Council Plan 2023 to 2027

For many residents, tackling crime and antisocial behaviour is important for a safer Kensington and Chelsea. While primary responsibility for crime lies with the Police, the Council works with them and partners to address and prevent crime and disorder in the borough. We are also a responder alongside other emergency services when there are emergencies in the borough that require support and care for the local and wider community.

The Council has a broader role in promoting safety and protecting people. Our children’s services continue to be judged as outstanding by Ofsted and we work hard to ensure we offer excellent support to the borough’s young people so that they have the best possible start in life and are protected from harm. We have invested more in youth services than almost anywhere in London to support that journey.

Our adult social care services provide residents with access to the right support at the right time to enable them to have lives that are as safe, fulfilling, healthy and as independent as possible. Most of our care providers are rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ and we continue to work closely with our providers of care to help our older and vulnerable residents to be independent. The pandemic and the rising cost of living crisis have highlighted existing and new health and social inequalities in the borough. We will increase investment in prevention and early intervention to promote health and wellbeing in priority areas and communities.

Residents want the Council to prioritise safety and focus on keeping people safe in their homes, on their streets and in their neighbourhoods. The Grenfell tragedy shows the importance of health and safety in managing and maintaining Council housing, ensuring that work is carried out to a high standard and properly checked. We are investing over £400 million in our Council homes to ensure they are safe, warm and modern, but we know that people will only feel safe if they trust those who are there to keep them safe. This means that we will listen, investigate, work with other agencies and act when residents flag concerns and risks that might affect their safety and wellbeing.

Crime and community safety

We will:

• Work with the Police and communities to improve safety in the borough and to support the Police to minimise and prevent crime.
• Work with resident groups and voluntary organisations to keep Notting Hill Police Station in community use.
• Tackle fly tipping, graffiti, and noise more effectively through a single environmental enforcement approach.
• Respond to emergencies in the borough and keep people safe, through planning, training, and working with our partners and communities.

Safe homes

We will:

• Prioritise safety in our approach to managing, maintaining, and allocating Council homes, while working with registered providers, temporary accommodation providers, and private rented sector landlords to drive the highest possible standards in all rented homes, using information from residents to improve safety wherever we can.
• Continue to make our housing estates safer against crime/anti-social behaviour by providing secure door entry systems and CCTV.
• Use our wider role to promote safer buildings across the borough, including through planning, building control and licensing.
• Ensure we prioritise the impact on the safety and wellbeing of our residents when we make decisions about spending.
• Work with the NHS to make sure that people can come out of hospital as soon as possible and are supported in a safe environment, by ensuring residents receive the care they need at home or in residential or nursing care settings and maintaining independence where possible.

Support and safeguard adults and children

We will:

• Work proactively to create a safety first, curious culture across the Council so residents’ views and concerns are respected, acted on, and investigated properly, with residents kept up to date throughout.
• Champion and improve the mental health of everyone in our community by delivering mental health training across our workforce, the Voluntary and Community Sector and in our communities.
• Remodel our mental health services provision to focus more on prevention services which support and improve the mental health of our residents.
• Tackle health inequalities in our communities, including trialling Community Health Workers in Golborne Ward and World’s End Estate and providing more joined up support and advice in community spaces. We will support groups to work together to make the best use of these spaces.
• Ensure children and young people in our borough feel safe and supported and can engage in range of activities including breakfast clubs, after school clubs, youth clubs, work experience and apprenticeships.
• Provide young people and families with the support they need at the right time. Following the pandemic and in response to the rising cost of living we are investing in emotional wellbeing support for children and have expanded our holiday food and activity scheme.
• Deliver excellent care to our residents by working closely with the Care Quality Commission, to support all our care providers.
• Continue to strengthen our approach for children and young people with additional needs transitioning from Family and Children’s Services into Adult Services, with a focus on helping them reach their full potential and living a healthy, active life in Kensington and Chelsea.

Tenant Consultative Committee

We have so many community groups, but at the same time, we all have the same aims, we all want the same thing for our families.

Gaenor Holland-Williams
Representative on Tenant Consultative Committee