Kent County Council has launched a legal challenge after the Government failed to answer repeated questions about why it chose to divide Kent and Medway into four new councils.
Residents across Kent are facing the biggest shake-up of local government in a generation. In July, the Government announced plans to scrap Kent County Council, Medway Council and all 12 of Kent’s district and borough councils — replacing the lot with four new “unitary” authorities. A unitary council handles everything under one roof: bins, roads, planning, social care. No county council above, no district councils below. KCC says it still doesn’t know why that particular model was chosen.
Questions unanswered
KCC wrote to ministers in July, twice in August and again in September. None of those letters received a substantive answer.
The matter has now passed to the Government’s legal department and the Court.
KCC Leader Linden Kemkaran said the challenge was intended to protect Kent’s interests and seek an explanation supported by clear evidence. The council is at pains to stress this isn’t a flat refusal to accept change. But residents, it argues, have a right to understand how a decision that would fundamentally alter the way their area is governed was actually made.
“Back in July, the Government made a major decision about the future of local government in Kent,” Kemkaran said. “Since then, we’ve repeatedly asked some straightforward questions. Why was this option chosen for Kent? How was that decision reached? And where is the evidence behind it? We asked for answers in July. We wrote again twice in August. And we wrote again in September. Each time, our questions remain unanswered.”
Kemkaran added: “I made it clear at the time of writing in September that if we did not receive a satisfactory explanation, I would consider taking the appropriate legal steps. That’s exactly what we’re now doing.”
And there’s a further wrinkle. The Government has announced a review and pause to its wider local government reorganisation programme — yet KCC says the original decision for Kent remains in place regardless.
“This isn’t about opposing change,” Kemkaran said. “It’s about making sure decisions that will fundamentally change Kent’s future for decades are properly explained and backed by clear evidence. Residents have a right to understand how these decisions were reached, and we’ll continue pushing for those answers on Kent’s behalf.”
The case is now before the Court.
Kent County Council takes Government to court over four-way split plan Quiz
5 questions