Kensington and Chelsea Council has ended a contract providing domestic abuse training for teachers and other school staff, as it faces funding cuts of £108 million over the next four years.
The contract provided domestic abuse training for teachers and other school staff, while supporting the Healthy Schools London and Healthy Early Years London programmes, which support children’s wellbeing.
The decision, laid out in the council’s 2026/27–2029/30 Budget Savings Plan, comes as a result of the Government’s Fair Funding Review, which is expected to reduce the council’s funding by £108 million over four years.
The contract ran for five years and cost Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster councils a combined £1.14 million.
The contract is one of several savings measures affecting council services, including housing support, community investment and environmental services.
The Conservative leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Elizabeth Campbell, said: “The costs of the so-called Fair Funding Review will fall on residents: cuts to services and tax rises forced upon them, entirely as a result of decisions taken in Whitehall.”
Labour group leader Monica Press said the decision would put vulnerable children at risk.
She said: “Cutting the Domestic Abuse Prevention programme will harm some of the most vulnerable people in the borough – children at risk of domestic abuse.
“This council always seems to find money for its own failures, but not for protecting children.
“Training teachers and school staff to recognise the signs is exactly the kind of early intervention that keeps children safe.”
The decision comes amid wider concerns about poverty and inequality in Kensington and Chelsea. A report found that 33% of residents live in poverty, seven percentage points above the London average, despite the borough’s high average income.
Westminster and Wandsworth councils are also facing funding reductions of £100 million and £84 million respectively.
Campbell has joined the two councils in asking residents to submit a proposal under the Sustainable Communities Act, calling on the Government to reconsider its funding plans.
She said: “Our residents deserve a fairer and more reasonable deal – one that does not lead to economic and social hardship.”
Featured image credit: Justinc via Wikimedia https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kensington_and_Chelsea_Town_Hall_2005.jpg
