The Administration Committee of Kensington and Chelsea Council met on Wednesday 8 July 2026 to consider the annual report of the Independent Ethics Panel and to discuss proposed changes to the Council's Constitution. The meeting's agenda also included the review of previous meeting minutes.

Ethics Panel Annual Report

The committee was scheduled to receive the annual report of the Independent Ethics Panel for the 2025/26 municipal year. The report details the Panel's work in promoting and maintaining high ethical standards within the council. This included advising on code of conduct complaints, contributing to preparations for local elections, engaging with the response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, and tracking proposed reforms to the local government standards regime. The report highlighted concerns about the insufficiency of current sanctions for repeated misconduct by councillors and the communication challenges when complaints are not upheld on Article 10 ECHR grounds. The Panel recommended continued focus on new councillor induction, engagement with the culture review, and advising on standards reforms.

Constitutional Changes

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to discussing proposed amendments to the Council's Constitution. These changes were intended to ensure the Constitution remains up-to-date, efficient, transparent, and accountable, and to implement legislative changes.

Key proposals included:

• Procurement Decision-Making: Allowing contract award decisions to be made through Delegated Authority Decisions when the Procurement Strategy was an Executive Decision, to simplify the process.
• Lease Renewals: Clarifying that decisions on statutory lease extensions and renewals inside the 1954 Act are delegated to the Executive Director of Housing and Social Investment, and ensuring these do not fall within Key or Executive Decision definitions.
• Calculating Rental Income: Modifying the interpretation of financial thresholds for Executive Decisions to use only the annual income from a property lease, rather than the total lease value, to determine the required decision process.
• Section 278 Payments: Excluding payments made under Section 278 of the Highways Act 1980 from the definition of Key or Executive Decisions, as the Council is already bound by the planning permission.
• Renters' Rights Act 2025: Extending the delegated authority of the Director of Housing Needs to cover enforcement activities related to the private rented sector, including tenancy reform, harassment, and unlawful eviction.
• Investment Committee Terms of Reference: Amending the Investment Committee's terms of reference to comply with the Pension Schemes Act 2026 and accompanying secondary legislation.
• Overview & Scrutiny and Select Committees: Adjusting the terms of reference for the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and the Housing and Communities Select Committee to clarify responsibilities for scrutinising properties within the general fund and the Housing Revenue Account, respectively. It was also proposed to delete the terms of reference for the Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as its scrutiny work had concluded.
• Executive-Scrutiny Protocol: Adding a provision to the Executive Scrutiny Protocol stating that The Chair ought not to preside over the scrutiny of relatives.

The committee was asked to consider recommending these constitutional amendments to Full Council for approval.