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00:28Transcription by CastingWords
00:31Hello and welcome to Kent Tonight, live here on KMTV.
00:35I'm Chloe Brewster and here are your top stories on Tuesday 25th August.
00:39Leaving the South behind, new government funding for social housing misses out Kent.
00:46As far as I can say, we've got no homeless in this end of the country and we don't need
00:50social housing.
00:52Still homeless by the holidays.
00:54Stats warn that PM's rough sleeping pledge won't work.
00:58I think there's nothing worse, there's nothing more painful than for me.
01:04When I come here and I see someone, I know when I first started, we used to put people up
01:09to the night when it was too cold.
01:10Under pressure, we mark the anniversary of the GTSE by testing KMTV's exam skills.
01:17Possibly the style of questioning and the layout of the paper was perhaps a bit more user friendly.
01:33First tonight, ministers have announced almost £10 billion of funding for social and affordable housing across the country,
01:41but seem to be leaving Kent and the South East out of that plan.
01:44It's part of the government's £39 billion social house building programme,
01:49which will aim to create more affordable homes over the next 10 years.
01:53Naila Mohamed has the story.
01:56Ministers have announced plans for more than 70,000 social and affordable homes to be built across England over the
02:02next decade,
02:03backed by almost £10 billion.
02:05Yet figures show that none of the funding in this phase will be allocated to Kent or the South East.
02:11Majority of the funding will be given to Greater Manchester.
02:14The rest to the West Midlands, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the North East and Liverpool.
02:21Maidstone is just one of the areas across the entire county,
02:24where demand for social and affordable housing is increasing year on year.
02:28And here at this charity, they provide hot meals, food and other services for people who are in need
02:34and are incredibly frustrated at the lack of government funding for social housing here in the county.
02:41It's disgraceful. It's absolutely disgraceful.
02:44More than that, why, after all these years, are we still in the same situation?
02:52It's beyond me, absolutely beyond me.
02:54Government after government after government, still nothing's happened.
02:58How long will it take?
03:00We're at breaking point, really, and need social housing.
03:04We really need it here.
03:05Some of these places, they're built and they're still empty.
03:08Why?
03:09Why not just say, right, OK, we've got this, then we're hand it over to social housing.
03:15Why just leave it empty until they can sell it?
03:18It's just, that is just pure profit.
03:21The investment is the first phase of the government's wider £39 billion programme,
03:26aiming to deliver 300,000 social and affordable homes across the country.
03:31But with fears that the King of the North may be forgetting about Kent,
03:35what do residents in Maidstone think of the new funding plans?
03:38I think it should be spread about more evenly,
03:40rather than the North being portrayed as the poor part of the country,
03:45so therefore they get all the money.
03:47There are plenty of places down the South that, you know, struggle just as much.
03:53Yeah, the property is just self-serving, I think, not in April or so, I don't think.
03:57I'm not best in person at all.
04:00While ministers say this is just the first phase of a much bigger programme,
04:03here in the Garden of England, residents are left asking,
04:07when will Kent get its share?
04:10Nayla Mohamed for KMTV in Maidstone.
04:13And I'm joined now by our local democracy reporter, Megan Shaw.
04:17So, Meg, can you break it down for us?
04:18What is the government's plan with social housing?
04:21Of course. First of all, we'll start with differentiating a bit of terminology,
04:25because they kind of get muddled up.
04:26So, social housing and council housing are often used interchangeably.
04:30But social housing is a broad category.
04:32It refers to any low-cost, affordable rented housing,
04:35either by council or sometimes by a non-profit as well.
04:38But council housing is a specific type of social housing
04:41that's owned and managed, of course, by a local government authority.
04:44So, while all council housing is social housing,
04:46not all social housing is necessarily council housing.
04:49And when we talk about affordable housing, like Nayla did there,
04:52we're usually talking about it in the context of the government's
04:55Social and Affordable Homes programme.
04:57And that does involve social housing.
04:59So, it's a scheme, it's run by Homes England,
05:01and it includes two types of housing.
05:04The social housing, which we talked about,
05:05and affordable housing.
05:07Again, they're different.
05:08So, social housing are normally priced at around 50% of the market,
05:11and affordable housing, around 80% of the current market.
05:15Now, in terms of what Andy Burnham says he's going to do
05:17for housing in the country, he originally called for all £10 billion
05:21of that funding to be just spent on social homes.
05:25That goes against what the then-primary Nisikia Starmer
05:28said would happen to the scheme.
05:30He wanted to go on both.
05:31But as Nayla talked about through her report there,
05:34he went back on that.
05:35So, 70,000 homes were going to be built with this funding.
05:39Only 60% of those would be for social housing.
05:42So, obviously, that is much less than the 100% he originally pledged
05:45when he was doing his campaign to be the MP for Makerfield.
05:49And just quickly, this is part of a wider scheme, isn't it?
05:52Can you tell me about that?
05:53Of course. Nayla brushed on it there.
05:55It's part of a larger £39 billion plan to build 300,000 social
06:01and affordable homes.
06:02That was first announced of the government's June 2025 spending review.
06:06Again, under Rachel Reeves and Sakia Starmer, before Andy Burnham.
06:11And again, it falls under another pledge from the government.
06:13They wrote that in their 2024 manifesto to build 1.5 million homes.
06:18Thank you so much for telling us all about that, Meg.
06:22Social housing is just one of Andy Burnham's pledges
06:25that could have an impact on Kent.
06:27Another is his plan to provide temporary accommodation
06:29for people experiencing homelessness over the winter season.
06:33Maidstone had the highest number of homelessness assessments
06:36in Kent last year.
06:37And one local charity says more needs to be done
06:39to tackle the problem in the long term.
06:42Maisie Walker has that story.
06:44Maidstone had the highest number of homelessness assessments
06:47in Kent last year.
06:49As it remains a major issue in the town,
06:52Andy Burnham has pledged to get people off the streets
06:54for Christmas nationally.
06:56But one charity says more needs to be done
06:59to tackle the problem in the long term.
07:01So this is the car park where Hungry Hearts is stationed.
07:04They give out free food to the homeless community
07:06and rely entirely on donation.
07:09Hungry Hearts has been supporting people experiencing homelessness
07:13in Maidstone since 2017.
07:16Volunteers provide free food, drinks and clothes twice a week,
07:19as well as longer term support to help people get back on their feet.
07:24This is Kerry.
07:25She's no longer homeless, but is asked not to be identified on camera.
07:28She says Hungry Hearts was a lifeline after she was re-homed
07:32when she struggled to afford basic essentials.
07:35What has being here kind of given me?
07:38Obviously, I'm not just talking about food here.
07:39Is it a few years here?
07:40Is it a few years here?
07:40Is it a few years here?
07:40I mean, definitely, definitely support.
07:42That's all right.
07:43They've helped me with loads of things.
07:45That would be food, food.
07:48People, people, I see.
07:49I only say it looks like it's a beautiful year.
07:52But the charity can't tackle homelessness alone.
07:54While volunteers welcome Andy Burnham's plan
07:57to get people off the streets for Christmas,
07:59they say it won't solve the long term problem
08:01and some may be reluctant to accept temporary accommodation
08:04because of past trauma.
08:06I used to be homeless,
08:07but I used to work with other soup kitchens as well.
08:10So I was homeless myself back in the days
08:12and I just want to give back
08:14and I think it's a good cause
08:15because they're human beings
08:17and they just need to be lifted back up like I was,
08:20nurtured back up into a certain society.
08:23Yeah, everyone tries to judge them like,
08:25like, you know, I'm on drugs or they drink.
08:27You mean, there's behind them.
08:29The core, there's a core behind them.
08:31And the reason why they are like they are,
08:32people are scared to stay in houses.
08:35They think someone's going to come through the doors.
08:37These people have been out of here,
08:38have been institutionalised for a long time.
08:40I think there's nothing worse.
08:42There's nothing more painful than for me.
08:46When I come here and I see someone,
08:48I know when I first started,
08:49we used to put people up for the night
08:51when it was too cold.
08:52For those working on the front line,
08:54the focus is on more than just getting people off the streets.
08:57It's about ensuring they have access
08:59to the support and accommodation
09:00they need in the long term.
09:03Maisie Walker for KMTV.
09:05Mate Stone.
09:07An 80-year-old man who crashed into a tree
09:10on an A road near Hive has been named.
09:12Timothy Riding was driving his blue Ford Fiesta
09:16when it left the carriageway on the A261 London Road
09:19when he struck a tree.
09:21Police, fire crews and paramedics were all called to the scene,
09:25but Mr Riding passed 30 minutes later.
09:27An inquest into Mr Riding's death
09:29opened Oakwood House in Maidstone last week
09:32where coroner Ian Potter told the hearing
09:35it was not yet clear how the crash happened.
09:38New shop owners in Rochester say
09:41they are being unfairly punished
09:42by a backwards council tax rule
09:44after bringing an empty Tudor building back into use.
09:48Keir Kemp and his wife, Jen Dreyer,
09:51moved their business, House of Condiments,
09:52into the ground floor of a vacant 17th century shop in May,
09:56above which is an empty residential accommodation.
09:59But now the couple has been told
10:00they must hand over more than £5,000
10:02because in addition to business rates,
10:05council tax is being charged on that space above the shop.
10:08A spokesman for Medway Council said
10:09that councils can only decide
10:11whether to adopt these premium charges
10:12and not which properties are actually applicable.
10:16The front man of a drug line
10:18has been ordered to pay more than £110,000
10:21or he will face a longer prison sentence.
10:24Frank Harris distributed large amounts of cocaine
10:27between 2023 and 2025
10:29and was involved in recruiting runners,
10:31marketing the drug and arranging sales.
10:34Detective Inspector Dave Godfrey said
10:36he hopes it destroys any chance
10:37for Harris to rebuild that drug line.
10:40Henry Luck has more.
10:41This is the moment
10:43Ken police seized nearly £30,000
10:47in the home of a drug dealer.
10:50On the 14th of April, 2025,
10:53police raided Frank Harris' home in Raynham
10:57and found luxury goods
10:59like trainers, watches and jewellery,
11:02along with large amounts of cash.
11:05Police also found wrapping material
11:08containing white powder
11:10in the nearby house Harris was hiding in
11:13and established it was used to house cocaine.
11:17The 33-year-old was charged with four counts
11:21of being concerned in the supply of cocaine
11:24and possession of criminal property,
11:28pleading guilty to all of them.
11:30He was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment
11:34at Maidstone Crown Court
11:36in February this year.
11:39Henry Luck for KMTV.
11:42That's all we have time for
11:44in this part of the programme,
11:45but please don't go anywhere
11:46because after the break,
11:47we'll hear about
11:48the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
11:50and their warning of dangers of tombstoning.
11:53We'll also learn about
11:54how pupils in Sandwich have been left
11:56rushing for a sick form.
11:57All that and more after the break.
12:25All that and more today.
12:28Thanks,卡 James.
12:40My name's Jesse Martins.
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15:23A suspected murder victim killed in a double stabbing has been named locally as a father of
15:29three.
15:29Police recorded reports of a man with a knife in the harbour area of Ramsgate around 4am on Sunday
15:35and Ashley Jones died in hospital that same day.
15:39A 21-year-old British man was arrested shortly afterwards
15:41and remains in police custody more than 48 hours on from the double stabbing.
15:47Floral tributes have appeared in the streets as friends and family remember the dad who lived locally.
15:53Officers are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
15:57The Royal National Life Barrier Institution has issued a warning about the dangers of tombstoning
16:02after a reported increase of the act over the summer.
16:06Tombstoning is the act of jumping or diving upright from a high ledge, cliff, pier or bridge
16:11into water of unknown depth or which might have objects below the surface.
16:16The warning follows the partial closure of the folks from the harbour arm
16:19after people were seen jumping and diving into the sea.
16:22Guy Addington, the regional water safety lead at the RNLI,
16:26said that a wide tidal range around harbours can especially cause problems as people jump in.
16:32Pupils have been left scrambling for sick form places
16:35as Sandwich Technology School counsels all of its Year 12 courses.
16:39The decision came after the school found that too many students met the entry requirements
16:43for the sick form and the courses offered.
16:45However, parents were only informed of the decision in the past few days,
16:50leaving pupils rushing to find last-minute placements to continue their studies.
16:54The executive head of Barton Court Academy Trust, which recently took over management
16:58of Sandwich Technology, said that they've recognised it was a difficult message to hear
17:02and that they're supporting families in securing an alternative destination.
17:07A former care home in Woolman that was placed into special measures could be converted into 12 flats.
17:13Sonia Lodge on Warwick Road closed in October last year after the Care Quality Commission
17:18found residents living in unsafe conditions.
17:21Now, plans have been submitted to Dover District Council to repurpose the site into
17:24one one-bed, one-three-bed and ten two-bed flats alongside eight parking spaces.
17:30However, objections have been lodged against the scheme over fears around an unsafe access
17:34route behind the property.
17:36Dover District Council is expected to decide on the application later this year.
17:41The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm warning for parts of Kent with heavy showers
17:46expected to move across the county from Wednesday morning.
17:48There could be a brief dry spell before more unsettled weather develops later in the day.
17:53So, our reporter Maisie Walker joins us now with more on what to expect and how to stay safe.
17:58Maisie, how concerned should we be?
18:00Well, right now there isn't a huge amount to be concerned about.
18:03There is, of course, the yellow warning in place for parts of Kent, which includes
18:08Matestone, Sevenoaks, Tunbridge, Medway, Gravesend and Dartford.
18:12And you can see that on the screen there, the areas which will possibly be affected into tomorrow
18:17morning and later this evening.
18:21But generally, the worst of the weather is expected to ease by the time many of us wake
18:26up, according to the Met Office.
18:28Within the warning area, there could be intense rainfall with around 20 to 30 millimetres
18:34falling in less than an hour.
18:36And that could lead to some surface water flooding.
18:40I thought we were in a drought.
18:41Why is there suddenly a risk of flooding now?
18:44Well, I spoke to the Met Office earlier and they said that the dry grounds following repeated
18:49heat waves means the rain may struggle to soak in quickly.
18:55So, the ground is obviously very hard at the minute, given the amount of dry weather we've
18:59had over the summer.
19:01And with a lot of rainfall falling on particularly very hard ground in a very short space of time,
19:07it can lead to some surface water impacts.
19:09And that might bring some disruption to travel and disruption to sort of people getting to
19:15work tomorrow morning and such likes.
19:17But the main area of Kent looks like it will see that heaviest stuff and sort of in the early
19:22hours of Wednesday morning at the very start of that warning period.
19:25So, hopefully, any of those surface water impacts will have started to ease by the time people
19:29are getting out and about.
19:31And a reminder to stay safe during these conditions.
19:35The Met Office is advising motorists to check road conditions before travelling.
19:38And the same thing for commuters.
19:40They should be checking buses and train timetables to make sure they're not out and about during
19:45the peak.
19:46And if you're caught outside and hear thunder, get inside a safe and closed shelter such as a
19:50car and avoid sheltering under trees.
19:53Thank you so much, Maisie.
19:55And now it's time for the weather.
20:03This evening we're seeing about 19 degrees around Medway and Maidstone, a little bit warmer
20:08towards the coast.
20:09Going into tomorrow morning, it's a cloudy and slightly rainy start to the day with around
20:1522 degrees in Maidstone and Medway.
20:16And it's heating up towards the afternoon, clouds around the Medway area and then also gigabits
20:23sunny around the coast.
20:24Looking at the weekend and through Thursday, Friday and Saturday, we're looking at 25 degrees
20:29on Thursday, 22 on Friday and 22 on Saturday.
20:39And finally, today marks 38 years since the first-ever GCSE results came out.
20:44Sat in 1988, these GCSEs replaced O-levels, with the government at the time aiming to make
20:50examinations more comprehensive and consistent.
20:53Perhaps some of you at home took your GCSEs that year.
20:56Well, here at KNTV, we took the first-ever maths paper to see how difficult it really was.
21:00Sophie Denny has the story.
21:03Calculators, hurried writing and pages flipping all bring back memories of stuffy exam halls
21:10and difficult equations.
21:11On this day in 1988, 16-year-olds up and down the country found out how they had fared in
21:19the first-ever set of GCSE exams.
21:21So we thought we'd put the team here at KNTV to the test.
21:25We have some of the very maths papers from that year.
21:28Let's see how they get on.
21:30Are we supposed to talk to each other?
21:32No, it's silent.
21:33Oh, actually.
21:34I'll get to sit inside.
21:35You have to sit inside.
21:36I think you've finished the exam.
21:37From fractions to algebra, we've taken five questions from the 1988 maths paper to see
21:43how Chloe Naylor and Maisie find the exam.
21:46GCSEs were introduced to replace O-levels as a more inclusive system, covering a wider
21:52ability range.
21:53One Kent resident who sat both maths O-level and GCSE says there were some clear differences
21:59between the two.
22:00It felt a little bit different to the O-level.
22:04Possibly at the time, it felt slightly easier.
22:10And also, I think I was one of very few people who was actually effectively re-sitting their
22:15maths.
22:16I don't really recall anything in terms of the content.
22:20What I do remember is that possibly the style of questioning and the layout of the paper was
22:26perhaps a little bit more user-friendly.
22:28But how did our reporters find the exam?
22:31I'm not entirely sure.
22:32I've not sat a maths exam paper for a good few years now.
22:37The question about probability did throw me off a little bit because that was always my
22:41weakest topic in maths.
22:44But yeah, we'll see.
22:45Maybe I'll surprise myself and everyone else.
22:47Who knows?
22:48I don't think it went very well.
22:49I opened that paper and I just didn't understand a single word.
22:53It was like the words were literally just crawling off the page.
22:57But that's not surprising.
22:59I mean, I did my GCSE maths three years ago.
23:02So it is a bit of a shock to how much I have forgotten already.
23:05You know, it was a bit traumatic, to be honest.
23:08I haven't done maths for so many years.
23:10And as soon as I opened the paper and immediately saw fractions, I thought, this isn't going to
23:14be my lucky day.
23:15But no, it was a good experience.
23:17I'm not too confident I'm going to beat the others, though.
23:19In 1988, 96.6% of students passed their exams and just over 40% scored above a C.
23:27Let's see how the team here at KMTV got on.
23:31Sophie Denny for KMTV in Medway.
23:35Well, Sophie joins me now on the sofa as well as Maisie and Nayla to go through the results.
23:40Right.
23:41What is the result?
23:43Are you ready?
23:44I'm ready.
23:45So we know Nayla finished first, followed by Maisie and then you, Chloe.
23:49Oh, no.
23:50This isn't the results.
23:51This is timing.
23:52Oh, OK.
23:53I can't reveal that that's not the order in which you scored in your papers.
23:57We did have won 100%.
23:59So congratulations to that person.
24:02Any guesses?
24:03Nayla.
24:03I think Nayla as well.
24:05I think Chloe.
24:06No.
24:07You would be correct if you thought it was Nayla.
24:09Ten out of ten.
24:10Of course.
24:10What?
24:11Shows her workings and she got every answer right.
24:15I'm actually so chuffed at that.
24:17There you go.
24:17So bad.
24:18You can have the paper back now.
24:20I don't think I trust you, Sophie.
24:22You don't trust my maths.
24:24I looked up these answers very well.
24:27Plus, Nayla got them all right.
24:29I love seeing all the little ticks.
24:31You did A-level maths as well, didn't you?
24:33Yeah.
24:33Come on.
24:34So it was expected.
24:35We were expecting a good break.
24:37Well, I wasn't expecting it.
24:38There you go.
24:40Second place, we've got 70%, 7 out of 10.
24:45Chloe, well done.
24:47Oh, I'll take it.
24:48What was that probability question that kind of foiled you?
24:52But that was, you know, apart from that.
24:54Whatever.
24:54I think that was probably better than I did in my actual GCSEs there, so I'm happy with that.
24:58It's the working out that counts, to be fair.
25:00You know, you get those, like, one marks for showing your workings out.
25:03Come on.
25:04What did I get, Sophie?
25:05Let's go.
25:05Well, you passed.
25:06Did I?
25:06Yeah.
25:07Oh!
25:07You got 4 out of 10, 40%, I'm sure that's a pass.
25:114 out of 10, out of that.
25:11Wait, no, 40 wouldn't.
25:13Don't worry.
25:14I'll take it as a pass.
25:15I think it was the probability.
25:17To be fair, that stumped me as well when you tried to get me to help you during the
25:20time.
25:21I don't know.
25:22I think you had to, actually, Naila can explain how she had to do the probability.
25:26Oh, you just times them together.
25:27Oh, you're not.
25:28If it's one thing and another thing, you times them.
25:30Listen, I've never used this in my life, so.
25:33How did we find GCSEs in general when we did them, though?
25:37How did you find them?
25:38Were they okay?
25:39Yeah, mine was okay, but I was kind of like the guinea pig year.
25:42So, my year was the first GCSE year of the new, kind of, what's the one I'm looking for?
25:49Not like spectrum, but like.
25:50Oh, the new specification.
25:52Specification, yeah.
25:53So, we kind of had all these lessons, but we didn't really know what the exam was going
25:57to be about because we had no previous papers to look back on, but it's really interesting
26:01and it was very much a work in progress.
26:03We had plenty of tutoring sessions.
26:06I kind of enjoyed the paper, to be honest, is what I remember from it.
26:10Unbelievable.
26:10Because you got 100% of them.
26:13But, yeah, no, it was interesting because our year was kind of the first year for new
26:17specifications across most subjects, to be honest, so.
26:19So, you were kind of like the first people who sat their GCSEs in a way.
26:23In a way.
26:23Like the people who did the new GCSEs.
26:25Exactly.
26:26I like that comparison.
26:27I mean, I was a cop out because I was Covid year when I did my GCSEs, so I didn't
26:30have
26:31to do it, so I mean, I never actually did a GCSE paper, so really, really this is my
26:35first GCSE paper done right on the show here.
26:38Congratulations.
26:3870%.
26:3970%.
26:40Right.
26:40I'm going to have to call the short because the show is just ending.
26:44Well, thank you so much for watching Kent tonight, live here on KMTV.
26:48There's more news made just for Kent throughout the evening, and don't forget you can always
26:51keep up to date with the latest news by logging on to kmtv.co.uk.
26:55Goodbye.