Welcome to Kingston Let’s Talk

Our vision in adult social care is to put residents at the heart of what we do.  We are producing our 5 year priorities for adult social care. We wanted to understand from you what you need and what is most important to you. 

The priorities we asked for your views on were;

• Staying independent for as long as possible
• More choice and control over your care
• Recognising, valuing and supporting carers
• Working together with health partners 
• Accessing the information and advice you need
• Connecting with your community 
• Making sure there is a good experience moving from children services to adult social care
• Being supported to develop skills, continue learning and access opportunities to work
• Ensuring all residents can access the support from adult social care regardless of who they are, whey they live or any barriers they may face. 

We also asked you what adult social care meant to you.

222 people took part in the engagement, this includes 81 responses to the online survey, 25 responses to the Easy Read online survey, and 116 attendees across various in-person/online community workshops.

You said: 

• Overall people agreed with our priority areas of focus for the Adult Social Care Plan. 
• Your top priorities were; Staying Independent for as long as possible; working closely with health partners and having access to the right information and advice.  
• We heard positive stories where things worked well—specifically, support that helped people stay independent, good support after leaving hospital, and positive relationships with care staff.
• Family carers told us about an urgent need for breaks, financial support and ensuring professionals work together to better support and acknowledge the essential role of unpaid carers
• Improving accessible transport was highlighted as key to helping you maintain independence and get to community activities. 
• Overall, people want care that listens to their needs and choices, is consistent, supports them to stay safe while living independently, and is always respectful.
• We asked you to tell us what Adult Social Care means to you, but many people were unsure what it is

• We are using the feedback to help develop our  adult social care priorities, these are important areas we will focus on.  We plan for them to be published by October 2026. 
• We’ve shared your comments with our teams to help them make real improvements, and our senior leaders have read the report so they understand what matters most to you.
• Feedback about the website has been shared with the relevant team. We will also review our non-digital options to support people who don’t use the internet and work to improve this offer. 
• We are working to improve breaks for carers. We have recently spoken with carers via Kingston Carers Network and looked at previous feedback from residents to help us plan.
• Community Transport: We are developing the current transport support available for people who use Adult Social Care. We will be talking to people over the summer to help make sure we get this right. 
• We will improve communication about what adult social care is and how people can access it.
• We will work through the feedback from carers with Kingston Carers Network and the Kingston Carers Board. 
• We will consider feedback around Neurodiversity as part of the action groups for the Kingston All Age Autism and ADHD Strategy. 

We asked for your feedback on proposals for new rain gardens along Lower Ham Road.

You supported the scheme and suggested including an additional rain garden on Lower Kings Road.

We updated the proposals to remove one rain garden from Lower Ham Road and include two rain gardens on Lower Kings Road as part of the final scheme.

When creating a new equality, diversity and inclusion strategy we wanted to work with you to understand your perspectives and needs. We asked you to share your views, so we could better understand your experiences, and your responses were used to identify key priorities for the new strategy. 

A two-phase engagement process informed the development of the new strategy. Phase one (November 2024–January 2025) shaped the draft objectives, and phase two (May–July 2025) gathered feedback on those proposals. In total, 20 weeks of engagement took place, with more than 700 people contributing between autumn 2024 and summer 2025. 

 (700+ residents over 20 weeks):

Feedback from the community highlighted several areas that are currently working well. Celebrating our cultural diversity was frequently mentioned as a significant strength, alongside the effective partnerships with the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector. Additionally, positive comments were received regarding both health and wellbeing initiatives and the quality of Adult Social Care services. 

The feedback also identified several key areas for improvement. Participants expressed a desire for enhanced community safety and a reduction in crime. We also heard from residents that they often struggle to reach the right council service, particularly if they lack digital access or face a language barrier.

Refined strategic priorities to address safety and accessibility. Strengthened focus on inclusive access and service navigation. Adopted the Strategy (Nov 2025) with community-informed objectives.

View the Inclusive Kingston Strategy and Engagement Report. We also have an Easy Read Inclusive Kingston strategy available to view.