Council Plan 2026 to 2030

What this plan does

This Council Plan sets out:

• what the council will focus on over the next four years
• the outcomes we want for residents
• how we will judge progress

It gives residents, staff and partners a shared direction so that budgets, services and decisions are focused on the same goals.

A lasting legacy from Grenfell

Building a better borough also means continuing to change the council itself. Since 2017, we have strengthened the way we listen to residents, report progress and hold ourselves to account. The legacy of Grenfell remains central to all of our work. Our response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, including commitments on complaints, culture, housing safety and long-term support for the Grenfell community, are all key milestones in shaping a better borough for everyone. 

Partnership working

The council cannot deliver this alone. Our Public Participation Commitments guide how we involve local people in all council decisions.

This requires us to:

• engage early
• make participation accessible and inclusive
• be clear about what can and cannot change
• explain how residents’ views have shaped decisions

 This is particularly important for our tenants and leaseholders.

Working with residents:

We will work with residents to develop a Resident Pact, setting out what residents  can expect from us and what can reasonably be asked of residents, communities and partners in return.

Voluntary and community organisations play a vital role, embedded within communities and providing support early and preventatively. We saw this most clearly in the days after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, when the community led the way. We will take responsibility for Council services but back them to lead where they are best placed.

Businesses and institutions are a big part of why this is a special place to live, as well as the heart of London’s visitor economy.

We will:

• support our Business Improvement Districts such as Knightsbridge to improve our public realm
• support Transport for London as they set about making South Kensington station step free
• work closely with external agencies, such as the police and NHS to keep local people safe

The challenges we must respond to

This ambition sits alongside real pressures that affect daily life, increased demand for services and requires clear choices about where effort and money go.

1. Rising and more complex demand: more residents need help and often what they need is more complex, particularly in housing, care, mental health and family support. 
2. Children and young people: Kensington and Chelsea is home to some of the best early years settings and schools, but strong provision does not mean every child is thriving. We need to improve school attendance, reduce inequalities in outcomes and support more children to be active and healthy. Young people tell us they are concerned about their futures and we need to ensure that all children and young people have the support and opportunities they need to fulfil their potential.
3. Housing and place: the borough is compact, dense and busy. Residents, businesses and visitors rely on the same streets, parks, high streets and public spaces. We have improved our social homes over the last 10 years but still have some way to go to ensure that all homes meet the Decent Homes standard. With little space for new development, improving and maintaining what we already have is essential.
4. Modern expectations: residents expect services that are dependable, easy to use, secure and responsive. Our recovery from the 2025 cyber-attack showed the importance of resilient technology, good information and joined-up services and we know there is more to do here.
5. Inequality and affordability: the borough contains considerable wealth and opportunity, but also deep inequalities between neighbourhoods and households. Average house prices remain around 26 times above average earnings and 10.7% of households live in fuel poverty. Household income and life expectancy differ significantly between parts of the borough and satisfaction with the council varies by around 20% between our highest and lowest scoring wards.
6. Less money and harder choices: rising costs, inflation, changes to national funding and growing demand mean the council expects to have over £120 million less than we need over the next four years. We will need to transform how services are designed, delivered and prioritised so that resources go where they make the greatest difference.

Delivering the council priorities

The following priorities set out where we will focus effort over the life of the Council Plan.

This is not a complete list of everything the council does. We will continue to provide a wide range of statutory, universal and day-to-day services, but we will use these priorities to guide choices, investment, improvement and accountability.

Each priority is set out in three parts:

• what we will continue and improve
• what we commit to
• how we will show success

1. What we will continue and improve

We will maintain our standards and levels of service where they are already high. We will also continue to drive improvement across all aspects of our work.

2. What we commit to

We commit to completing specific pieces of projects and change programmes by a stated date.

3. How we will show success

How residents can judge whether we have done what we said.

Our priorities

The four priorities are the council’s response to our challenges and to the promise to shape a better Kensington and Chelsea for everyone.

They focus on what residents told us matters most, while recognising that the council must become simpler, more efficient and more focused.

Listening to what residents said: Let’s Talk K&C2030

In order to develop our Council Plan for the next four years, we wanted to have an open and honest conversation with local people about what services they value the most and how we can best meet the future challenges together and keep Kensington and Chelsea special.

This is part of our ongoing Public Participation Commitments to ensure local people are part of the conversation about priorities, rather than simply being informed of decisions after they are made. 

What residents value most

Residents told us they value:

• the borough's parks and green spaces
• clean streets
• local shops, markets and restaurants
• local amenities

They wanted the council to go further on:

• transport and traffic, including cycling and e-bikes
• community safety and anti-social behaviour
• improving council services, strive to be better, more transparent and provide value for money

We made an effort to hear from different residents via local events and meetings. In addition, residents also told us of the importance of:

• affordable housing
• supporting local businesses
• improving access to jobs
• improving services for disabled and vulnerable residents

What residents view as the basics

One of our commitments is to get the basics right, so we asked residents what that meant to them.

Residents told us they expect the council to:

• keep the borough clean and safe
• deal with problems quickly
• ensure services are easy to use and accessible

They supported moving to online services but were clear that digital first must not mean digital only

Residents also emphasised the need for clear, simple guidance and confidence that personal data is secure. 

It is important to our residents that we can get the issue resolved first and that they receive clear information and advice throughout all their interactions with us. 

How residents want to be involved

Residents want to be involved earlier and more meaningfully in decisions that affect them. They want clear feedback on how their views have influenced decisions.

This has shaped the Council Plan's commitment to strengthen our public participation and co-designing a new Resident Pact with residents and community partners. This will set out what residents can expect from us and how residents, communities and partners can contribute.

The result is a Council Plan that reflects what residents said matters most:

• clean streets and amazing spaces
• getting the basics right
• making your life easier
• value for money

A better Kensington and Chelsea for everyone.   

We will publish an annual progress report, so that we keep up momentum and ensure there are chances for residents to continue influencing council decisions. 

Successes delivered through the Council Plan 2023 to 2027

The 2023 to 2027 Council Plan set out our ambition to deliver a greener, safer and fairer borough. Lots of progress has been made since then.

The new Council Plan will build on these achievements, enabling us to continue providing core services and meet the financial challenge ahead.

Read more about what we have done since 2023.

A greener borough

Since 2023 we have:

• maintained twice-weekly household rubbish collections while achieving high resident satisfaction with waste collection and street cleaning
• invested £7 million in our parks, from Holland Park to St Luke’s Gardens, with work underway on a new riverside open space at Cremorne Wharf
• reduced carbon emissions, for example by retrofitting six borough schools and reducing carbon emissions by 20% since 2018 on the Lancaster West Estate
• planted 500 new trees, with more greenery and sustainable planting in every single ward in Kensington and Chelsea
• expanded the on-street electric vehicle charging network, so that more than 90% of residents live within 100 metres of a charging point

A safer borough

Since 2023 we have:

• increased CCTV coverage and installed eight acoustic cameras, including on Holland Road and Chelsea Embankment, leading to numerous fines for drivers of excessively noisy vehicles
• maintained Outstanding children’s services, securing a third consecutive Outstanding judgement and continuing strong support for children, young people and families
• achieved an Outstanding rating for adult social care from the Care Quality Commission, recognising the high-quality and timely support provided to residents and the strong safeguarding and wellbeing outcomes achieved
• delivered a new warden in every ward, meaning there is a dedicated enforcement officer in all our neighbourhoods to tackle anti-social behaviour

A fairer borough

Since 2023 we have:

• maintained one of the lowest council tax rates in Britain while providing £100 of cost-of-living support to low-income households
• been independently ranked the most productive council in the country in 2026 meaning we achieve better outcomes for every £1 spent, helping to protect services people need most
• started work on 450 new homes, including 200 for social rent and secured national recognition for the affordable homes at Kelso Cochrane House
• worked with bereaved, survivors and residents to co-design the Grenfell Support programme, supporting over 800 bereaved and survivors and more than 2,500 residents in the immediate community
• opened Kensington Queensmill, a new school for pupils with Special Educational Needs in North Kensington, improving support for young people

Working with partners and our communities

This is not just the work of the council. Residents, community and voluntary organisations, businesses, schools, health services, the police and other partners will need to work alongside us to shape a better borough for everyone.

We will support others to lead where they can, while remaining accountable for the services and duties only the council can provide.

The Resident Pact

However, we need to go further. A key part of changing how we work and navigate the challenges over the next four years will be agreeing a clearer, more transparent relationship with residents in how we deliver services.

The Resident Pact will therefore sit at the heart of a more fundamental change in the relationship between residents, communities, partners and the council.

The Resident Pact will be a short, plain-language agreement about the relationship between residents, communities and the council. It is reciprocal by design. It sets out what residents can expect from us and what we can reasonably ask of residents and communities in return, while making clear that the the council remains responsible for delivering our statutory duties.

Resident Pact aims

The Resident Pact will:

• clarify the roles that different people and organisations can play to make Kensington and Chelsea the best borough for everyone
• be honest about where the council must lead and where we need to work alongside others
• outline where residents and communities can lead, support or strengthen local action

Co-designing the Resident Pact with the community

The Resident Pact will be co-designed following publication of the Council Plan to allow time for detailed deliberative work with a smaller, representative group of residents. 

Residents told us that engagement must be genuine, accessible and early enough to influence outcomes.

As part of the consultation, we asked residents what it was reasonable for the council to ask of them.

The strongest responses were:

• 67% said telling the council when something is wrong or working
• 46% said taking part in decisions and shaping services

 

Residents also said that community action must not substitute for the council’s core responsibilities.

 

Message from the Leader of the Council

Kensington and Chelsea is the best place to live in the UK, a place we’re all proud to call home.

 

We have some of London’s best services, including twice-weekly bin collections, a borough-wide parking permit, award-winning parks and outstanding care for older people, alongside some of the capital’s best kept streets.

 

This is a vibrant borough, with residents of different ages, backgrounds, faiths and experiences. That vibrancy is one of Kensington and Chelsea’s greatest strengths, reflected in our schools, local businesses, cultural life, voluntary organisations and neighbourhood networks.

 

Kensington and Chelsea really is all of London in one very special place.

 

Read more

Working with residents, businesses, and partners we have achieved a great deal since our last Council Plan. Our adults’ and children’s services have been rated the best in the country, we have created amazing new spaces at Sloane Square, Chelsea Green, Bute Street and Hogarth Road, and we have invested over £200 million in improving our social housing.

 

The next four years will be shaped by a new financial reality. A £100m cut from Government funding means this council will be forced to do things fundamentally differently and, in some cases, to do less than before. But we will still protect what matters to you the most. We will also carry the lessons of Grenfell with us, recognising that to be a better borough means a better borough for all.

 

Every decision we make will be driven by four principles that we hold dear, and residents have told us are the most important:

• clean streets and amazing spaces
• value for money
• getting the basics right
• making your life easier

With these principles, and the lessons of Grenfell close to heart, we will get results that reach every street.

 

A better Kensington and Chelsea for everyone.

 

- Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, Leader of the Council