Towns such as Gillingham, Rochester, Strood, Rainham and Chatham will only have Christmas trees on high streets this year. Elsewhere in the UK, Christmas plans are being funded by local businesses.
Five town centres in Kent will be without Christmas lights this year because of a 'challenging financial situation', the local council has said. Medway Council said it made the 'sad and difficult decision' not to have lights or host any switch-on events, as its forecasting budget has identified a potential overspend of £17m for this financial year.
Mr Maple said Medway is one of the lowest funded unitary authorities in the country in terms of its population - which was put at just over 280,000 in 2019 - having had its revenue support grant cut by 91% since 2010. Read more from Sky News:Pro-Palestinian rallies outside Downing StreetColdplay sues former managerBig easing in grocery inflation A revenue support grant comes from central government and supplements local authorities' income from local taxes.
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