At first glance, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) is a picture of wealth and prosperity, with an economy ranking among the top 10% of UK local authorities in the recently published UK Prosperity Index.
About this report
However, these economic headlines mask significant variations in outcomes between different communities in the borough.
The Kensington + Chelsea Foundation commissioned WPI Economics to analyse long-standing issues of poverty and inequality in the borough, including any recent impact from the Covid-19 pandemic. This short report summarises the findings, the full report can be found on the Foundation’s website.
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Mapping Deprivation in Kensington and Chelsea
As the country looks to recover from the pandemic, and central Government is focused on “levelling up”, the report highlights that parts of, and communities within, Kensington and Chelsea are as much in need of support as other deprived parts of the UK. Ensuring this support is well targeted requires us to fully understand the extent and nature of poverty and inequality we are tackling and the drivers behind them. It also means looking beyond averages, considering outcomes street by street and family by family, not by headline statistics. To do so, we combine quantitative analysis of administrative and survey data with qualitative research, which has included interviews and focus groups with members of the council, local charities, community organisations and residents of the borough. We analysed three areas in particular; children and young people suffering from education inequalities, skills and employment inequalities and health inequalities.
The thing about RBKC is that it's different to everywhere else...it’s the smallest, most densely populated, most diverse, most unequal.
Local councillor