Jeremy Kite's motion for 12 October asks ministers to end council reorganisation and hold a binding local referendum. Labour backs a National Care Service.

Dartford’s council leader is asking the borough council to call for a binding referendum of local people before any further shake-up of local government.

The motion, from Conservative leader Councillor Jeremy Kite, is on the agenda for the full council meeting on Monday 12 October. It condemns the government’s handling of local government reorganisation. It also urges ministers to use their current review to end the process altogether (Dartford Borough Council, agenda item 8).

Labour’s group leader, Councillor Jonathan Hawkes, has tabled a second motion welcoming the government’s plan for a National Care Service.

Where reorganisation stands

Under the plan ministers chose in July, Dartford Borough Council would have been abolished in 2028 and merged into a new North Kent Council. On 7 September the Secretary of State paused the programme for a “rapid review” and told councils to stop implementation work. We set out what that pause means in our earlier story.

What the leader’s motion says

The motion calls the process “chaotic, poorly planned and divisive”. It says residents have been given “little or no opportunity to influence decisions”.

It argues that merging councils like Dartford with “troubled councils like Medway”, whose debt it says “is rapidly approaching £1bn”, would saddle Dartford residents with debts their council did not run up. It says Dartford residents currently pay “the lowest level of council tax in Kent”.

If passed, the council would:

  • urge the government to use its rapid review to put the process “out of its misery”
  • say it is concerned for council staff at Dartford and at its shared-service partner, Sevenoaks District Council
  • call on the new Secretary of State to apologise to local government staff and compensate them
  • invite Dartford’s MP to “reflect upon his misguided support” for Option 4D, a rival Kent proposal the motion says would have split the borough
  • tell the government that, before any further reorganisation, it should hold “a full and binding referendum of local people”

The motion also says that at a recent briefing for Kent council leaders, government officials admitted they had received no ministerial instructions on how the review would be run, although almost half its time had gone. That account is the motion’s own. We have not seen a record of the briefing.

Dartford put forward a joint proposal with Gravesham during the process. The motion calls it a “least-worst” option that would have kept decisions “more local than any other plan”.

The Labour motion: a National Care Service

The second motion asks the council to welcome the Labour government’s plan for a National Care Service, offering older people free personal care at home. It notes the proposal to fund it partly through changes to the State Pension from April 2030.

It cites these figures for Dartford:

  • around 16,400 residents aged 65 or over now
  • a projected 23,800 by 2040
  • more than 16,000 residents disabled under the Equality Act definition at the 2021 Census
  • 2.8% of residents providing 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week

If passed, the leader would write to the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary supporting the plan and offering the council’s help. Adult social care itself is run by Kent County Council, not the borough.

What it means for you

Motions set out the council’s position. They do not change any service or bill on their own, and the government decides what happens to reorganisation.

The meeting starts at 7pm on Monday 12 October in the Council Chamber at the Civic Centre, Home Gardens. Council meetings are open to the public. The agenda is still marked provisional (agenda).

The same meeting will vote on changes to how planning applications are decided from 31 October. We have covered those in a separate story.

Sources