Kent County Council leader says motion to curb translation funding passed
A Reform UK motion put to Kent County Council’s Full Council on 5 November 2026 proposed that the council should generally stop funding translation and interpretation services for non-English-speaking residents, except where the law requires it.
If enacted, the policy would mean residents needing translation or interpretation support would typically be pointed towards external providers — and expected to foot the bill themselves. British Sign Language and Braille are explicitly named as protected services that would stay funded.
The motion was proposed by Sarah Emberson and seconded by Garry Sturley of the Reform UK Group. A separate but related motion, proposed by Paul Thomas and seconded by Brian Black, called for a full review of KCC’s spending on translation, interpretation and foreign-language publications, with findings and recommendations to go to the Policy & Resources Cabinet Committee within six months.
The Leader of Kent County Council, Linden Kemkaran, posted on social media saying the Reform UK motion had “successfully passed,” crediting months of work by Reform UK councillors. The council has not yet published the minutes or a record of the vote, and it is not clear from the Leader’s post whether the separate review motion was also agreed.
It’s not a done deal yet. Any substantive policy change would need separate governance and decision-making processes. And before anything actually changes, KCC would need to carry out an equality impact assessment and consider its public sector equality duty — the legal obligation on public bodies to weigh how decisions affect people with protected characteristics.
The Reform UK motion itself acknowledges potential legal, accuracy, clarity and data-protection problems with the technological translation tools it suggests residents could use instead. KCC’s current accessibility statement says residents can request information in another language and that the council will try to arrange support.
No verified figure for KCC’s annual spend on these services appeared in the official documents.
Sources: @LeaderofKCC; Kent County Council, County Council meeting 5 November 2026: motions for time-limited debate
Published: 10 November 2026