Kent Community Warden Service Review

Update - February 2024

The findings from this consultation were discussed by Members of the Growth, Economic Development and Communities (GEDC) Cabinet Committee on 18 January 2024 and at Scrutiny Committee on 7 February 2024.

Following these meetings, the Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services took the decision to implement a new service model and geographical allocation policy for the Kent Community Warden Service.

KCC, like many other local authorities in the UK, is currently facing substantial financial pressures, with budget savings needing to be found in order to balance the books. This means that we are having to make some extremely difficult decisions and review our funding of discretionary frontline services that we know residents value.

As a result of the public consultation, the geographical allocation policy has been adjusted to have a greater emphasis on elderly, vulnerable and rural populations to assist the service in identifying communities which would benefit most from having a warden. Whilst the wardens will continue to be embedded in individual communities, there will still be wardens based in all twelve districts of Kent, with further staff placed in teams that cover areas with the highest need.

Where a warden can no longer continue supporting an existing community / existing service user, strategies will be developed with local partners providing a handover and contact details of remaining local services during a transition period.

These changes are expected to start coming into effect from April 2024, but will continue to run through to the end of the year.

As the changes come into effect details will be published on the Community Warden webpage.

Update - January 2024

Thank you to everyone who took part in this consultation. The Consultation Report is now available in the Documents section on this page.

The report will be presented to the Growth, Economic Development and Communities (GEDC) Cabinet Committee on 18 January 2024 for their consideration and recommendation. Following this meeting a decision is expected to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services. We will publish details of the decision on this webpage.

Original consultation text

To help meet the financial challenge the Council is facing, the Community Warden service has been asked to reduce its annual budget by £1 million by 2024-25.

To achieve this level of saving, we will need to redesign the service.

The Consultation document provides information on:

  • the current Community Warden service, including what it does and how it operates
  • why we are proposing to make changes and how we have developed our proposals
  • the proposed changes to the service and details of other options that have been considered.

The proposals presented in this consultation have been developed with information from service users and input from staff and partners.

Most of the service’s £2.4 million budget provides the salaries of community wardens. To reduce the service budget by £1 million, staffing reductions would be needed. In summary, we are proposing to:

  • redesign the service, ensuring there is a core Community Warden presence across the county, with teams covering two districts
  • retain the remit and community-based way the service currently works but cover fewer communities
  • use data and information to identify where to place wardens for most impact.

Have your say!

Before any decisions are made, we want to hear your views on:

  • how the proposed reductions and approach to allocating wardens could impact you
  • any additional information that you think we need to consider
  • any alternative suggestions for how the service could make the savings
  • the assumptions we have made in the draft Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA).

Please read the Consultation document provided in the Documents section on this page and complete the online questionnaire below. We are keen to hear your views on our proposals and how any changes may affect you.

Update - February 2024

The findings from this consultation were discussed by Members of the Growth, Economic Development and Communities (GEDC) Cabinet Committee on 18 January 2024 and at Scrutiny Committee on 7 February 2024.

Following these meetings, the Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services took the decision to implement a new service model and geographical allocation policy for the Kent Community Warden Service.

KCC, like many other local authorities in the UK, is currently facing substantial financial pressures, with budget savings needing to be found in order to balance the books. This means that we are having to make some extremely difficult decisions and review our funding of discretionary frontline services that we know residents value.

As a result of the public consultation, the geographical allocation policy has been adjusted to have a greater emphasis on elderly, vulnerable and rural populations to assist the service in identifying communities which would benefit most from having a warden. Whilst the wardens will continue to be embedded in individual communities, there will still be wardens based in all twelve districts of Kent, with further staff placed in teams that cover areas with the highest need.

Where a warden can no longer continue supporting an existing community / existing service user, strategies will be developed with local partners providing a handover and contact details of remaining local services during a transition period.

These changes are expected to start coming into effect from April 2024, but will continue to run through to the end of the year.

As the changes come into effect details will be published on the Community Warden webpage.

Update - January 2024

Thank you to everyone who took part in this consultation. The Consultation Report is now available in the Documents section on this page.

The report will be presented to the Growth, Economic Development and Communities (GEDC) Cabinet Committee on 18 January 2024 for their consideration and recommendation. Following this meeting a decision is expected to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services. We will publish details of the decision on this webpage.

Original consultation text

To help meet the financial challenge the Council is facing, the Community Warden service has been asked to reduce its annual budget by £1 million by 2024-25.

To achieve this level of saving, we will need to redesign the service.

The Consultation document provides information on:

  • the current Community Warden service, including what it does and how it operates
  • why we are proposing to make changes and how we have developed our proposals
  • the proposed changes to the service and details of other options that have been considered.

The proposals presented in this consultation have been developed with information from service users and input from staff and partners.

Most of the service’s £2.4 million budget provides the salaries of community wardens. To reduce the service budget by £1 million, staffing reductions would be needed. In summary, we are proposing to:

  • redesign the service, ensuring there is a core Community Warden presence across the county, with teams covering two districts
  • retain the remit and community-based way the service currently works but cover fewer communities
  • use data and information to identify where to place wardens for most impact.

Have your say!

Before any decisions are made, we want to hear your views on:

  • how the proposed reductions and approach to allocating wardens could impact you
  • any additional information that you think we need to consider
  • any alternative suggestions for how the service could make the savings
  • the assumptions we have made in the draft Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA).

Please read the Consultation document provided in the Documents section on this page and complete the online questionnaire below. We are keen to hear your views on our proposals and how any changes may affect you.

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Have your say!

    We would like to hear your views on our Community Warden Service Review and have provided this questionnaire for you to provide your feedback. 

    We recommend you read the Consultation document before responding to this questionnaire.

    You can answer all or as many of the questions as you like. If you would rather not provide feedback on a section or question, just move on to the next one.  

    Complete questionnaire