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Catch up with all the latest political news around the county with Meghan Shaw, joined by KCC opposition leader, Cllr Antony Hook and Cllr Mark Hood, representing the Green Party for Kent County Council.
In this episode, we discuss Kent County Council's budget for 2026-27.
In this episode, we discuss Kent County Council's budget for 2026-27.
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TVTranscript
00:24Welcome to the Kent Politics Show on KMTV, I'm Megan Shaw and last week the
00:29those in Medway found out how their money would be spent. And yesterday, Kent County Council
00:34laid out their fiscal plan that will affect hundreds of thousands across the county.
00:39Although council tax hikes are lower than that in Medway, it's been labelled as a risky
00:44move with a forecast of $36.5 million overspend. This marks the first budget of a reform-led
00:52county council. Yet reform did not want to be a part of our reporting or come on to the
00:56politics show today. And here's Oli Lida to break it down.
01:00There will be tough decisions ahead. But for the first time in many years, this council
01:07is moving in the right direction.
01:10A lower than usual council tax rise and writing off millions in debt. Those are the things
01:17that have marked a historic day at Kent County Council in the eyes of Reform UK as they set
01:24out their first ever budget for the local authority.
01:28It is a plan that secures stability now, prepares us for the future and ensures that we remain
01:35focused on what matters most, delivery for Kent.
01:39When you have a look through the budget appendices, it's clear that this isn't just a historic budget,
01:44but a potentially risky one that could cost the council more than £410 million if things go wrong.
01:54If you've got more than £400 million of risk, but only £80 million in reserve, that's a perilous
02:00situation to be in. The budget already has got lots of cuts to services. I'm very worried that if these
02:06risks materialise, it will be quite devastating and KCC will have to make big cuts to services
02:13or even sell off lots of assets.
02:16I really am saying the prayers that we don't get another pandemic like Covid or we don't get another
02:23problem that comes along that nobody can foresee. It's the things that people don't know about
02:29that those reserves are there to cushion us against.
02:32Any reaction, Lyndon? Anything, Brian?
02:37We weren't able to ask the leaders of Kent County Council how they were planning on managing
02:44those financial risks. They declined our request for interviews.
02:48What we do know is that despite the balanced budget being passed here today, the financial pressure
02:55facing the council isn't going away, there'll be plenty more long meetings here at Sessions
03:02House as councillors try to balance the books.
03:06Olly Leader in Maystone.
03:11I'm joined now by the Leader of the Opposition, Anthony Hook of the Liberal Democrats and Kent County
03:17Councillor Mark Hood of the Green Party to discuss the budget's finances.
03:21So, obviously, it is the first ever reform-led county council budget.
03:26It was a big day yesterday, it was a long day.
03:28I'd just like to get your initial reactions first of all.
03:30My initial reaction was really one of shock actually.
03:33This is, as your report rightly said, an incredibly perilous budget.
03:39The risk exposure has jumped under reform 60% in one year.
03:44And those risks are financial hazards, costs the council could encounter.
03:49And, in fact, almost all of that $410 million is rated by the officers as four out of five,
03:55which means it's likely.
03:57Against that, we've got pitifully small reserves.
04:00Reform lost control of the finances this year.
04:02So, in this current year, they've overspent by $36.5 million compared to the current budget.
04:09That gap needs to be filled from reserves.
04:11Those reserves are going down and down, scraping about 5% of the budget, which is the bare minimum they
04:19should be.
04:19So, we're going into this next year.
04:21It's a really risky time.
04:22And I think reform are just focusing on sound bites and simple headlines,
04:27not getting into the substance and the seriousness of this.
04:32I think this budget is incredibly reckless and irresponsible.
04:37What we've seen is they're chasing headlines.
04:40This budget isn't about Kent.
04:42It's about the wider national picture.
04:44They're trying to paint this council as being coherent and that they've got some kind of handle on things.
04:52They haven't.
04:52Things are spiraling out of control.
04:54This is all about how it looks for the local elections elsewhere in the UK.
04:57What we see here is they've deliberately spurned the opportunity to bring another £10 million into the budget
05:04by going for the maximum council tax rise.
05:09Every previous year of the administration, they've done exactly that
05:15because we know that that's the competent thing to do, that's the pragmatic thing to do.
05:21The consequences of this is that there's going to be a 0% uplift for care and nursing services
05:27and that is going to have a knock-on effect on the NHS.
05:30That is just incredibly irresponsible for them to be doing that.
05:35So one of our amendments was actually to put that money back in, £3.9 million back into the pot,
05:41to try to give the most deserving of the providers in residential care and nursing the support they need.
05:49Not the ones at the top. We want a safety net.
05:53And we also used that £10 million for other things, creating a local government reserve
06:00because Connie was talking about things like the pandemic being a risk.
06:05We know what the risks are.
06:06The Section 25 statement listed them in detail and it was a horror show.
06:14And that was written by our independent Section 151 officer.
06:19He's not a political person. We trust his judgement. He tells us how risky this is.
06:25So we also looked at things like they're going to be cutting the over-19 send transport.
06:32That means you're going to have people who really need our assistance so they can meet their full potential
06:37being trapped in at home if they can't get in to training and education.
06:42And also £38 increased the Kent Travel Saver.
06:47We wanted to put money in there to try and protect those just managing families
06:51because that is a huge hike in the cost of the Kent Travel Saver.
06:56And our last one was £1 million to put back into the budget for maintenance of our buildings.
07:04We know that we need £12 million a year to be pumped into that
07:10to bring the estate up to the required standard.
07:14And we've just got managed decline.
07:16Managed decline on the highways.
07:18We've got £740 million of outstanding highways.
07:22Mark is right.
07:22I mean, in fact, the reform budget, their own documents describe the highways as being in a state of managed
07:29decline.
07:29And so one of the things the reform budget is doing is actually having in real terms
07:34a cut in the amount of money set aside for highways maintenance, which people will find astonishing
07:39because reform are sometimes saying they really care about potholes.
07:42But actually, they're going to spend in real terms less on our roads.
07:45So under reform, our roads are getting worse and they'll continue to get worse.
07:48And as I say, even their own documents use this phrase, manage decline, which is awful.
07:53And budgets are full of very difficult decisions.
07:55So we can all agree.
07:56We've seen that with Medway's budget and I suppose the labour budgets as well nationally.
08:01But notably, this does have a lower council tax hike than the Medway council budget.
08:07They did say when they were campaigning, they didn't want to raise taxes on everyday people.
08:12Is this not, I suppose, the people's budget then?
08:15Reform have broken a promise and they have slapped the people of Kent in the face.
08:19Because I've got a dossier of leaflets delivered all over Kent by reform saying they would cut council tax or
08:25freeze council tax.
08:26And they've done neither of those things.
08:28Instead of cutting it, as they said, reform have put the council tax up.
08:32So what we've learned about reform is that they are people who will say anything to get your vote, but
08:37will then do completely the opposite.
08:39And they're making a lot out of the fact they've increased the council.
08:43They've broken their promise by 3.99% and saying that's better.
08:47At least they didn't break their promise by 4.99% or 9% like reform controlled Worcestershire.
08:52But, you know, that difference is only about is that they've increased your council tax if you're a bandee by
08:58£67.
08:58That extra 1% works out as £1.40 a month.
09:02You can't even buy a bag of chips for that.
09:04It's a bag of chips budget.
09:06And of course, they've kind of found quite a lot of money through wanting to sell assets and using their
09:12emergency reserves.
09:13Again, is that not maybe a tactical way of raising money without potentially affecting, you know, people who are feeling
09:21the cost of living the harshest?
09:23It doesn't work to maintain your day-to-day spending on things like care and education by one-off sales
09:30because you can only sell an asset once.
09:32So they're this year going to sell £25 million of assets to pay for day-to-day spending.
09:38That creates a £25 million black hole for next year.
09:42Mark?
09:42Yes, absolutely right.
09:44Actually, this £10 million, which we're losing this year because we're not charging, we're not levying a 4.99%
09:53increase,
09:54it's actually £31.8 million over the course of the medium-term plan, over three years.
10:02The scariest thing is, Brian Collins is telling us next year we're not going to have a tax rise at
10:06all, or the year after that.
10:09We're going to have the commissioners sent in by the government walking up the red carpeted stairs at County Hall
10:15before long if we continue like this.
10:17You've got an administration which is choosing to pay £140,000 for political assistance and yet it's cutting crisis loans.
10:27It's cutting services in our community for wellbeing.
10:31This tells you where their priorities lie.
10:34This administration is an utter disaster for Kent.
10:38It puts people at the back and politics is at the forefront.
10:43It's absolutely appalling.
10:44The Punch and Judy business we saw in the Chamber yesterday was shocking.
10:51For members who have been there for more than one term, it is so disappointing.
10:58We should be better than this.
10:59Kent residents deserve better than this.
11:02The implications of this budget are going to be felt in our communities by the most vulnerable,
11:08but they're not interested in the most vulnerable because they're bankrolled by the wealthiest.
11:12Would you say a lot of their issues were inherited? We've not got much time, but Lyndon often talks about
11:17the dire legacy she came into.
11:20Is that not a fault of the previous administration?
11:22I would take her point if it wasn't for the fact that two Christmases ago she was still a Conservative
11:29Party member.
11:31So she supported that government for 14 years.
11:36The reason that Kent County Council is in the place we are is because of austerity, but her fingers are
11:42all over this.
11:43I'm afraid that's all we've got time for.
11:45That's all we've got time for this, Mark, but do stay tuned as we'll be back.
11:48Thank you, Mark.
11:49Thank you, Mark.
11:51Thank you, Mark.
16:27It's also top of the risk register because reform are embarking, as Mark alluded to earlier, this dangerous gambit of
16:35saying to the care providers, we're not going to give you an uplift in your fees this year.
16:39Now, the care providers have costs that are going up, wages, labour costs, energy, materials, all the things they need
16:47to provide their services.
16:48And by not giving them, and by not giving them an uplift in their fees makes a real risk that
16:53some of those providers might go out of business, or they might say, I'm sorry, we can't take KCC clients,
16:59we'll only take private clients, or they'll offer services to other local authorities.
17:03So, reform is being really reckless, and I was really disappointed that in the ramps of the budget, I heard
17:10the leader of KCC from reform say only a tiny proportion of people use adult social care, so it's not
17:18fair so much of the money goes.
17:19What a ridiculous thing to say. I mean, first of all, I would say the social care system is there
17:25for all of us. I don't need care, but elderly members of my family might do. I will one day,
17:33we all will one day.
17:36Having a safety net to look after people who need care is part of a civilised society. We all use
17:42it. It's to all our benefit, it seems to me.
17:45Of course, reform out here to kind of defend or deny or add to that statement there, Anthony. And Mark,
17:50you also mentioned kind of cuts to things like the KCC Travel Saver.
17:54It's a difficult budget. There is also no additional overdraft, like we might be seeing at Medway. Is that not
18:01just another difficult decision that's been made to allow the day-to-day carrying out of essential services?
18:08I think, when you look at adult social care, it's also about prevention. Absolutely, it's about supporting people in their
18:15own homes, because that's the best thing to do for their wellbeing.
18:18And it actually makes fantastic financial sense for the council. It's far less expensive than having them in a residential
18:25home.
18:26But look what they've done. They've cut the wellbeing services. The budget for wellbeing has been cut.
18:32So people at Age UK, they are no longer going to be getting the funding that they had from the
18:37council.
18:38And I spoke about the post-19 SEND student support for travel.
18:45They're going to be presenting adult social care earlier now. And that is, if they had been, if they're fully,
18:54probably catered for in terms of allowing them to meet their potential,
18:59then they are not going to be reliant on adult social care to the same extent.
19:03So this is, they're shooting themselves in the foot. They're not seeing the bigger picture here.
19:09Yeah, we know that the budget's a type. It's spending that money intelligently. And they don't seem to be able
19:16to get away from the politicking over this.
19:21The idea that we have a choice about whether or not we look after the people who present to us
19:28as a council is for the birds.
19:30It is completely unrealistic. Our job as councillors, as a council, is to focus on the most vulnerable people in
19:38our communities.
19:39And they don't seem to get that. And I think that's really disappointing.
19:44And, of course, we've mentioned, I think it was you who called the budget a casino budget. There's lots of
19:49talk about the risk around the budget.
19:51There is no doubt about, you know, the struggles that the council are facing financially.
19:56But they've also pledged to kind of reduce their debt by 80 million by the end of the financial year.
20:01Is that not a brave and, I suppose, brilliant step in the right direction to reduce some of this strain?
20:07Debt for a local authority is completely different to small business or a family budget, you know.
20:13A small business might sometimes borrow money to pay for its day-to-day spending to meet the wage bill.
20:19And sometimes that can go badly wrong in a business and go bust.
20:22Local authority debt is different.
20:24Local authorities can't borrow for day-to-day spending any borrowing by local authorities.
20:29In case he hasn't had any new borrowing for 12 years, it's for capital projects of building a new school,
20:34building a new road, and so on.
20:37So, if reform are saying there should never have been that debt, they need to be honest about which schools
20:41they would not have built, which roads would they not have built, and so on.
20:45But also, a lot of that debt is extremely low interest.
20:48What matters is not the headline amount of debt, but the council's ability to service it.
20:53And, for instance, reform made a big mistake in the summer by writing a £45 million cheque to Barclays to
21:00repay a long-term low-interest loan.
21:04Barclays wanted that money back so they could now lend it to someone else at a higher interest rate, because
21:08interest rates have gone up in the last 10 years.
21:11It was a naive move.
21:12And what that means is we've got £45 million fewer in our reserves.
21:16So, by the end of March, KCC's reserves will be down to about 3%, about £45 million.
21:22That could have been double then.
21:24And so, coming back to those £400 million of risks that are coming to get us, we'd have a lot
21:29more reserve to meet those risks.
21:31And, Mark, I suppose when you hear these kind of figures, if you're just, you know, you're sat at home,
21:35you might think,
21:36oh, well, you know, I'm paying less council tax, what does it matter to me if the council might be
21:42in financial deficit?
21:44Is it a serious problem? Is it a risk for people across Kent?
21:48It's a huge risk.
21:50The Conservative Administration previously raided the earmarked reserves, and we thought that was a one-off.
21:54And they've come again.
21:56So, we've got £60 million worth of earmarked reserves.
22:00You can't keep going to the well.
22:02The well's going to be dry.
22:03There is insufficient resilience within the reserves as it is.
22:09The Section 25 report highlights this.
22:13That is why we asked for this LGR reserve, because we can see that that is a problem that is
22:19going to be coming.
22:20That is a challenge.
22:21If LGR doesn't happen, I pray it doesn't happen, we need to have some resilience.
22:28If it doesn't happen, we can put that money back into the general reserve, where it will serve us well.
22:34But we all have savings, and we need savings for a rainy day.
22:38Well, the rainy days are coming.
22:41We know that the budgets for the next two years are not balanced.
22:48So, we need to make sure that we have got that resilience to back us up.
22:53It's not there.
22:54And the administration doesn't seem to have any intention of rebuilding those reserves.
23:02They also seem to be not really spending time and effort to get into the detail.
23:09I mean, the budget was published late.
23:10It didn't come out until the 8th of January, whereas the last few years it's come out in November.
23:15So, that means there's a much longer period normally to scrutinise it, to talk about it, to see how it
23:20can be improved.
23:23It's like they wanted to hold it back as late as they could, because they were embarrassed by it.
23:27Then it was discussed by all of the committees.
23:30The most important committees for the budget are the Policy and Resources Committee and the Scrutiny Committee.
23:36And the leader of the council, in whose name the budget comes, it has her name on,
23:40the constitution says the leader must present the budget, failed to attend either of those committees.
23:47She gives the impression of being more interested in social media and photo ops,
23:51rather than actually the substance of running our council.
23:54And that's terrible for people, because people really depend on the services KCC provides.
24:00And I think people in the public will ask themselves, under reform, are our roads?
24:05Are our schools?
24:07Is the care for our elderly relatives getting better or getting worse?
24:10And people are finding it's getting worse.
24:12That's an excellent point.
24:13Oh, sorry, Matt.
24:14In the run-up to this budget, the most important budget of this administration, where's Lyndon Kinkaran?
24:19She's in Gorton and Denton, knocking on doors.
24:22She should be the day jobs here in Kent.
24:25She needs to apply herself to the job that she's paid very well for in our own county.
24:33I'm sure if Lyndon was here, she had lots to say about that.
24:35But she's chosen not to be.
24:37And this is it.
24:37You know, they're embarrassed by their budget.
24:39They're running and hiding.
24:40They wouldn't talk to your reporter yesterday.
24:43It's just a pull-in.
24:45If we move away from reform, we go back to the amendments that were tabled.
24:50Mark, I know the Green Party put forward quite a few.
24:52None of those were, I suppose, picked up or taken on board yesterday.
24:57What do you both make of that?
24:59Well, what I make of it, I'm disappointed that we didn't get more support from around the
25:03chamber for our amendments.
25:06Most of the opposition agree that actually using the full allowance of council tax is the
25:13sensible, pragmatic thing to do.
25:16Obviously, reform takes a very different view.
25:18We're not surprised that none of our amendments were taken up.
25:21We were disappointed by the faux disbelief about, oh, we're going to use council tax for
25:30most of them.
25:31But we also looked at things like Dolge.
25:34So the cabinet member Dolge has only recently departed.
25:38That was a perfect opportunity to put that to bed, to completely kill it off.
25:44£40,000 is wasted on that cabinet position, but they've bought somebody else to drive the
25:50clown car.
25:51We called for the abolition of all of the deputy cabinet members' SRAs.
25:57We asked for the political assistance to be removed.
26:01£140,000 wasted on something we don't need.
26:05Don't need spin doctors, essentially.
26:08So we knew that having dragged that through the council chamber only last year, that it
26:15was unlikely they would agree to it.
26:16But it's about setting our vision of how the Green Party would do things differently.
26:23And we didn't expect many of our amendments to be picked up.
26:29Some of them, like the £1 million for maintenance repairs, actually they put half a million pounds
26:39back into the budget after they saw our budget.
26:42Thank you, Matt.
26:42I'm afraid that's all we've got time for on this episode.
26:45Catch us next week and stay tuned for Kent tonight.
26:47mhm.
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