Government misplaces nearly 1,000 Medway residents
Medway’s changing population, plus a £43m social care problem and some very expensive tours of the Pentagon
The government has revised last year’s population estimate and, in the process, removed 964 Medway residents who were apparently never here in the first place. We look at what the latest figures actually tell us about how Medway is changing, including why births are driving most of its population growth, why more people are leaving for elsewhere in the UK than arriving, and how international migration fits into the picture. Elsewhere, Medway Council seeks government help with a £43m adult social care overspend, Kent Police pay up for a poor licensing objection, and you can pay £114 to study the Pentagon Centre.
Government misplaces nearly 1,000 Medway residents
The government has misplaced 964 Medway residents.
Nobody appears to have gone anywhere. The Office for National Statistics has instead revised its estimate of how many people lived in Medway last year.
It previously put the population in mid 2024 at 292,655. It now believes the figure was 291,691 after incorporating improved international migration data.
That makes it the second largest downward revision among the south east’s 64 local authority districts by headcount.
With the correction made, Medway’s current estimated population stands at 292,697.
That is an increase of 1,006 during the year to mid 2025, representing growth of 0.34%. The south east grew by 0.55% during the same period, so Medway is still getting bigger, just not particularly quickly.
The figures do not provide one especially tidy explanation for why.
Medway had 3,088 births and 2,447 deaths during the year. That added 641 people to the population before anyone moved into or out of the area.
More people left Medway for elsewhere in the UK than came in the opposite direction. There were 15,878 arrivals from other parts of the country and 16,899 departures, producing a net domestic loss of 1,021 residents.
International migration more than offset that decline. An estimated 3,515 people arrived in Medway from another country and 2,208 left, producing a net increase of 1,307.
The ONS defines international migration as people moving between countries for at least a year. It is not a measure of nationality and can include British people returning to or leaving the country.
Combined, domestic and international migration added 286 people to Medway’s population. A further 79 came from changes involving armed forces personnel and other statistical adjustments.
Add those 286 people to the 641 gained through births and deaths, along with the remaining adjustments, and the overall increase comes to 1,006.
Neither the idea that everyone is leaving nor that migration is driving Medway’s growth quite survives contact with the figures. Births accounted for almost two-thirds of the increase.
That reflects a Medway population that remains younger than much of the south east.
The median Medway resident is 39.1 years old, compared with 42.2 across the region. There are an estimated 60,143 children under 16 in Medway and 49,047 residents aged 65 or over.
Children therefore outnumber older residents by more than 11,000. Across the south east, the position is reversed, with people aged 65 or over outnumbering children.
The difference is also reflected in the balance between births and deaths. Medway recorded 641 more births than deaths during the year, while the south east as a whole recorded 559 more deaths than births.
The ONS warns that local population figures are subject to statistical uncertainty and will be revised again as its data and methods improve. Removing almost 1,000 residents from last year’s estimate rather makes the point for it.
The figures show Medway still growing, just not particularly quickly. Births are doing most of the work, while international arrivals are offsetting the fact that more residents are moving elsewhere in the UK than coming here.
The 964 residents were never lost from Medway. They were lost from a spreadsheet, which is what happens when an estimate is treated as an exact figure right up until it is replaced by another one.
Catch Up
The latest national GP Patient Survey contains some good news: satisfaction with Medway’s surgeries is improving. But dig beneath the average, and the differences are extraordinary. Five Rainham practices have satisfaction scores above 90%, while three surgeries elsewhere fail to reach 50%. We went through the results for all 32 practices to see where patients are happiest, where getting an appointment remains a struggle, and which surgeries are moving in the right direction.
Ed Jennings
For Rachel Lowrie, Medway is less a collection of performance tables and more something to write songs about. The singer-songwriter behind the Ashen Keys and South Shore spoke to us about the new Chatham Skies album, the unlikely origins of the Ashen Keys and the River Medway itself, which became such a source of comfort that talking to it began to feel entirely natural.
Steven Keevil
In brief
📱 Gillingham and Rainham MP Naushabah Khan has started highlighting the racist bullshit she receives on social media.
💷 Medway Council has requested support with adult social care from the government after running up an overspend of nearly £43m.
👮 Kent Police have had to pay £13,000 to Medway Council and a Gillingham shopowner for a lazy licence objection.
🧂 Haus of Condiments is now open on Rochester High Street.
🛍️ Property firm Revo are offering 'study tours' of the Pentagon in Chatham, with tickets costing up to £114.
🪧 Some vaults in Chatham are up for sale for £50,000 if you'd like to start construction of your supervillain lair.
🔶 Shout out to the Medway Liberal Democrats, who breathlessly sent out a press release this morning angry about Southern Water's hosepipe ban. The only problem? Southern Water doesn't have one in place at the moment. Funnily enough, our sister publication, the Kent Current, published a piece this morning on how messy Kent's water map is, meaning that restrictions can vary from town to town.
Ed Jennings
Council matters
Meetings next week:
- Tuesday: Licensing Hearing Panel will decide the fate of a virtual golf centre at Chatham Waters.
- Wednesday: Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee will meet to discuss NHS services, mental health services, emergency case, and safety issues at Medway NHS Foundation Trust.
- Thursday: Business Support and Digital Overview and Scrutiny Committee will discuss the budget situation and local government reorganisation.
New planning applications:
- Scoping opinion for 360 homes north of Rede Court Road in Strood.
- Conversion of a shop in Station Road, Rainham to a pharmacy.
- Increase the number of Greenfields boot fairs in Upnor from 14 to 21.
Property of the week
This four-bedroom Grade II-listed terrace on Ordnance Terrace in Chatham is on the market for offers over £450,000, complete with a self-contained basement flat and a reported former resident by the name of Charles Dickens. Quite what Dickens would make of returning to find his old home decorated with Live, Laugh, Love-adjacent quotations across the walls is sadly lost to history, although presumably he could get several chapters out of it. Beyond the literary connection, it is a substantial period house with tall windows, high ceilings, and plenty of original character, while the separate one-bedroom flat downstairs adds a useful extra dimension. Dickens-related property is hardly unusual around Rochester and Chatham, but this one at least appears to have a rather more direct claim than most.
Events this week
🎮 15 - 16 Aug - Medway Gaming Festival // Gaming halls, VR, robots, and lots more. Medway Park, Gillingham. Tickets from £20.
🥕 Sun 16 Aug - Rochester Farmers' Market // Stalls selling fresh produce, hot food, drinks, and gifts. Blue Boar Lane car park, Rochester. Free.
🏳️⚧️ Wed 19 Aug - Not Born Tip to Toe // An evening with Hilary Cooke of Medway Pride and friends, sharing stories and challenging anti-trans myths. Sun Pier House, Chatham. Free.
Footnotes
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