Welcome to Swale

What the Council does

If you are new to local government, you may find it useful to understand the role of local government and exactly what Swale Borough Council does. In practice many services are delivered by working together with our partners in local government (Kent County Council and Parish Councils) and across the public sector including with police, fire and health services.

Swale Borough Council

The council provides a wide range of services to residents and businesses, including:

• Spatial planning and development management
• Housing, including homelessness prevention
• Parks and open spaces
• Street cleansing
• Community safety
• Economic development
• Environmental health
• Refuse and recycling collection
• Tourism, leisure and culture
• Benefits administration

The council has a statutory obligation to support the community in times of emergency e.g. floods. Employees are required to assist in the Emergency Plan and training will be provided for those staff selected for specific roles. You should be aware that you may be called upon at any time.

Other local government service providers

In so-called ‘two-tier’ areas such as Kent, some local government services are provided by district councils like Swale, and others by the county council. This is a situation which can sometimes cause confusion among residents. Services provided by Kent County Council include:

• Education
• Adults’ and children’s social services
• Public health
• Highways and traffic management
• Consumer protection
• Waste disposal
• Libraries
• Registration of births, deaths and marriages

In addition to services provided by SBC and KCC, the borough includes 37 town and parish councils, who have powers to spend money on services such as allotments and community halls.