate all UASC arrivals on Kent’s shores. KCC Leader Roger Gough, said: “We are…
A Canterbury woman who used her dead grandmother’s Blue Badge parking permit to avoid payment at a council car park has appeared in court. Marie Renham (45), of Underwood Close, appeared at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on Monday (6 September) and pleaded guilty to fraud by misusing a Blue Badge Disabled Person’s Parking Permit. On 4…
Shellina Prendergast, KCC’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: “I would like to extend a warm welcome back to school to all pupils, teachers and staff across Kent. I hope you all had a relaxing, enjoyable, and healthy summer break and are returning to the classroom refreshed and looking forward to the new school…
Members of Kent County Council’s Counter Fraud Team have spent two days training Civil Enforcement Officers in two districts on a new system aimed at tackling the fraudulent use of the Disabled Persons’ Blue Badge scheme. Civil Enforcement Officers from both Dartford and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Councils welcomed the introduction of a new mobile…
The Covid pandemic has had a huge impact on the ability for people to take part in and enjoy the sports they love. However, as lockdown restrictions eased, Kent Sport has distributed £327,000 of funding from The Department for Education to open-up school facilities out-of-hours to support young people and the local community to re-engage…
Nearly 35,000 illegal cigarettes have been seized by KCC Trading Standards officers in a series of visits to shops in Maidstone as part of Operation CeCe, a National Trading Standards initiative in partnership with HMRC. Kent Police Community Safety Unit and Maidstone Borough Council’s Community Protection Team supported the initiative across two days of action.…