• Tens of thousands of foreign-registered lorries fail to pay the Dart Charge for the existing Dartford crossing
• Failure to improve link roads will cause chaos in long term warn Kent Lib Dems as Highways England consults on Second Thames Crossing

More than 150,000 foreign-registered lorries failed to pay the Dart Charge in the past year according to a Freedom of Information request by Kent Liberal Democrats, who are calling for a new system to be introduced as soon as possible.

For too long, tenants have been made to pay additional, unnecessary fees when renting a place to live.

After years of putting pressure on the Government, on Tuesday they agreed major concessions on the Tenant Fees Bill.

Liberal Democrats campaigned to:

• significantly limit the fees that could be charged to a tenant by their landlord or lettings agent,
• require a greater amount of transparency when deciding not to refund a holding deposit, and
• limit the maximum security deposit a landlord can require to five weeks rent.

Period poverty is finally getting the publicity it deserves with several councils over the country offering free sanitary products to their local residents.

Kent County Council has a statutory duty to look after young women as they leave care and move into adulthood and has ultimate responsibility for the wellbeing of all residents.

Periods on average cost these young women £10 a month and many in Canterbury are having to resort to using toilet paper or newspaper, or take sick leave. And this is in the 21st century! In Canterbury you can access products from our excellent Food Bank, a service I'm pleased to support in a small way via my members grant.

So this week I asked Graham Gibbens, the County Council Cabinet Member who would take the relevant decision, what steps he is taking to sort out period poverty for women aged from 14-21. I'm delighted to report that Kent CC is working with schools, but not everyone is at school and everyone else's needs were completely ignored in his answer - unless you live in Thanet where providing protection will be part of a "trial". One trial for the whole of Kent!!!

I don't believe this is good enough - to end period poverty KCC should stand up to the mark and provide products without delay in libraries and community centres for local residents throughout the County and not rely on local charities doing the job for them.

• Food supplies disrupted as safety testing becomes impossible
• Schools, social care, transport and business will face severe disruption
• County Council forced to spend over £20 million on reinforcing Kent's roads and hundreds of thousands of pounds to employ more staff to cope with chaos

The true impact of a catastrophic no deal Brexit has been laid bare in a report published on Wednesday detailing Kent County Council's emergency plans.

Kent County Council want to know what you think of their draft three-year strategy for Libraries, Registration and Archives and our proposal to tier libraries and review opening hours.

To read the draft strategy and complete the questionnaire, visit kent.gov.uk/lrastrategy or pick up copies from any Kent library, register office or Gateway before the 29 January 2019 when the consultation closes.