The Administration Committee of Kensington and Chelsea Council was scheduled to discuss proposed changes to the Council's Constitution and the Members' Allowances Scheme. These changes were largely driven by new legislation affecting electoral registration, the role of the Monitoring Officer, and the Local Government Pension Scheme for councillors.

Changes to the Constitution

The committee was set to consider several amendments to the Council's Constitution. These included the appointment of Deputy Electoral Registration Officers, a role recommended by the Electoral Commission to ensure resilience and the practical undertaking of duties outlined in the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the Elections Act 2022. The report pack indicated that the position of Director of Law and Governance would be designated as the Council's Monitoring Officer, a statutory role, following the departure of the current Chief Solicitor.

Significant changes were also scheduled to be discussed regarding the role of planning committees, stemming from the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. These legislative changes, due to come into effect on 31 October 2026, aim to speed up development by potentially delegating more planning application decisions to officers. The report pack highlighted concerns from the Lead Member for Residents Services, Planning and Enforcement about the potential reduction in resident involvement due to the elimination of call-in powers for individual ward councillors and objection thresholds. The proposed changes would also limit the size of planning committees to a maximum of 13 members. A new Gateway Test involving a nominated planning officer and a nominated member would be introduced for certain applications, with a mutual agreement required to refer a case to a committee.

Furthermore, the committee was to review statutory changes to the role of the Investment Committee, driven by the Pension Schemes Act 2026. This Act mandates the delegation of investment strategy implementation to a pool and requires administering authorities to take principal investment advice from these pools. Consequently, the terms of reference for the Investment Committee and delegations to officers would need to be revised. The report pack indicated that a further meeting in July would be required to consider these detailed changes.

Members' Allowances Scheme - Pensions

The committee was also scheduled to discuss proposed changes to the Members' Allowances Scheme to reflect the re-opening of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) to councillors. The Local Government Pension Scheme (Elected Member Pensions) Regulations 2026, effective from 11 May 2026, allow councillors to elect to join the LGPS. Under these regulations, a councillor's pensionable pay is calculated based on their basic allowance and any special responsibility allowance. Contributions would be automatically deducted from these allowances. The report pack suggested adding a new section to the Constitution stating that The basic allowance and the special responsibility allowance may be treated as amounts in respect of which pensions are payable. It was noted that the council is not required to follow the recommendations of the London Remuneration Panel in this specific instance. Councillors would also have the option to make additional voluntary contributions (AVCs) to the pension scheme.