Off the Record

Call it bad timing. A few days ago KCC got news that it was in line for about £50m extra from a £2bn government fund to help with the costs of social care. A few days after that, county councillors were faced with a report setting out plans to increase some charges for adult care, which is creaking under ever‑increasing pressure.

No wonder one councillor was a touch irked – and it wasn’t an opposition member but the independently‑minded Conservative Alan Marsh, who complained that residents would find it hard to understand why they might end up with higher charges when KCC had just been told it was in for a financial windfall.

Quote of the week: “I am not going to knock a council that has taken just one. Hopefully that’s the start of something bigger.” Home Secretary Amber Rudd tries to strike a note of optimism on a visit to Ashford to meet Syrian refugees resettled in the UK under the government’s relocation scheme. That was a reference to Sevenoaks council, which has taken in one family. Mind you, Sevenoaks is not the least enthusiastic – Medway Council has taken none.

Among the Conservative candidates in the county council election is Kerry Boyd, contesting a division in Margate. Kerry was the second youth crime commissioner appointed to the role by Ann Barnes – the first crime commissioner.

Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins has an increasingly high profile as chairman of the all‑party Culture, Media and Sport select committee. With it has come the invitations to key events – the latest Register of Interests records two tickets to the Baftas and a ticket to watch Chelsea play Manchester United.

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