Councillor Manish Shukla

The Surbiton Neighbourhood Committee decided to approve grant applications and Councillor Ward Funding allocations on 08/09/2026. The committee approved £2,800 for Surbiton Town Centre Partnership's Christmas event and £3,000 for Voices of Hope's Baby BRITE Box project. Additionally, £6,532.03 was allocated for two Christmas trees, £1,140 for a remote tree switch-on, £1,681.66 for two new benches on Alexandra Drive, £1,000 for Alpha Road Residents’ Association, and £750 for a new bench on Vine Close.

The Corporate and Resources Committee, Council decided on 14 July 2026 to approve recommendations for the de-establishment of the Member-led Blue Badge Appeals Panel process and to delegate authority for overseeing revised outsourced arrangements for the concessionary travel service. The Council also agreed to de-establish the Blue Badge Appeals Panel and delete section 4.8 of Part 3A of the Council's Constitution. This includes implementing a revised single-stage review process from 15 July 2026 and presenting a performance and quality assurance report six months after implementation.

The Corporate and Resources Committee, Council recommended to full council on 14 July 2026 that a separate Health and Wellbeing Board be re-established. The committee also recommended the de-establishment of the Kingston Partnership Board and that authority be delegated to the Monitoring Officer to make consequential amendments to the Constitution.

The Council decided to lobby the government for increased climate change funding and to publish a borough-wide Heat Resilience Action Plan by 31 December 2026. The Council also resolved to publish a timetable for its successor Air Quality Action Plan by 30 September 2026.

The Corporate and Resources Committee of Kingston upon Thames Council approved the award of a Soft FM contract on 25 June 2026. The contract is for three years with a possible two-year extension, valued at £7.51m excluding VAT, to provide cleaning, pest control, fire alarm testing, and porterage services for corporate property. The new contract will introduce a Computer Aided Facility Management (CAFM) system for planned and reactive work.