Council to receive £50m government funding boost

One of England's largest local authorities is set to get a funding boost of more than £50m under government plans.

Kent County Council (KCC) received £518.5m in 2025 in total redistributable funding from Whitehall.

It is set to get £569.7m next year in its fair funding allocation under the provisional local government finance settlement - an increase of £51.2m.

Deputy council leader Brian Collins said it was "certainly a better financial settlement than we expected".

The Reform UK-run authorityis currently overspending by 3%, with adult social care running 7% above its overall budget, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

Collins said: "In the short term, [the funding] may help but adult social care is a national problem.

"It's a problem for every county and the government needs to take a bit more responsibility for it."

The new allocations follow the fair funding review, a consultation by theLabour governmentdesigned to ensure funding meets the needs of local authorities and takes into account issues such as deprivation.

It is also part of a multi-year settlement, which gives indicative figures for what local authorities can expect to receive up until 2028/2029.

Figures show that, over the next three years, KCC could see its core spending power to deliver local services rise to nearly £1.9bn.

A Ministry of Housing and Local Communities spokesman said: "We have introduced the first multi-year settlement in a decade, delivering long overdue changes to council funding so we can provide better public services.

"By the end of this settlement, we will make available £84.6bn in 2028-29 to councils across England."

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