A horrible, shocking day with the news that Ann Allen, Chairman of the County Council, died suddenly at home. For many, many people across the council - Councillors of all parties as well as council officers - as well as the Wilmington community that she represented; the people and organisations across the county that she met and supported; and above all the children and young people in the council’s care that she championed - the loss is overwhelming.
Ann championed Wilmington, Dartford (where she was a long-serving and senior Borough Councillor) and Kent. At KCC she was (among many other roles) a shrewd and highly effective Conservative Chief Whip; a very successful Chairman in 2019-20, who had taken on the role for a second term in May; and perhaps her most characteristic role, Chairman of the Corporate Parenting Panel, which brings together KCC councillors with representatives of the children and young people in the council’s care and others (such as foster careers) involved in these issues.
Ann insisted on retaining the Chair of the Panel through her terms as County Council Chairman, and for her the role was always about much more than chairing some meetings. She cared deeply about and advocated for the young people in KCC’s care (and the Care Leavers who have recently left it) and it showed. The KCC Panel was something of a model for building relationships between the Council and Children in Care - and much of that was down to Ann.
Ann’s family - to whom she was devoted - have suffered the greatest loss, and our thoughts must be with them. And for all of us who worked with her and were privileged to have had her friendship, the loss is also huge. She really did represent the best of us.
You can find the Council’s statement on Ann here:
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