The Overview & Scrutiny Committee of Kensington and Chelsea Council met to discuss several key issues, including updates on the Future Grenfell Support Programme, the council's commitments in response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, and the North Kensington Recovery Programme. The committee also reviewed the forward plan of key decisions and the annual scrutiny work programme.

Grenfell Support Programmes

The committee received an update on the implementation of the Future Grenfell Support Programme (2024-2028). The report summarised progress since the last update in November 2024, covering support for bereaved individuals and survivors, the local community, and education and training initiatives.

Key points discussed:

• Bereaved and Survivors Support: As of 7 April 2025, 43% of eligible individuals had opted in for keyworker support, while 57% had opted out for the year 2025-26. This included 78 new claimants who hadn't previously accessed the service.
• Personal Budgets: The council committed to moving away from prepaid cards and developing a process for payments into personal bank accounts, but this was delayed due to a new financial system implementation. The closure of prepaid cards was planned for 30 June, with future requests paid into bank accounts from July.
• Grenfell Community Support: Launched in January, this support includes wellbeing grants, leisure centre memberships, and an advocacy team for residents within 500m of Grenfell Tower. As of 27 April 2025, the support had reached over 30% of households in the area.
• Education and Training: The Education Hub, designed to provide resources and specialist support, was progressing towards a September 2025 launch.

Several committee members raised concerns about the reach and accessibility of the programmes, particularly for those in social housing and those who may be hard to reach due to a lack of trust. There were also questions about how the council was ensuring that the funds were being allocated effectively and that the community was genuinely leading the recovery efforts.

One resident, Natasha, expressed strong concerns about the lack of long-term health monitoring for survivors and the cold-calling approach being used to encourage people to accept services. She said:

You cannot say to anyone sitting here who's talking about people within the community, about Toctin, and everything else that's about to come as a result of that. Sorry, no councilman, sorry. I sat here with an hour and a half listening to them waffle and not even give direct answers. So I just need to respond to that. At the end of the day, that tower's coming down. We already saw what we saw with soil contamination back in 2018. We've got to have a whole community that's not only going to go through anxieties around health, but you've got nothing. There's no baseline data because you've never taken it. There's no baseline data from any of us. So how can you measure from the beginning if there's no baseline data?

Council Commitments in Response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry

The committee received a progress update on the council's commitments made in response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report. The report summarised the plan for implementing the 45 commitments, focusing on areas of progress and areas where feedback was being invited.

Key areas of progress included:

• Ban on Contractors and Products: Strengthening the existing ban on contractors and products implicated in the Grenfell Tower fire.
• Building Control: Ensuring that 100% of Building Control staff complete required professional accreditation and training.
• Review of the Charter for Public Participation: Conducting a full review of the Charter for Public Participation, seeking to move towards more participatory approaches.
• Fairer Action Plan: Developing a cross-council approach to equalities, diversity, and inclusion, underpinned by robust data.
• Resilience and Emergency Planning: Implementing the Inquiry’s recommendations and undertaking a comprehensive review of the emergency planning function.

The committee also discussed areas where work was at an earlier stage, including the establishment of an independent advisory panel, the commissioning of an external review of culture, an end-to-end complaints review, and member training and senior officer engagement.

Councillor Claire Simmons, Chair of the Housing and Communities Select Committee, expressed concern that the recommendations of the Inquiry did not seem to have been implemented effectively, saying:

This is really important because this is about preventing future deaths among other things. Now Natasha has mentioned the coronies eight recommendations. I have some of them here. For bereaved and survivors and present responders, there should have been risk evaluation, regular health screening, access to guidance and information. It should oversee and coordinate and provide effective mental health support including for local residents and minimise persons affected slipping through the net. Now it's really alarming and I trust that it would be equally alarming to the whole committee to hear that that doesn't seem to have been happening for eight years.

North Kensington Recovery Programme

The committee received an update on the North Kensington Recovery Programme, which was established to address concerns raised after the Grenfell Tower fire. The programme aimed to deliver trauma-informed, community-led care shaped by those affected.

Cameron Hill, Assistant Director of North Queensland and Recovered, and Jennifer Roy, Chief Nursing Officer at NHS North West London, presented the paper. They explained that the programme was originally a five-year commitment until March 2024, with 24-25 being a transition year. The programme included services to address physical health, mental health, emotional wellbeing, and self-care.

The committee discussed the importance of proximity to the tower as an indicator of need, the integration of physical and mental health services, and concerns around toxicity. They also emphasised the need for community-based and peer-led services.

Forward Plan and Work Programme

The committee reviewed the forward plan of key decisions and the annual scrutiny work programme. They requested information on several key decisions and discussed the relationship between the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Audit and Transparency Committee.

Councillor Will Pascall requested more concise papers and prior briefings on how the NHS works with council services to allow for more effective scrutiny.

Other Business

The committee also discussed the importance of cultural sensitivity in service delivery and the need to address the lack of trust in NHS services within the community. They emphasised the importance of ongoing engagement and community involvement in shaping services.

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