Local News

Banking giant Barclays have announced that their Sittingbourne branch is set to close in the New Year.

The branch, at 81 High Street Sittingbourne, will close its counters for the last time at 12 noon on Wednesday 8th March 2023.

A spokesperson for Barclays told SFM News "visits to the branch have declined as people are increasingly making use of other means of managing their money, such as telephone banking or online apps. Before deciding whether to close this branch, we looked carefully at how it’s been used and how customers are banking in other ways. We found that 91% of people who used our branch in 2021 had also used the app, online or by phone. Only 13 customers said that they regularly use the branch as their only way to do their banking."

Customers can withdraw money from their Barclays account at any Post Office branch using their debit card, and pay cheques into their account. Barclays said that affected customers can call 03457 345452 for more information.

The closure follows Barclays shuting both it's Sheerness and Faversham branches in the summer. Nat West and Lloyds also shut their Faversham branches this year leaving Nationwide as the only bank in the town.

Kent Police officers, investigating a fatal collision on the M2 earlier today (Sunday 27th November), are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

At around 6.14am a red Nissan Qashqai was involved in a collision with a red Mercedes-Benz C 200 AMG between junction six and five on the London-bound carriageway.

Kent Police and South East Coast Ambulance Service attended the scene and the driver of the Nissan Qashqai, a woman in her 50s, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

A 40-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and drink driving.

Officers are keen to talk to the driver of a light-coloured van who may have seen the Mercedes pass them prior to the collision. They believe the motorist may have important information which can assist their investigation.

The carriageway was closed following the collision and was reopened at around 4pm this afternoon. The woman’s next of kin were informed about the incident.

Officers from Kent Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) would like to hear from anyone who saw what happened, or who has relevant dashcam or CCTV footage.

Drivers can call the SCIU appeal line at Kent Police Headquarters on 01622 798 538, or can email sciu.td@kent.pnn.police.uk, quoting reference AH/SC/131/22.

Drivers with any dashcam footage which may assist the investigation can submit it here.

Councillors are being asked to approve consulting on Swale Borough Council’s draft budget next week.

The policy and resources committee will be discussing a report on the draft budget for 2023/24 on Wednesday (30th November).

The report sets out how the council proposes to tackle significant inflation, increased pressure on key services and delays to the government’s local government funding review.

The draft budget outlines £2.8m of proposed savings, efficiencies and increased income for 2023/24, leaving a budget gap of £2m, which would be funded from reserves.

The draft budget consultation would ask for feedback on issues such as:

• restructuring council services to save £516,000, including £100,000 from senior management
• no inflationary pay award for council staff, except those on the Real Living Wage, with salaries frozen and working hours reduced
• increasing council tax by 2.99%, or more if the Government increase the previous cash limit
• increasing income from fees and charges by £581,000
• reducing grants paid by £227,000.

Cllr Mike Baldock, the Leader of Swale Borough Council, told SFM News: “Like all households, we’re facing significant increases in our costs, and we are being forced to take some tough decisions. Inflation is really biting as our costs increase, but we’re also dealing with more and more people approaching us for support with things like housing, which is a significant cost for us. At the same time, funding from the revenue support grant from central government has fallen from £4.1 million in 2014/15 to £120,000 this year, and we’re still waiting for a funding review to put local government on a more solid footing. Our share of the final council tax bill that residents receive is only around 10 per cent of the total, but we know our services make a real difference to local people. This is why - if the committee agree to consult - it’s vital we get as many responses as possible.”

If the Policy and Resources Committee agree, a consultation will be launched shortly afterwards. The results would then be reported to the policy and resources committee on Wedesday 8th February 2023 before full council is asked to approve the final budget on Wednesday 22nd February.

People struggling to feed their families and pay their bills could be eligible for more support this winter.

Swale Borough Council has received more than £250,000 from Kent County Council’s (KCC) Household Support Fund to help households access food boxes, get vouchers to pay their electric, gas and water bills, and purchase the items needed to keep warm.

The money has been allocated to organisations within the local community who have been on the ground helping people navigate the cost of living crisis.

Swale Food Bank and Children and Families will be delivering emergency food parcels, West Faversham Community Association will be providing meals to the young people visiting their youth hub and Age UK will be delivering hot meals and shopping to pensioners.

The council’s fuel and water home advisor and Citizens Advice Swale will be providing Fuel Bank Foundation fuel vouchers to people with pre-paid meters, and Children and Families will be providing Mastercard vouchers for people with billed utility accounts.

People can also request help with items that will help keep them warm this winter such as water bottles, blankets, and draft excluders from the council’s fuel and water housing advisor.

Cllr Richard Palmer, chair of the community committee at Swale Borough Council, told SFM News: “We’ve received more than £250,000 from KCC’s household support fund this time around. We received money from the first round this summer, and used it support almost 8,000 households around Swale. Unfortunately, we haven’t received as much money as we did in the first round, but the criteria for who we can help has been relaxed this time, so we hope to be able to reach the households that weren’t eligible last time.”

Cllr Elliott Jayes, vice chair of the community committee at the council, told SFM News: “Alongside helping with energy bills, we can also help residents with the cost of hot water bottles, blankets, and draft excluders. The funding is available until March, so anyone struggling to feed their family or keep their home warm this winter can contact us for support.”

To find the right support for you visit the Swale Borough Council website via this link: www.swale.gov.uk/hsf.