Your council

Folkestone and Hythe: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Folkestone and Hythe District Council: Non-metropolitan district (lower tier), England, South East; within the county of KEN. GOV.UK lists it as a district council, within Kent County Council. ONS code E07000112.

Council website

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Folkestone and Hythe for 2026–27: £313.92 of a £2,538.75 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Folkestone and Hythe reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Folkestone and Hythe: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	none budgeted
Highways and transport services	−£1.1 million
Children's social care	none budgeted
Adult social care	none budgeted
Public health	none budgeted
Housing services (general fund only)	£4.4 million
Cultural and related services	£4.2 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£10.6 million
Planning and development services	£5.2 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£4.6 million
Other services	−£224,000
Total service expenditure	£27.8 million

Net current expenditure: net of sales, fees and charges; spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is excluded.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Revenue Account Budget 2026 to 2027, individual local authority data (part 1), updated 11 June 2026 (Open Government Licence).

Folkestone and Hythe in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population: 112,411 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 47 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £25,977 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £655 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 27.4% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count: 3.9% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £303,296 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 8.1 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Greenhouse gas emissions: 4.2 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 80.2% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers: 210.8 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses: 3,970 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

30 seats in 2026. Run by: a coalition or arrangement of Greens and Liberal Democrats. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Green Party (E&W) 11, Labour Party 8, Conservative and Unionist 5, Independent / Other 3, Liberal Democrats 2, Reform UK 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 30 councillors, by ward

Belinda Walker (Labour Party) — Broadmead
Mike Blakemore (Green Party (E&W)) — Cheriton
Polly Blakemore (Green Party (E&W)) — Cheriton
Rebecca Shoob (Green Party (E&W)) — Cheriton
Adrian Lockwood (Labour Party) — East Folkestone
Connor McConville (Independent / Other) — East Folkestone
Jackie Meade (Labour Party) — East Folkestone
Abena Akuffo-Kelly (Labour Party) — Folkestone Central
Laura Davison (Labour Party) — Folkestone Central
Liz McShane (Labour Party) — Folkestone Central
Bridget Chapman (Independent / Other) — Folkestone Harbour
Nicola Keen (Labour Party) — Folkestone Harbour
Anita Jones (Green Party (E&W)) — Hythe
Jim Martin (Green Party (E&W)) — Hythe
Rich Holgate (Green Party (E&W)) — Hythe
Jeremy Speakman (Green Party (E&W)) — Hythe Rural
John Wing (Green Party (E&W)) — Hythe Rural
David Wimble (Reform UK) — New Romney
Paul Thomas (Independent / Other) — New Romney
David Godfrey (Conservative and Unionist) — North Downs East
James Butcher (Green Party (E&W)) — North Downs East
Stephen Scoffham (Green Party (E&W)) — North Downs East
Elaine Martin (Green Party (E&W)) — North Downs West
Jennifer Hollingsbee (Conservative and Unionist) — North Downs West
Tony Cooper (Labour Party) — Romney Marsh
Tony Hills (Conservative and Unionist) — Romney Marsh
Gary Fuller (Liberal Democrats) — Sandgate & West Folkestone
Tim Prater (Liberal Democrats) — Sandgate & West Folkestone
Alan Martin (Conservative and Unionist) — Walland & Denge Marsh
Clive Goddard (Conservative and Unionist) — Walland & Denge Marsh

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.