Kent County Council
County council. South East. ONS code E10000016.
What this authority is responsible for
The upper tier of a two-tier area. It handles education, social care, highways, waste disposal, libraries and trading standards. The district, borough or city councils in the same area handle the rest.
The other council for this area
This is a two-tier area. The district, borough and city councils covering parts of it are Ashford Borough Council, Canterbury City Council, Dartford Borough Council, Dover District Council, Folkestone and Hythe Council, Gravesham Borough Council, Maidstone Borough Council, Sevenoaks District Council, Swale Borough Council, Thanet District Council, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council. They handle housing, planning, waste collection, council tax billing, licensing and environmental health; this council handles the rest.
What it has to publish
Every principal authority in England publishes the following by law. They are on the authority's own website; this site does not mirror them, and the wording councils use to label them varies.
- A statement of accounts every year, and with it a period when any interested person may inspect the accounts and the invoices, contracts and receipts behind them. That right, and how to use it, is set out in our guide to inspecting the accounts.
- Agendas and minutes for committee meetings, which have been open to the press and public since 1960. Agendas normally appear a clear five working days before the meeting.
- A register of members' interests, recording what elected members have declared.
- Spending over 500 pounds, contracts, land holdings and senior salaries, under the Local Government Transparency Code.
Asking for something that is not published
Anything else the authority holds is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, subject to its exemptions. We make requests through WhatDoTheyKnow where we can, because the response then has a permanent public address that anyone can cite, including people who disagree with our reading of it. Search there for this authority by name.
What we have published about Kent County Council
- Kent County Council Wrote to Ministers Four Times Asking Why It Is Being Abolished. (21 October 2026)
- Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk Sued the Government Over Their Own Abolition. (16 September 2026)
One of 335 principal authorities in England. If anything on this page is wrong, tell us.