内容摘要：To reduce the number of crossings, the government has pledged to disrupt the people-smuggling gangs behind them.

To reduce the number of crossings, the government has pledged to disrupt the people-smuggling gangs behind them.

"If Reform were serious about making the council work well they would be getting their councillors to do this job, not bringing in unnamed anonymous people who haven't been elected."The move has also been condemned by the Green Party.

Rich Lehmann, the party's leader on Kent County Council, said: "This move, along with the cancellation of key committee meetings, feels like a blatant attempt to subvert the checks and balances which ensure all of the council's activities are transparent and above board."The fact that they have software engineers offering to work "for free" is of particular concern, given that the data they are forcefully requesting access to would include significant volumes of commercially sensitive information and the personal data of many of Kent's most vulnerable residents."This is a reckless move that puts vital council operations and residents at risk."

Campaigners working to save a run-down theatre from demolition are celebrating success after its sale to a charitable trust.Novello Theatre in Sunninghill, Berkshire, has been bought by the Sunninghill Trust, which will also fund the building's refurbishment.

The 100-year-old former cinema will be linked to neighbouring Cordes Hall, with Cordes Hall Charity running both venues "as one vibrant arts hub".

Campaign coordinator Alan Everett described the development as "a fantastic outcome for local performers and residents".The Parole Board first said that Steele would be released on licence in February after a panel ruled imprisonment "no longer necessary for the protection of the public".

This was temporarily blocked when Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood asked forsaying the decision was "legally irrational".

But after a "thorough" risk assessment the Parole Board, which had previously been worried about the chances of him reoffending, decided to go ahead with his release."He faces an immediate return to prison if he breaks the rules," the MoJ warned.