Kent County Council - History

History

The Local Government Act 1888 created an administrative county of Kent, with its own county council, in 1889. At the same time the northwestern extremities of the historic county of Kent came under the County of London, while Canterbury became a separate county borough with powers similar to that of a county. The county council's duties at first were few, but gradually it absorbed school boards, the rural highway boards and the boards of guardians.

The London Government Act 1963 created an enlarged Greater London, established in 1965, which took in more of northwestern Kent. The Local Government Act 1972 abolished the previous structure of local government as from 1974. Kent became a non-metropolitan county, divided into districts, including a new City of Canterbury, which combined the former county borough (now abolished) with other areas to form a single district under the county council.

In 1998 the districts of Gillingham and Rochester-upon-Medway were removed from the control of the county council to come under the control of a new unitary authority, Medway Council.

In September 2007, Kent County Council launched Kent TV, the first local authority funded internet-based community television channel. The channel is run by independent media company Ten Alps Digital, a subsidiary of Bob Geldof's production company Ten Alps PLC. Following economic cutbacks, it was announced in February 2010 that funding for Kent TV would be withdrawn by the county council, leading to closure. Other options for maintaining the service are currently under consideration.