The Leadership Team of Kensington and Chelsea Council met on Wednesday, 12 November 2025, to discuss a range of important financial and policy matters. Key topics included the council's medium-term financial planning, which involves significant budget savings and potential increases in fees and charges, as well as the allocation of the latest tranche of the Household Support Fund to assist vulnerable residents. The team also reviewed a draft statement of licensing policy for 2026-2031, which has been updated following public consultation.

Medium Term Financial Planning

The council is facing significant financial challenges due to anticipated government funding reforms, which are expected to reduce its core spending power by over 40% by 2029/30. To address this, the Leadership Team was asked to approve the launch of consultation on draft proposals for budget savings, totalling £22.3 million in 2026/27, and £31.5 million over the period 2026/27-2029/30. These savings are categorised under themes such as Better Ways of Working, Being More Businesslike, Changes to Service Delivery, and Using Our Money Differently.

The report also outlined proposed increases to fees and charges, with a general uplift of 5% for 2026/27, though some exceptions are noted due to specific cost recovery needs or market forces. Notable exceptions include higher increases for graffiti removal, certain waste collection fees, and a proposed 10% increase for visitor parking charges.

The council is reluctantly considering charging a premium on second homes and exploring reductions to its Council Tax Reduction Scheme to help balance the budget. A 5% annual increase in Council Tax is also factored into the financial plans, a condition for transitional arrangements related to funding changes.

The Capital Programme is also under review to ensure schemes remain a priority and are deliverable, with proposals for new investment including street lighting upgrades, an enterprise data platform, library computer upgrades, and works at Pembroke Road Depot.

Allocation of Household Support Fund Tranche 7

The council received £2,080,365.52 in its seventh tranche of the Household Support Fund (HSF7), which covers the period until March 2026. Following an initial allocation for Free School Meal (FSM) vouchers, the report recommended the use of the remaining £1,448,889.52.

The proposals included:

• Extension of FSM holiday provision: An allocation of £579,960 to continue providing FSM vouchers to eligible pupils during school holidays until the end of the 2026 Easter holidays, supporting approximately 4,700 pupils at a rate of £4 per day.
• Direct Cash Support Payment: An allocation of £812,000 to provide a direct cash payment of at least £200 to the 30% of residents on the lowest incomes, identified through the Council's Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) dashboard. This targeted approach aims to support approximately 4,000 households.
• Administrative Costs: An allocation of £40,000 to cover the administrative costs associated with delivering these proposals.
• Discretionary Allocation of Remaining Funds: Delegation of authority to the Executive Director of Resources, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance, Digital and Efficiency, to allocate any remaining funds. This could be used to provide a top-up payment to direct cash support recipients or supplement the Housing Revenue Account Tenancy Sustainment Fund.

The report also noted the conclusion of the HSF on 31 March 2026 and the commencement of the new Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) from April 2026.

Draft Statement of Licensing Policy (2026-2031)

The Leadership Team was presented with the draft Statement of Licensing Policy (SLP) for 2026-2031, which requires statutory review and republication every five years. The current policy expires in January 2026, necessitating its adoption before this date. The revised policy incorporates changes following a 12-week public consultation, which received over 70 responses, predominantly from residents and residents' groups.

Key updates to the policy include:

• An increased emphasis on schemes to protect women and girls from violence on licensed premises and ensuring staff training on harm reduction and safeguarding.
• Consideration of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (Martyn's Law), which mandates preparedness for potential terrorist incidents.
• Revisions to sections on closing hours, hotels, late-night refreshment, off-sales of alcohol, and al fresco dining.
• New sections on modern slavery and annual fees, with a clarification on the suspension of premises licences for non-payment.
• Specific considerations for Notting Hill Carnival, including earlier TENs submissions and potential conditions on licences.
• The policy aims to balance supporting the borough's hospitality and night-time economy with the needs of residents, considering existing densities of businesses and transport networks.

The report indicated that an Equality Impact Assessment and a Safety Impact Assessment had been completed, finding no adverse impacts on safety or equality arising from the adoption of the policy.

Housing Management Performance

The meeting also included a review of the Housing Management department's performance for Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 of the 2025/2026 financial year. The report detailed key performance indicators across various service areas, including compliance, responsive repairs, estate services, anti-social behaviour, complaints, contact centre performance, rent arrears, fraud, lettings, voids, and decent homes standards.

Key performance points highlighted included:

• High levels of compliance on key safety metrics such as electrical, gas safety, and fire risk assessments.
• A drop in overall satisfaction with responsive repairs in September, though still above target.
• Inconsistent monthly satisfaction levels for estate services, with grounds maintenance and external cleaning slightly below target.
• Low resident satisfaction with the anti-social behaviour (ASB) service, with actions being taken to address this.
• Complaints performance figures showing recent drops in compliance with the Housing Ombudsman Scheme requirements due to system-generated target date changes.
• Contact centre call performance exceeding KPI targets.
• Rent arrears remaining outside of the target at the end of September, with a focus on early contact and support for Universal Credit claimants.
• A reduction in the turnaround time for major works voids.
• A non-decency level of 28% for homes, showing improvement but still indicating the council is partway through its journey to achieve the Decent Homes Standard by 2030.
• Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) for 2023-24 placed the council in the top quartile for satisfaction with the overall repairs service, although this measure will be re-evaluated against updated benchmarks in late 2025.

The report noted that the council is not yet fully compliant with the Decent Homes Standard and is working towards this by 2030. The Stock Condition Survey Programme is progressing, with a priority on ensuring residents are safe in their homes.

The meeting also included a 72-second silence to remember those who lost their lives in the Grenfell tragedy. Apologies for absence were received from Cllr. Josh Rendall and Cllr. Catherine Faulks. The minutes of the previous meeting held on 15 October 2025 were confirmed as a correct record.