About the Council


The council

We have 55 elected councillors who make decisions to help improve our services.

The decisions are informed by the ideas of the political parties they represent.

We employ 391 officers, who help to deliver our services to residents and work with councillors to achieve our aims for customers.

We also have a Mayor. To find out more visit our Mayor pages.

Our Leader is elected by the council.

Committees

Full council

Full council is our governing body.

Committees

Cabinet

Overview and Scrutiny

Policy Advisory Committees (PAC)

Regulatory committees

Other committees

A full list can be found in our Your Councillors section.

    Management

    The day-to-day management of the council and its services is carried out by the Corporate Leadership Team.

    • Alison Broom, Chief Executive
    • William Cornall, Director of Regeneration and Place
    • Mark Green, Director of Finance and Business Improvement
    • Angela Woodhouse, Director of Strategy, Insight and Governance
    • Georgia Hawkes, Director of Mid Kent Services

    Alison BroomWilliam CornallMark Green

    Employee structure and salaries

    The government has set out a clear commitment to improved transparency about how it spends public money.

    This includes details of the size and shape of public bodies and about the work employees do for their companies.

    Staff structure

    Senior staff salaries

    Senior staff salaries

    Our priorities

    Our 2019 priorities

    Mid Kent Services

    Mid Kent Services (MKS) is a partnership between us, Swale Borough Council and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council which started in 2008. Working together we aim to improve and reduce the cost of services to residents across Mid-Kent.

    The partnership is flexible enough to meet the needs of each partner, which ensures its long term future. Some projects and services involve all three boroughs, while some only involve two. Others involve neighbouring boroughs, for example Ashford Borough Council is part of the shared Internal Audit service.

    Each partner leads the partnership for a year starting in September. Maidstone are leading the partnership this year. Next year it'll be Swale.

    How is MKS governed

    • MKS Board
    • Cabinet/Committee meetings
    • Shared service board meetings
    • Full Council meetings

    Shared services

    There are currently seven shared services in the partnership and one shared manager post. The host authority is the one that employs those in the shared service.

    Service Host Authority Other Authorities
    Environmental Health Tunbridge Wells Maidstone
    Human Resources Maidstone Swale
    ICT Maidstone Swale and Tunbridge Wells
    Internal Audit Maidstone Ashford, Swale and Tunbridge Wells
    Land Charges Maidstone Swale and Tunbridge Wells
    Legal Swale Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells
    Parking Enforcement No host Maidstone and Swale
    Planning Support Maidstone Swale
    Revenues and Benefits Maidstone Tunbridge Wells

    Contacts

    The MKS Board

    • Cllr David Burton - Our Leader
    • Cllr Jonathan Purle - Deputy
    • Roger Truelove - SBC Leader
    • Cllr Alan McDermott - TWBC Leader
    • Cllr Tom Dawlings - TWBC Cabinet Member
    • Alison Broom - Our Chief Executive
    • Nick Vickers - Swale Borough Council
    • William Benson - Chief Executive at Tunbridge Wells Borough Council

    Officers

    If you'd like to know more about MKS or have any general questions contact:

    • Georgia Hawkes, Mid Kent Services Director on 01622 602168

    Town twinning

    Maidstone is twinned with Beauvais, in France.

    Beauvais is one of the oldest towns in France. Today, Beauvais is a town of culture with many museums, sporting events, festive and popular urban happenings. Some of the historical sites of Beauvais are absolute 'musts' such as the impressive Cathedral and the Church of Saint-Étienne.

    The Twinning Association Committee meets monthly and has an annual meeting and a half-yearly meeting.

    Trips are organised to Beauvais each year to the Jeanne Hachette Festival and a sporting weekend is held each year in the autumn, with the hosting of the event taken in turn, one year in Beauvais, the next in Maidstone.

    The Committee organises a number of events each year to enable members to get together and members keep in touch with a newsletter which is circulated every three to four months.