Budget approval for one-off hardship payment, but council tax rise is rubber-stamped

By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter

Kensington and Chelsea council has approved a £100 cost-of-living payment for struggling households and boosted allowances for councillors.

The authority backed the one-off May payment for 16,500 struggling households during its budget meeting on Wednesday of last week, while also raising council tax by 4.99 per cent.

Cllr Johnny Thalassites, finance lead for the borough, said the hike – which includes a two per cent jump in social care contributions – amounted to less than £1 per week for Band D households in the borough and will take effect from April 1.

This figure does not take into account the 8.6 per cent increase levied by City Hall, which is expected to set Band D households back an extra £37.26 for the year.

Members also voted for a 7.7 per cent increase in social rents, which will see tenants fork out an extra £43.12 per month from April, while also agreeing to increase support funding for tenants to £500k.

Cllr Thalassites told Tory colleagues at Kensington Town Hall: “This modest increase helps us protect and enhance our core services like twice-weekly bin collections, our good and outstanding schools, and our beautiful parks.”

Among the changes voted in was an uptick in councillors’ basic allowance by £662. This brings the total yearly entitlement to £11,689 from April 1 and was recommended by a group of cross-party members. This is the first increase since 2019, a council report shows.

The dependent carer’s allowance was also increased to £13.15 per hour.

Labour’s shadow budget proposed using £3.8m in cash reserves to fund services like adult social care, children’s care and housing. It was outvoted.

Pictured top: Cllr Thalassites during the budget meeting (Picture: LBKC)