Just before the end of December, an announcement was made that a plan for a new business centre in Maidstone had secured a £5.7m grant, a vital cash injection.

Where had the money come from? It came in the form of grant from the EU - and just a few days after the general election.

It is the type of funding that Brexit means the UK will not now have access to, raising an important question: what is the future for dozens of schemes, programmes and initiatives that Kent has benefited from over many years?

Will the tap be turned off from the funding streams that have been vital to the county over more than forty years?

The answer is no-one really knows.

What we do know is that the government has outlined plans for something called the “shared prosperity fund” to replace the existing pot that is managed by the EU.

Perhaps inevitably, the way these new arrangements will work are unclear but at some point will need to be addressed during the transition period this year.

A report to county councillors in November stated: “Detail on the funding however has not been published and no formal consultations about the fund have yet been launched (initially this should have taken place in 2018) so it is still unclear what may be available to Kent in the future.”

There is a genuine concern here as Kent’s proximity to the continent means it has found it far easier to become involved in joint schemes with France, Belgium and Holland. It has undoubtedly helped secure funding to help regeneration in some of the county’s most deprived communities.

According to KCC’s website, the council is involved in 26 EU-funded projects - a figure unlikely to be matched by any other authority.

If the government pulls the EU rug from under the feet of councils, there currently are no other routes to get investment.

Of course there is always the argument that ceasing to pay into the EU's coffers means that the UK government will have options to continue supporting some of these initiatives.

Politically, the issue that may worry the Conservatives is the potential for funding that has come Kent’s way until now to be redirected elsewhere - notably in those areas in the north of the country where the party broke down the so-called Labour red wall at the election. Keeping voters on side and willing to stick by the party at the next election in these constituencies will be crucial

The council's concerns perhaps explain why, on Brexit Day, KCC issued a lengthy press statement in which the authority could not have made it clearer that it intended to continue its links with other countries on the continent.

And it went further, committing the authority to not only cement existing partnerships but forge new ones.

There is a practical reason for laying its cards on the table so explicitly - KCC wants to ensure it is seen not as an isolationist authority that will shut out former partners and remains keen to engage with its counterparts across the Channel.

As to the politics of it all, KCC’s Conservative administration just might be signalling that its instincts are rather more pro-European than other authorities