Your council

Medway: 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.

Medway Council: Unitary authority (unitary), England, South East. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code E06000035.

Council website · Publication scheme

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 Medway for 2026–27: £1,934.33 of a £2,328.55 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

Changes to schools in this area recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 4 opened (4 academy converter), 4 closed (4 academy converter)

Burnt Oak Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 August 2026
Horsted Infant School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 August 2026
Horsted Junior School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 August 2026
Swingate Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 August 2026
Burnt Oak Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 September 2026
Horsted Infant School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 September 2026
Horsted Junior School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 September 2026
Swingate Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 September 2026

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

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

Medway: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	£168.2 million
Highways and transport services	£6.8 million
Children's social care	£84.3 million
Adult social care	£122.7 million
Public health	£22.7 million
Housing services (general fund only)	£11.6 million
Cultural and related services	£21.6 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£38.0 million
Planning and development services	£6.3 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£17.4 million
Other services	none budgeted
Total service expenditure	£499.5 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).

Medway in numbers

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

Total population: 292,655 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 38 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £24,115 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £662 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 27.0% 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: 4.1% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £298,547 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 7.8 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Female healthy life expectancy: 60.2 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for females born in the given year
Male healthy life expectancy: 59.0 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for males born in the given year
Greenhouse gas emissions: 2.7 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 90.4% 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: 79.3 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: 9,960 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

59 seats in 2026. Run by: Labour, with a majority. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Labour Party 31, Conservative and Unionist 19, Independent / Other 6, Reform UK 3.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 59 councillors, by ward

Chris Spalding (Independent / Other) — All Saints
Damola Animashaun (Labour Party) — Chatham Central & Brompton
Nina Gurung (Labour Party) — Chatham Central & Brompton
Vince Maple (Labour Party) — Chatham Central & Brompton
Matt Fearn (Conservative and Unionist) — Cuxton, Halling & Riverside
Phil Filmer (Conservative and Unionist) — Cuxton, Halling & Riverside
Trevor Clarke (Conservative and Unionist) — Fort Horsted
Gareth Myton (Labour Party) — Fort Pitt
Harinder Mahil (Labour Party) — Fort Pitt
Smitha Campbell (Labour Party) — Fort Pitt
Adam Price (Labour Party) — Gillingham North
Douglas Hamandishe (Labour Party) — Gillingham North
Lia Mandaracas (Labour Party) — Gillingham North
Dan McDonald (Labour Party) — Gillingham South
Liubov Nestorova (Labour Party) — Gillingham South
Louwella Prenter (Labour Party) — Gillingham South
Andrew Lawrence (Conservative and Unionist) — Hempstead & Wigmore
Jim Gilbourne (Conservative and Unionist) — Hempstead & Wigmore
George Crozer (Independent / Other) — Hoo St Werburgh & High Halstow
Michael Pearce (Independent / Other) — Hoo St Werburgh & High Halstow
Ron Sands (Independent / Other) — Hoo St Werburgh & High Halstow
Adrian Gulvin (Conservative and Unionist) — Lordswood & Walderslade
David Brake (Conservative and Unionist) — Lordswood & Walderslade
David Wildey (Conservative and Unionist) — Lordswood & Walderslade
Joanne Howcroft-Scott (Labour Party) — Luton
Simon Curry (Labour Party) — Luton
Alex Hyne (Conservative and Unionist) — Princes Park
Robbie Lammas (Reform UK) — Princes Park
George Perfect (Conservative and Unionist) — Rainham North
Kwashie Anang (Conservative and Unionist) — Rainham North
Wayne Spring (Conservative and Unionist) — Rainham North
Gary Hackwell (Conservative and Unionist) — Rainham South East
Howard Doe (Conservative and Unionist) — Rainham South East
Roger Barrett (Conservative and Unionist) — Rainham South East
Barry Kemp (Conservative and Unionist) — Rainham South West
Mark Joy (Conservative and Unionist) — Rainham South West
David Finch (Reform UK) — Rochester East & Warren Wood
John Vye (Reform UK) — Rochester East & Warren Wood
Teresa Murray (Labour Party) — Rochester East & Warren Wood
Alex Paterson (Labour Party) — Rochester West & Borstal
Linda Bowen (Labour Party) — Rochester West & Borstal
Paula Hamilton (Labour Party) — Rochester West & Borstal
Habib Tejan (Conservative and Unionist) — St Mary's Island
David Field (Labour Party) — Strood North & Frindsbury
Stephen Hubbard (Labour Party) — Strood North & Frindsbury
Zoë Van Dyke (Labour Party) — Strood North & Frindsbury
Elizabeth Turpin (Independent / Other) — Strood Rural
Gary Etheridge (Conservative and Unionist) — Strood Rural
John Williams (Independent / Other) — Strood Rural
Mark Jones (Labour Party) — Strood West
Satinder Shokar (Labour Party) — Strood West
Sharon Jackson (Labour Party) — Strood West
Hazel Browne (Labour Party) — Twydall
Mark Prenter (Labour Party) — Twydall
Chrissy Stamp (Labour Party) — Watling
Marian Nestorov (Labour Party) — Watling
Tracy Coombs (Labour Party) — Watling
Eddie Peake (Labour Party) — Wayfield & Weeds Wood
Esther Cook (Labour Party) — Wayfield & Weeds Wood

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.