Kensington and Chelsea Council's Family Services Select Committee has reviewed significant reforms planned for the borough's social care services, aiming to meet Department for Education (DfE) expectations for local authorities to have adopted and implemented a revised model of service provision by April 2027. The Bi-borough Social Care Transformation
programme is central to these changes, which are being undertaken in a context of significantly reduced funding and the need to identify additional savings, with a savings target of £2,555,000 for 2026/27.
The reforms are designed to meet DfE expectations, including the Families First
programme, which mandates an end-to-end
programme of support for families by April 2027. This includes establishing a multi-agency Family Help service that integrates Targeted Early Help and Child in Need social work, and a Multi-Agency Child Protection Team (MACPT). The Best Start in Life
programme expects at least one fully integrated Family Hub to be in place from 2026/27, acting as a single front door for universal and some targeted support for families.
Key components of the revised model include developing an end-to-end service offer to provide seamless support for families when needed, without repeated handovers. Changes planned for April 2026 include the management of Family Hubs and Clinical Practice services on a bi-borough basis with Westminster City Council. This will be structured with a single Head of Service responsible for five Family Hubs across the two boroughs and the delivery of the Best Start in Life programme. A Bi-borough Head of Service for Family Hubs has been identified and will commence this role from April 2026. Similarly, the Bi-borough Clinical Practice service will be moved under a single, Bi-borough Head of Service from the same date. A planned saving of £336,000 is expected to be achieved by introducing these Bi-borough arrangements.
A dedicated Head of Children's Social Care Reforms and Transformation has been recruited to lead and coordinate the increased pace of activity anticipated over the next year, as well as the embedding of new structures in 2027. This post is funded by DfE grants which include an element intended for transformation costs.
The council is working to meet existing needs within a flat cash budget for 2026/27,
which will impact the capacity to deliver changes. Previously, the council had been operating Family Hubs before grant funding was available, and given the wider financial challenges facing local government, the Council was having to do more with less.
Additional local pressures resulting from the national Fair Funding programme have also contributed to the need for these reforms.
The Families First
programme seeks to enable families to access seamless support, and the Best Start in Life
programme, through Family Hubs, aims to provide a single front door for universal and some targeted support. The bi-borough approach is intended to streamline practice and lead to a more efficient and economical way of providing services, potentially improving accessibility and resource utilization.
The committee reviewed its work programme, considering suggested items for future scrutiny, including further updates on social care reform. Further details on the transformation programme can be found in the Update on Bi-borough Social Care Transformation.
