Party faces bill to remove roadside election posters

Political editor Paul Francis

Oh dear. After Ukip failed in its bid to get Nigel Farage elected as a Kent MP, it seems that the party might be in a spot of bother with Kent County Council’s highways department.

The party looks set to get a bill in the post from KCC after it failed to take down a number of party political posters along the Dover to Deal stretch of the A256 – which have been up since April.

At least it has avoided court action. KCC has decided the legal costs would not make it worthwhile. Instead, it is going to do the work itself and get the party to pay up. Let’s hope it has the cash after its election war chest was left bare back in May.

While most county councillors tuck into sandwiches and other snacks on days when there are full council meetings, the Liberal Democrats have maintained a self-denying ordinance and continue to boycott them.

This dates back a few years, when there was a bit of a row over whether it was seemly to be tucking in to lunches effectively paid for by the council tax payer. We thought you should know.

If there is one thing that has irked Kent County Council about Conservative education policy, it is that they have lost any power of oversight of academies and free schools.

So, the authority should welcome unconditionally a political promise to restore this power. And who exactly is making this promise? None other than Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. A rare consensus indeed.

Kent County Council took great pride in introducing the concept of gateway centres several years ago, believing they were the future for council services.

But the gloss seems to be coming off them as the council contemplates how to cope with dwindling resources to keep them all going.

It’s certainly a long time since, in a submission to a Commons select committee back in 2007, KCC described them “as a uniquely innovative retailbased concept that seeks to offer seamless access to public services for local people.”

KCC’s problem in withdrawing from them may be that it is tied into financial agreements with district and borough councils that it can’t yet get out of.

Follow Paul on Twitter @ PaulOnPolitics.