Politics

Notting Hill Council Boosts Social Services Budget by £1.8 Million

The vote raises the annual budget for family counseling, youth activities and elderly outreach delivered through Ladbroke Grove and Portobello Road centres.

By Notting Hill Policy Desk · Published 8 July 2026

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Notting Hill Council Boosts Social Services Budget by £1.8 Million — Photo by KJGarbutt / flickr (by)

Notting Hill City Council voted 8-3 on 7 July to add £1.8 million to the Social Services Fund for the 2026-27 financial year. The measure increases spending on family counselling, after-school clubs and home-visit support for older residents.

Why the change comes now

The council's latest service demand report recorded a 14 percent rise in requests for mental-health support and a 9 percent increase in applications for youth programmes between April 2025 and March 2026. National changes to housing-benefit rules that took effect in April 2026 are expected to place further pressure on local advice services, according to the same document.

Under the approved allocation, the Ladbroke Grove Community Centre will receive an extra £620,000 to extend opening hours and hire two additional family-support workers. The Portobello Road Youth Hub is scheduled to gain £480,000 for new evening sessions aimed at 11-to-16-year-olds. The remainder will fund 120 additional home-care visits per month for residents over 75.

Direct effects on households

Households in the W11 postcode will gain priority access to the expanded counselling slots, with the council projecting 340 additional families will be seen each quarter. Job-training courses previously limited to 45 places per term will now accommodate 75 participants, drawn from the council's unemployment register. Older residents registered with the home-visits team will move from a six-week waiting list to a three-week list once the new staff begin in September.

The council's 2026-27 budget paper states that the £1.8 million will be drawn from reserves built up through the local business-rates retention scheme. No increase in council-tax precepts is required for this item. Implementation will be reviewed at the November full-council meeting, when officers will present uptake figures and any adjustments needed for the second half of the year.

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