The Adult Social Care & Health Select Committee is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, to discuss the support available for unpaid carers in Kensington and Chelsea. The committee will also review the 2025/26 annual reports from the Safeguarding Adults Executive Board and on adult social care complaints.

Support for Carers

A key item on the agenda is an update on the system of support for unpaid carers in Kensington and Chelsea. The report details how support is delivered through a whole-system model, which includes commissioned services, adult social care assessments, personal budgets, community and voluntary sector provision, public health services, and wider universal services. The Borough's Carers Strategy 2023-2028 and a draft Unpaid Carer's Guide are included as appendices to the report. The strategy outlines six priority areas: identifying and recognising carers, providing information and advice, care and support, finance, housing, and carers' health and wellbeing. The report highlights that in 2025/26, 852 carers were known to RBKC Adult Social Care, with a significant number of carers' assessments and reviews completed. Carers' Personal Budgets are a core element of the borough's offer, with payments ranging from £100 to £600 per annum based on assessed need. The commissioned Carers Service, delivered by Carers Network, provides specialist information, advice, advocacy, and wellbeing activities.

Safeguarding Adults Executive Board Report 2025/26

The committee is scheduled to consider the 2025/26 Annual Report of the Safeguarding Adults Executive Board (SAEB). This multi-agency board provides leadership for adult safeguarding across Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster, aiming to ensure residents at risk of harm are kept safe. The report details the board's activities, priorities, and learning from safeguarding reviews. Key areas of focus for 2025/26 included self-neglect and hoarding, partnership responses to system demand, domestic abuse and safeguarding, mental health and complex risk, and multi-exclusion homelessness. The report also highlights the board's work on community engagement, with its Safeguarding Ambassadors receiving national recognition for their contribution to prevention and co-production.

Adult Social Care Annual Complaints Report 2025/26

The committee will also review the Adult Social Care Annual Complaints Report for 2025/26. This report summarises statutory complaints activity, detailing how complaints are managed and reviewed, and outlining learning and practice development. Between April 2025 and March 2026, the Customer Engagement Team recorded and investigated 103 complaints, a 51% increase from the previous year. The main issues leading to complaints were quality of service (36%) and communication (21%). Complaints concerning Occupational Therapy and Homecare services saw an increase compared to the previous year. The report notes that 25% of complaints were fully upheld and 21% were partly upheld. The Council aims to respond to complaints within 10 working days, and in 2025/26, 92% of complaints were responded to within this timeframe. The report also details enquiries from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, with three cases progressing to full investigation in 2025/26.

Select Committee Work Programme 2026/2027

Finally, the committee will discuss its work programme for the municipal year 2026/2027. This will include reviewing the budget for 2027/2028, receiving updates from the West and North London Integrated Care Board (ICB) regarding its reorganisation and winter planning, and scrutinising proposed changes to the Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service. An extraordinary meeting is scheduled for 8 December 2026 to specifically address the future of the Grenfell Health and Wellbeing Service. The committee will also consider potential implications of the Health Bill currently being scrutinised in Parliament.