Making the borough fairer - Citizens' Panel event

Panel Members were invited to attend an in person event in October 2023 to discuss the theme ‘Making the borough fairer’. This was one of a number of engagement events to help develop the themes and actions for inclusion in the Council’s new Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan. 

The event was attended by Councillors and senior managers within the Council (including the Chief Executive) and Panel members were incited to join a discussion table to address the following questions:  ​

• What does becoming a fairer Kensington and Chelsea mean to you?​
• What should the Council do to address equalities and fairness in the borough?​
• What are the three things we should focus on first to make Kensington and Chelsea a fairer place?​
• How can we work with our communities to make this happen?​

Panel members raised a range of issues relating to fairness including health inequalities, community safety, housing, young people and education, the cost of living and the need for more consultation and involvement.

Some of key ideas raised for addressing equality and fairness in the borough included:

• More support for parents and families and educational support for young people
• A need for more affordable housing and to ensure existing housing stock is maintained to a good standard
• A need for improved customer service from the Council and for all residents to be treated equally and respectfully.
• A need to work more with local communities and to provide more localised services where people live
• The need for more communication and transparency from the Council especially with regard to decision making and accountability
• The need to listen more to residents and involve them to better understand who lives in the borough, their lived experiences and to connect more with the community.

Thank you those who attended the Citizen's Panel event in the Autumn on developing a Fairer borough. Theses inputs have been utilised, alongside other engagement with residents, to develop draft priorities and themes for the new Fairer Action Plan, aimed at tackling inequality, celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion. We are currently working with council teams to develop the practical actions and commitments that will support each of these themes, utilising the feedback from our communities and the data available about inequality in the borough. We will be consulting with residents over the coming months on the draft themes and areas of focus before finalising the later this year.