Financial challenges ahead for Reform UK run Kent County Council

The Cabinet Committee scheduled for the 19th November will review the latest monitoring position at the end of September 2025.

Continued unprecedented pressures have resulted in Kent County Council’s (KCC) Adult Social Care Service currently forecasting an overspend of just over 7% of its overall budget.

Conversely, the rest of the Council’s services are underspending, bringing the overall position to an overspend of just 3% of the total revenue budget of the Council.

The Leader of KCC Linden Kemkaran has said: “The latest monitoring report illustrates the incredible challenges facing the authority, particularly in relation to adult social care.

"When we were elected in May, it became apparent how challenged the adult social care budget was. Under the previous Conservative administration, this department clearly overspent massively.

"To remedy the situation we will need to make necessary but difficult decisions, and we will require some additional input from central government.”

The Casey Commission, tasked by central government, to review the National Care Service is welcome, however the next report is not due until 2028. This timeline is too late for most Councils’ budget build process for the financial year 2026/27.

In response to the current financial position, the Council is putting in place a series of measures to reduce the overspend. These include both targeted actions within adult social care and robust controls across the rest of the organisation, to mitigate the overspend as far as possible.

Source & picture credit: Kent County Council