Minutes:
The Mayor invited the Leader of the Council to address the meeting. The Leader then rose to speak:
Mr. Mayor, this is a very important evening and an important meeting – where this Council sets its budget for the year ahead. And Mr Mayor, with thanks to officers and colleagues, sitting either side of me here on the front bench, it is yet another balanced budget. A pragmatic budget. A budget that signals exactly what we are all about: low taxes, innovation making services leaner, more agile, and focused what matters most to the people we serve. A budget that shows exactly why people choose Conservative here in Kensington and Chelsea: year after year after year, election after election after election. It shows why, in May next year, they will want to vote Conservative again.
We are holding down Council Tax again, increasing it by just 80p a week. Mr Mayor, one of the lowest increases in London. And we are proposing this for two reasons. One, we know how difficult rising costs are for many people in Kensington and Chelsea, and we want to make sure we do all we can to help. And two, when faced with financial challenges, we believe that taking money from people’s pockets through taxes should always be the very last option. We look at ourselves first. Make sure we are as lean as we can be, but services remain as good as they can be.
Mr. Mayor, like many Councils across the country, of course we are facing financial uncertainty and difficulty. It isn’t easy. Our budget gap – driven by broken promises from a Labour Government and rising costs like national insurance – is £40m over the next four years. We will have to prioritise what our residents want most, and make sure we do the basics better than anyone else. Next year we will spend over £600 million on vital day to day services and the delivery of major projects set out in our 2023 Council Plan.
And it is fair to say that the last 12 months has been an incredibly busy time on this front as well. We have built award winning new homes, invested more than £7million in our parks, continued to build and invest in our amazing public spaces. And over the next five years, we will spend nearly £5million on youth services, investing once again in our outstanding Ofsted-rated Children’s Services, the best in the country Mr Mayor.
Not only that, £750,000 will go back to residents to help with the rising cost-of-living. My promise to our residents is that we will continue to work hard to keep costs down and make sure we spend your money with the utmost care. You put us here, and we are here for you.
But, Mr. Mayor, what do we have opposite – in what is left of the opposition party? What is the alternative? I’ll tell you: an ‘If you’ve got it, we will spend it’ budget. They outline a second homes tax is ready to ride to the rescue for unfunded commitments, but we know the sums don’t add up. Westminster, a similar borough to us, only managed to collect just over £1m in their first year. Let’s call it what it is, another sticking plaster tax – that benefits no-one and is just another way to punish those who strive, earn, and contribute to this city and this country.
Mr. Mayor, I lead a Council centred on finding solutions – not more money to go and waste. Only last Friday, we got all the registered housing providers to start working on how – together – we can improve housing standards. Thanks to the work of Councillor Marshall in particular, we are the only Council currently looking at how a high performing pension pot can contribute to better services or help tackle the cost of housing. We are first in the pack when looking at AI – already using it for better customer service, greater productivity, and even tackling graffiti on our streets. We are fast tracking simple planning applications and finding ways to help people pay online – quickly and simply. Giving people choice. Sensible. Pragmatic. Local government but finding ways to do better and be better. That is what you get from us. And with just over a year to the next local elections expect to see more of it.
My thanks to Johnny, to officers, and the team beside me and behind me. All pulling in the same direction. All in it together. And all in for putting our residents first. Thank you.
The Mayor invited the Leader of the Opposition to address the meeting. Cllr Ali then rose to speak:
Mr. Mayor, we are in the holy month of Ramadan and thousands of our Kensington and Chelsea residents are fasting this month. I hope the leader of the council will join me to wish a happy Ramadan Mubarak to all our RBKC residents who are fasting this month, and we are wishing them a Happy Eid Mubarak at the end of this fasting month.
Mr. Mayor, this is the eight Ramadan month since I witnessed the horrors of Grenfell Housing disaster and as I said before, I will never forget what I witnessed that fateful night. Once again, I pray for the bereaved families and survivors. I understand the government has made a decision about the Tower and I believe the decision is based on the structural engineers’ safety report. However, we, the Kensington and Chelsea Labour Group of Councillors and residents will continue to demand justice for the bereaved families and survivors.
The legacy of Grenfell should have been safer homes for all our residents and homes fit for human habitation across the borough. However, this has not been the case for many of our residents who are tenants of Housing Associations and the Council. Housing association tenants in our borough who contacted us, and they feel that they have been ignored both by their Housing Association landlords and the Council.
We have witnessed residents with young children who are living damp and mould homes in our borough and the housing association landlords are either reluctant or slow to respond even when the disrepairs reach a high hazards level.
This is issues of damp and mould which effects the fabric of the building or services within it, does not happen overnight and it is mainly caused by allowing water to enter the property. This could be a roof leak, disrepair to window or door frames or a leak from a water pipe inside the property and as well as a server overcrowding in some cases.
The issues of Housing Associations not repairing their tenant’s homes probably and timely have been an ongoing issue however, some housing associations are now also acting as a private landlord, when they issue a section 21 notice also known as a no-fault eviction. For example, a resident who was issued with a section 21 notice, the family has been living in our borough for the last 13 years. I personally had to get involved in the housing case and together with Westminster Council Councillors have resolved the issue as the residents initially moved from Westminster. The housing association in question has apologised for their actions and the family with the young children remained in the north of the borough and the kids are continuing with their studies uninterrupted.
We, as a Council must come up with strong polices to deal with housing associations, check the housing and health living conditions of our residents who are the tenants of housing associations and not to wait until our residents suffer or until they lose the will to communicate with us as a council.
Overcrowding is one of the main problems in our borough which affects both council and housing association tenants. For example, a family of 5 are living in a damp and mouldy one bedroom property, where they live, work and study as a family. I understand the new UK Labour Government is planning to build 1.5 million homes in the next five years which will ease the chronic housing crisis in the country and as a result in our borough.
However, in the meantime, I would like the Council leadership to look in the long-term financing formula of the new homes programme and ask the government for financial support to make the 80% of the new homes as social and keyworkers homes to deal with the current chronic overcrowding in RBKC.
Finally, Mr. Mayor, the Council leadership say that we want the borough to be the best borough in the country and I agree with this statement, however, actions speak louder than words and North Kensington wards residents feel that they have been ignored by the council and I am afraid I share that feeling with our residents. I have had ward walkabouts with the Leader of the Council and the current Lead Member for housing. Although, I greatly have enjoyed the ward walkabouts with both on separate occasions and thank them for vising my ward, however, the issues I raised with them still are unresolved. My question is, shall I wait for another ward walkabout, or will this issue be resolved before? Thank you, Mr. Mayor.