Kent Local News Closer to home, faster to you
Council Updates

Kent County Council says it has gone to court over the council shake-up. No public meeting considered it.

By 9 min read
Kent County Council says it has gone to court over the council shake-up. No public meeting considered it.
AI-generated illustration

The three-month window to challenge the Government’s decision to abolish Kent’s fourteen councils closed on Friday 16 October. Kent County Council says it is proceeding with a legal challenge. It has not said when a claim was issued, whether it is a holding claim, who authorised it or what it will cost. No public meeting of the council considered it, and no published decision record says who decided.

The Government decided on 16 July 2026 that Kent and Medway would be run by four new unitary councils from April 2028. A judicial review of that decision had to be brought promptly, and in any event within three months. That window closed on Friday 16 October.

Four days before it closed, Kent County Council announced by press release that it is going to court. Kent Local News has checked what the council has published since then. Beyond that announcement it has published nothing about the claim, and it has not answered our questions.

Kent LGR Investigation. This article is one part of a continuing Kent Local News investigation. Read the full series in order — every part is published twice, as the full investigation and as a plain-English reader edition. Our 13 October report set out the deadline and found no public meeting scheduled before it. This report is about what happened when the deadline arrived.

What the council says it has done

On 12 October the council said it “is proceeding with a legal challenge over the Government’s decision on local government reorganisation in Kent after repeated requests for an explanation of why and how the decision was reached went unanswered”. With the deadline approaching, it said, “KCC has taken steps to protect Kent’s interests while continuing to press the Government for answers.”

The council leader, Linden Kemkaran, said: “We asked for answers in July. We wrote again twice in August. And we wrote again in September. Each time, our questions remain unanswered.” She went on: “The Government has now paused the process, but its decision still stands. We have a responsibility to stand up for Kent residents and protect the county’s interests. That’s why we’re moving forward with a legal challenge.”

The release ends: “The matter is now with the Government’s legal department and the Court.” The council’s reorganisation page now carries the same announcement.

What the council has not said

The release does not say whether the court has issued a claim, on what date, or under what claim number. It does not mention the pre-action protocol letter which the council said on 22 September it would send to the Secretary of State “in the coming days”. A pre-action letter is the usual first step before a judicial review: it sets out the case and gives the other side the chance to answer it. Whether Kent’s letter was sent, and whether the Government replied, has still not been made public.

The release also does not say whether the claim is a “protective” one. A protective claim is a holding claim: it is lodged to stop the time limit running out, and the council then usually asks the court to put it on hold while the other side reconsiders. It says nothing about cost, or about which lawyers have been instructed.

How other councils have done it

Other councils facing the same deadline have said what they filed. East Sussex County Council confirmed that its claim, issued on Friday 9 October, had been lodged on a “protective basis” to preserve its position on the time limit while the Government’s review goes ahead. “We are seeking a stay of the proceedings pending the outcome of that review,” the council said, according to Local Government Lawyer on 13 October.

The Local Government Chronicle reported on 14 October that councils in ten of the paused two-tier areas, Kent and Medway among them, had issued “protective” legal action that reserves the right to bring a judicial review later. According to the Chronicle, Nottinghamshire and Hertfordshire county councils have lodged protective claims, and Kent’s leader confirmed that the county had “taken steps” to protect its legal interests. Lancashire County Council’s cabinet “authorised protective legal steps” at a meeting on 1 October. Amber Valley Borough Council in Derbyshire said in early October that any decision to issue proceedings would go to its full council and cabinet.

Kent has used the same language of protecting its position, but it has not said what kind of claim it has brought.

No meeting, and no published decision

Kent Local News checked the council’s published meetings calendar again on 16 October. No special meeting was called. The full county council last met on 17 September, and its next meeting is on 5 November. The Devolution and Local Government Re-organisation Cabinet Committee, the body whose remit covers this, has not met since its 8 September meeting was postponed. Its next scheduled meeting is on 24 November. The agendas for the Governance and Audit Committee on 15 October and the Scrutiny Committee on 21 October did not include reorganisation.

The council publishes a register of executive decisions on its democracy website. For 1 to 16 October it lists nine. They cover domestic abuse services, a mental health assessment service, community wellbeing services, a Section 75 partnership agreement, nursery and school building funding, and the first-quarter budget monitoring report. None concerns the legal challenge.

Two qualifications are owed. A council does not need a committee vote to start litigation: the power to bring proceedings can be delegated to senior officers under its constitution. And a special meeting could have been called at any time; none was. The point is narrower. On the published record, a decision to take the Government to court over the future of every council in Kent was announced by press release. No public meeting considered it, and no published decision record says who authorised it, on what advice or at what cost.

The Government’s side

On 7 September the Government paused reorganisation across England, citing “updated and privileged legal advice”. It withdrew its decisions for Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. It did not withdraw the Kent and Medway decision. More than five weeks on, it has published no outcome and no timetable for its review. A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson told the Local Government Chronicle: “We recognise the need to provide certainty so areas have clarity over their future and will set out next steps in due course.”

The Ministry has not responded to this publication since 14 July.

Two claims, one reorganisation

If the court has issued Kent’s claim, the county’s reorganisation now sits in the High Court twice, on opposite sides. A residents’ group, National Residents for Civic Accountability, lodged its own judicial review on 7 August, as Kent Local News reported. That claim is against Kent County Council, with the Secretary of State an interested party, and asks what legal authority supported the council’s preparatory work. In the new claim the council is the claimant and the Secretary of State the defendant. Kent Local News has not been able to confirm whether the court has decided permission in the residents’ claim.

The questions

Kent Local News first asked the council’s press office on 7 September how members would be involved in any decision to litigate. We asked again, with the Ministry, on 1 October and on 12 October. Neither body replied.

On 16 October we put a fresh set of questions to both. We asked the council whether a claim has been issued and on what date, whether it is a protective claim and whether a stay has been sought, whether the pre-action letter was sent and answered, who authorised the claim and under what power, why no meeting of members considered it, and what it has cost so far. We asked the Ministry whether it has been served with a claim by Kent, whether it received and answered a pre-action letter, whether it will agree to a stay, and when the paused areas will learn the outcome of the review.

The council’s press office replied on 19 October that it is “not able to comment on ongoing legal action”. It did not answer the individual questions. Any response from the Ministry will be added to this report.

Key information

  • Government decision on Kent and Medway: 16 July 2026, four unitary councils from April 2028
  • Judicial review time limit: promptly, and in any event within three months, which ran out on Friday 16 October 2026
  • Government pause: 7 September 2026; Kent and Medway paused, not withdrawn
  • Kent County Council announces it is proceeding with a legal challenge: 12 October 2026, by press release
  • Claim number, issue date, type of claim and cost: not published
  • Special meeting before the deadline: none called; next full council 5 November, next Devolution and LGR Cabinet Committee 24 November
  • Kent Local News questions unanswered: 7 September (council), 1 and 12 October (council and Ministry)
  • Council reply to the 16 October questions: “not able to comment on ongoing legal action” (19 October)
⚡

Kent County Council says it has gone to court over the council shake-up. No public meeting considered it. Quiz

5 questions

Sources

Source documents: Kent County Council’s 12 October 2026 news release and reorganisation page, its meetings calendar, committee agendas and register of executive decisions, the Hansard record of the 7 September statement, and the trade-press reports linked above.

Image: AI-generated illustration by Kent Local News (Aegis Lumina)

Published: 22 October 2026

Meeting dates and the decisions register were checked on Kent County Council’s democracy website on 16 October 2026; the council may add records at any time, and a decision to bring proceedings can be taken by officers without a committee. East Sussex County Council’s statement and the Ministry’s statement are reported from Local Government Lawyer and the Local Government Chronicle. The three-month time limit is the general rule for judicial review, and the 16 October date is Kent Local News’s calculation from the 16 July decision. Kent County Council and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government were given the opportunity to respond on 1 October, 12 October and 16 October; any response received will be added. If you believe anything here is inaccurate, contact editor@kentlocalnews.co.uk — see our corrections policy.