County Hall sale to be pulled says council leader

The leader of Kent County Council (KCC) has dropped plans to sell County Hall, claiming it will save the council £14m.

On Thursday, Linden Kemkaran gave her first leaders update since taking over as leader of the council following May's landslide election victory for Reform.

In a surprise announcement, the KCC leader Kemkaran told the BBC: "When I took over, I was surprised to see how much we were spending moving to a new office."

When challenged over savings, she said: "If I knew we were not going to be abolished in four years' time then I might support a move, but for now this makes sense to stay."

The authority established the Department of Local Government Efficiency (Dolge) in June claiming this initiative was "going to save a lot of money", with Kemkaren saying in her speech the party aims to "quit schemes and memberships that cost the council £180,000 a year".

Kemkaran added that Reform wants to create an office "repopulation plan", meaning she aims to get 500 workers back at their desks.

She expressed the party's opposition to local government reorganisation plans, adding they are "considering what options are available after the November deadline".

Kemkaren added that, in autumn, the party aims to run a campaign event to relaunch Eurostar services.

Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition, Antony Hook, has criticised the Reform council agenda for being "too thin" with the leader "covering a lot in a verbal report" and "lacking detail".

"If you want change, you have to put it on paper, you can't run a council like this," he added.

"Reform are caring too much about photos with party VIPs, headline grabbing soundbites, without substance of policy on paper.

"I'm fast losing the confidence in this council, and it appears to me the public are," the opposition leader told the full council.

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