Investigations
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Investigations Have Britons given up on voting? A century of turnout, and what the people who stay at home say
In 1950, 84 in every 100 registered voters cast a ballot. In July 2024 it was fewer than 60, and in Sittingbourne and Sheppey barely half…
26 September 2026 -
Investigations Kent’s water, Part B: why fixing the leaks will not be enough, and what nobody has planned for
South East Water loses 105 million litres a day and is, by the numbers, an average English water company. This part shows why even…
22 September 2026 -
Investigations Kent’s water, Part A: the demand nobody in Whitstable voted for
South East Water plans for 550,000 more people by 2050. Per-person use is falling, leakage is meant to halve and business use is flat, so…
13 September 2026 -
Investigations South East Water has failed. But who decided how many people it must supply?
Analysis: John Halsall’s apology in Whitstable was overdue and Ofwat’s findings against his company are damning. But the number of people…
10 September 2026 -
Council Updates Government U-turns on the cross-party devolution plan — the story KLN broke in April
Ministers have halted the biggest reshaping of local government in fifty years because they need to satisfy themselves the process…
9 September 2026 -
Council Updates Five months of asking under what law. Then the Government stopped to check.
The Government has paused local government reorganisation across England, including Kent and Medway, saying it must satisfy itself that the…
8 September 2026 -
Council Updates Told it was mandatory. Told it was not. Kent’s councils and the Government gave residents opposite answers
A Kent resident asked her district council whether reorganisation was mandatory. Dover District Council answered in one word: “Yes.” The…
5 September 2026 -
Council Updates Kent’s council shake-up is going to court: what the case is actually about
Residents have gone to court over Kent’s council reorganisation. Nobody has won or lost anything yet. Here is what has actually happened…
31 August 2026 -
Council Updates 127 days. Twelve articles. One question. Still no answer.
Four months ago Kent Local News reported that the Government held no legal rationale, no consultation records and no impact assessments…
30 August 2026 -
Council Updates Kent’s reorganisation reaches the High Court: residents file judicial review over the missing lawful authority
A resident-led group has filed a judicial review claim challenging the legal basis for work done on Kent’s local government reorganisation…
29 August 2026 -
Council Updates Who picked Kent’s four new councils? The question the county council is now asking itself — explained
Kent is getting four new councils. The chairman of the county council has put in writing that the winning map came from three Labour-led…
6 August 2026 -
Council Updates Who chose Kent’s new map? The county council’s own chairman is asking whether party politics played a part
The Government’s four-council map for Kent was chosen from a proposal put forward by three councils the county council’s chairman describes…
5 August 2026