Westminster City Council – Homepage

£2.6m investment package for adult social care as Westminster City Council approves new budget plans

Budget approved for improvements to key areas such as adult social care and housing as the council launches its new Fairer Westminster delivery plan for the next three years.

Westminster City Council has today announced a major new investment of £2.6m to go into cushioning the cost of adult social care – meaning hundreds of adult social care users will now not pay for care, while hard working care assistants will earn more.

Approved at Full Council (Wednesday March 5), additional funding for adult social care includes £1.4m to increase the pay of the personal care assistants (over 400 staff)  who provide care for Westminster residents through direct payments.

This will improve the quality of care for care receivers and help more people who use adult social care to employ the carer they want as they will now be able to pay a competitive salary.

Direct payment recipients will now be able to offer an additional £1.50- £2.00 an hour salary for their personal assistant, so those who opt to receive direct payments to pay for their care needs will see their monthly funds increase.

An additional £1.2m is also being invested to level up the threshold at which people start to pay for their social care costs so that it is the same for everyone regardless of age. This will help over 460 residents aged under 65 to keep more of their income before paying care bills.

Colin, a Westminster resident who receives direct payments to support with his care needs, said:

“At 59, I’ve been fortunate to receive direct payments since graduating from university at 21, enabling me to live independently in my own home and manage my care on my terms.

“While direct payments may not suit every disabled person due to the associated responsibilities, for those willing to take them on, they can be life-enhancing and transformative.

“I believe the additional £1.4 million that Westminster City Council is allocating to personal carers’ pay will make the carer role competitive in the labour market once again, making it easier to attract people to work with me.

“Many disabled people have found it challenging to recruit quality social care workers in recent years.  

“The increased funding could help me, as an employer, attract candidates from companies like Amazon and McDonald’s, which traditionally offer higher wages.

“It may also help encourage young people to view social care as a viable career option that offers a respectable and ethical wage. Society’s general underappreciation of care work has made finding and retaining good carers difficult.”

The approval of the budget at Full Council coincides with the launch of the new Fairer Westminster delivery plan, which outlines the council’s ambitions for the future of the city, and what it wants to achieve to make Westminster a great place to live. Led by voices and priorities from the community, the new plan aims to create meaningful change by providing effective, value-for-money services and accessible opportunities for all, so every resident in the city can thrive. 

Headline announcements in the approved budget to kick-start the Fairer Westminster delivery plan for 2025 include:

  • An extra £1.2m to tackle rough sleeping and help people off the pavements and into safety.
  • Help to relieve pressure on Westminster’s housing waiting list by investing an additional £140m into buying and expanding temporary accommodation.
  • An extra £1m on cost of living support to turn short-term relief into long-term solutions – such as free school meals during school holidays, supermarket food vouchers, a hardship fund and supporting specialist advice centres.
  • Investing £10m into high streets across Paddington and Bayswater to support local economies and make the areas more dynamic.
  • Investing in new Community hubs such as Ernest Harris House opening this Spring and the Pimlico Community hub at site of the Old Pimlico Library opening in 2026.
  • An additional £2m for anti-social and city management measures across the city, including the recruitment of eight new City Inspectors and doubling the number of CCTV cameras on the streets to 200, including 40 new cameras in the West End.

The Council will also deliver new savings of nearly £30m by 2028 through measures including greater efficiencies in contracts and the switch to an electric cleaning and waste fleet.

The budget sets out detailed spending plans for managing more than 20,000 local authority properties under what is called the Housing Revenue Account. The business plan includes total capital investment of £916m over the next 5 years and a total of £2.5bn over the full 30 years. The budget also sets out the business plan for funding the council’s fairer Westminster programme under its capital strategy. The Council is proposing a gross capital programme up to 2038/39 of £2.5bn, partially offset by nearly £1.2bn of income, giving a net budget of £1.3bn.

Despite the scale of new investment, the Council Tax rise equals just 48p a week for a Band D* property, which means Westminster still has one of the lowest Council Tax rates in the country. The Westminster City Council part of the Council Tax rises by 4.99 per cent overall – 2.99 per cent for council services and 2 per cent for the portion set aside for adult social care.

Cllr Adam Hug, leader of Westminster City Council, said:  

“Rising bills and cost of living pressures impact on everyone and I’m glad we have been able to ensure hundreds of Westminster residents no longer need to pay for their social care.

“We have also been able to look after the carers who will now receive increased pay – that is only right for people who often work long hours and provide a lifeline to vulnerable people.

“This Budget is providing security in three big ways – security of home, on the streets, and the safety net of a City Council that looks after you when you need care. This is what drives our mission to create a fairer Westminster.”

Published: 5 March 2025