Council Plan 2023/24

Introduction

This Council Plan sets out our ambitions and what we plan to achieve by 2026 for our four overarching priority outcomes: driving sustainable economic growth; keeping vulnerable people safe; helping people help themselves; and making best use of resources now and for the future.

The Council provides services used by all residents in East Sussex, including providing care and support to children, families and the elderly; maintaining the roads and providing library services; and working to boost the local economy.

We provide services to some of the most vulnerable people in the county, and these services are vital in helping to keep these people safe and helping them to help themselves.

Local people and the local economy are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and have also been impacted by the cost of living crises. We will continue to address these challenges, support recovery and help to tackle the long-term consequences for local people. We also know that demands on our services will continue to grow as a result of changing needs in our communities and a range of national developments which will have impacts on the Council’s services.

The details of national reforms in major, demand-led, service areas, such as adults’ and children’s social care and special educational needs and disability, are yet to be confirmed, creating significant risk and uncertainty for the future. Current and forecast economic conditions contribute to a very challenging financial outlook for the Council over the coming years. These challenges are increased by major reforms in a number of key service areas. We will do all we can now to prepare for these future challenges whilst continuing to make the case for fair and sustainable funding to meet the needs of East Sussex residents and business.

Our planning for the years ahead continues to be underpinned by a relentless focus on our priority outcomes and their supporting delivery outcomes. We are committed to addressing and adapting to the impact of climate change on our county. With that in mind, we will consider the future impact of the choices we make about using resources, as well as the short-term impacts, across all that we do.

We do not work in isolation, so we will continue to work with all our partners to make sure there is a shared view of priorities and that we make the most of opportunities and resources available locally. We lobby hard to protect and promote the interests of East Sussex.

A key partner in East Sussex is the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector. The VCSE organisations are often the first to respond to the needs of communities, and provide specialist support that is often not available from other providers. Through working together we can ensure that our residents have the local support to access the different systems they need in order to be able to live an independent life. We also work closely with local businesses to identify and promote the conditions needed to grow our local economy in a sustainable way, helping improve access to quality jobs, goods and services for our communities. We continue to build on our long established partnerships with health and care organisations to help deliver joined-up care and to ensure that the most vulnerable receive the support they need in a timely manner

We consider equality, diversity and inclusion impacts throughout all aspects of our business planning processes. This ensures that our planned priorities are based on a good understanding of diversity and local needs and that we identify and respond to opportunities to remove barriers and maximise positive outcomes. We monitor the outcomes for people sharing different characteristics so that we understand our impact.

We have set a number of delivery outcomes under each overarching priority outcome. These shape the Council Plan performance measures and targets that are the main tool we use to assess our progress. We also keep track of a wide range of related key data evidencing local need in East Sussex.

These help us assess our impact more fully and respond appropriately when we need to do so. We review this data when making our plans and publish them with our State of the County report each year. A selection of this information is provided throughout the plan and listed in more detail at the end.

The Council played a key role, through Team East Sussex in the publication of the East Sussex Economy Recovery Plan. The plan set out six missions, with each mission outlining a different way in which the economy in the county can go beyond recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and can grow and thrive while also becoming cleaner and greener. We are now updating the evidence base that will be used to inform future work to underpin a thriving economy.

The County Council has updated its corporate Climate Emergency Plan and, as a member of the Environment Board for East Sussex, is playing a key role in delivering some of the programmes and projects set out in the East Sussex Climate Emergency Road Map.

Our priorities and delivery outcomes

The Priority Outcomes

The Council has four overarching priority outcomes: driving sustainable economic growth; keeping vulnerable people safe; helping people help themselves; and making best use of resources now and for the future. Making best use of resources now and for the future is the gateway priority through which any activity and accompanying resources must pass. For each priority outcome there are specific delivery outcomes.

Driving sustainable economic growth - delivery outcomes

· East Sussex businesses are supported to succeed and grow sustainably

· The county is an attractive place to live, work and do business

· Individuals, communities and businesses thrive in East Sussex with the environmental, and social infrastructure to meet their needs

· The workforce has and maintains the skills needed for good quality employment to meet the needs of the current and future East Sussex economy

· The value of our role as both a significant employer and a buyer of local goods and services is maximised

· All children progress well from early years through school and into post-16 education, training and employment

Keeping vulnerable people safe - delivery outcomes

· All vulnerable people in East Sussex are known to relevant local agencies and services are delivered together to meet their needs

· People feel safe at home and well supported by their networks

· Children grow up supported by enduring, loving relationships

· People feel safe with services

· We work with the wider health and care system to support people to achieve the best outcomes possible

Helping people help themselves - delivery outcomes

· Commissioners and providers from all sectors put people first when providing services and information to help them meet their needs

· The most vulnerable get the support they need to maintain their independence and this is provided at or as close to home as possible

· Through working well with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, individuals, families and communities are supported to be independent and to thrive

Making best use of resources now and for the future - delivery outcomes

· To help tackle Climate Change East Sussex County Council activities are carbon neutral as soon as possible and in any event by 2050

· We work as One Council

· We work in strong and sustained partnership with the public, voluntary community, social enterprise and private sectors to ensure that our collective resources and influence are used to deliver maximum benefits

· Ensuring we achieve value for money in the services we commission and provide

· Maximising the funding available through bidding for funding and lobbying for the best deal for East Sussex

· We are an employer of choice and support our staff to achieve and develop

Priority - Driving sustainable economic growth

Priority Overview

A thriving economy in East Sussex is key to the wellbeing of the county. Ensuring that local people have access to relevant training and employment, well designed local infrastructure and services, a positively managed environment and accessible cultural activities, will have a positive impact on their wellbeing, enabling them to live independently of public sector support or benefits. Supporting our economy to recover and grow sustainably will help our communities to be more resilient and our businesses to be more competitive.

1.1 Economic Recovery

Delivery outcome: East Sussex businesses are supported to succeed and grow sustainably

Working with partners we will establish an evidence base to build on the success of the Economy Recovery Plan and help the county’s economy build back better. This will include using Shared Prosperity Funding from our district and borough partners to deliver a specialist business support programme across the county. We will also work to shape new ways to attract more investment into the economy.

Trading Standards will continue to offer assistance to businesses in East Sussex to ensure they continue to adapt to and thrive in the changed regulatory regimes brought about by the UK’s departure from the EU in December 2020. We will also commit resources to provide market surveillance activities at Newhaven Port.

1.2 Employment and productivity

Delivery outcome: The county is an attractive place to live, work and do business

We will build on the county’s economic strengths and unique characteristics to drive economic growth in sectors with the most potential to grow and provide employment. We will build on the areas where the county performs strongly, such as the creative industries and the visitor economy, construction, engineering, health and social care, and food and drink production; and look to the future to attract and retain new businesses that will provide the jobs of tomorrow.

We will continue to deliver our grants and loans programme, East Sussex Invest, to support job creation and sustainable growth, and will deliver the Newhaven Town Deal Grants programme on behalf of Lewes District Council.

1.3 Local infrastructure

Delivery outcome: Individuals, communities and businesses thrive in East Sussex with the environmental and social infrastructure to meet their needs

Businesses can only thrive if they have the local infrastructure they need and access to the right skills in the local workforce. The Council has agreed a new seven-year highway maintenance contract worth £297m with Balfour Beatty Living Places. The new contract will commence on 1 May 2023, and includes enhanced quality requirements, carbon reduction targets and enhanced social value providing more apprenticeships and training and community benefits.

We also coordinate street works, deliver public realm schemes and local transport infrastructure improvements to cope with the changing but increasing demand on the network. A number of infrastructure projects will continue or be delivered in 2023/24, including improvements to Terminus Road in Eastbourne, walking and cycling improvements in Eastbourne, Bexhill and Hastings and progressing the project to replace Exceat Bridge. We will continue updating our Local Transport Plan which currently covers the period from 2011 to 2026. The updated Plan will consider how transport can help support sustainable economic recovery and growth in the county and improve the economic connectivity of East Sussex whilst also working towards achieving the Council’s commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Business in the 21st century also need modern digital infrastructure. Our e-Sussex project to rollout super and ultra-fast broadband across the county has improved access to services, jobs and education, and has helped support flexible working.

Over 98% of premises have been connected to improved broadband speeds during our first and second contracts of work with BT. We are now entering the final phases of our third contract with the aim of connecting as close to 100% of premises in the county as possible. We will continue to work with Government to support its plans to deliver gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure, ensuring East Sussex receives as much investment as possible and that any new contract generates social value benefits for our businesses and residents. We will also continue to top-up Gigabit vouchers.

Transport for the South East (TfSE) is a sub-national transport body (STB) representing sixteen Local Transport Authorities and five Local Enterprise Partnerships in the South East of England. TfSE’s Transport Strategy, published in 2020 actively chooses a preferred future for the region and sets out a plan for how to get there. Achieving that future will require significant investment in a better transport network. TfSE have recently submitted their Strategic Investment Plan to Government. This plan is the blueprint for future investment in strategic transport infrastructure in the South East for the next thirty years. Over the next 12 months TfSE will be working on the delivery plan to implement the interventions in this ambitious plan.

The Council has developed an Enhanced Partnership following the launch of the Governments National Bus Strategy ‘Bus Back Better’ alongside leading on the development of an East Sussex Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP). The East Sussex BSIP is an ambitious plan that aims to deliver to East Sussex residents and visitors the highest possible quality bus services that provide frequent and comprehensive choice, reduces congestion, and makes a positive contribution to better air quality and decarbonisation. The plan also aims to deliver a raft of supporting measures on fares and ticketing, information provision, technological innovation, and bus stop facilities. East Sussex received a funding allocation of £41.4m over 2.5 years to March 2025, the third highest for shire/rural authorities, and the highest per head of population amongst these authorities.

The Council will also take on new duties and responsibilities arising from the Government’s Environment Act. This includes developing a Local Nature Recovery Strategy, which we will develop in partnership with Brighton & Hove City Council, working through the Sussex Local Nature Partnership which is hosted by the Council.

1.4 Workforce skills

Delivery outcome: The workforce has and maintains the skills needed for good quality employment to meet the needs of the current and future East Sussex economy

We want all local people to have the skills they need to succeed and for businesses to have access to a skilled workforce. We will work with post-16 providers, strategic partners, and businesses through Skills East Sussex (SES) and priority sector task groups to understand and respond to local skills needs and economic priorities. This includes the priorities set to be achieved by 2030 for recovery, upskilling the workforce, supporting the unemployed and looking ahead to the skills the economy will need for a net-zero and digitised future.

Through our partnerships we will deliver a range of programmes to improve careers provision for young people and promote and deliver work-based training via schemes such as Apprenticeships and T-Levels. We will support those who are furthest from the workplace through careers, pre-employment and digital inclusion initiatives.

We are a major employer in East Sussex and are committed to supporting the on-going investment in continuous professional development of our staff. The Council has been paying the Apprenticeship Levy of approximately £1m per year since 2017. We have successfully implemented a workforce-based approach and have developed a strategy and action plan to maximise our draw down of the Levy to support employing new apprentices and to support current staff receiving qualifying apprenticeship training. We will continue to address identified areas of skills and employment shortages within the county by also using the levy scheme to fund apprenticeships in local small and medium businesses.

1.5 Our role

Delivery outcome: The value of our role as both a significant employer and a buyer of local goods and services is maximised

As a body with significant spending power in the county we constantly review our procurement processes to ensure they are accessible to local suppliers, maximise the use of local providers in the supply chains, and secure added economic, social and environmental benefits. To support this, we have launched the refreshed East Sussex Social Value Marketplace, which enables the sharing of resources across our suppliers, communities and charity partners. The Council is also dedicated to its responsibilities on mitigating modern slavery in supply chains.

The South East Grid Network Services Framework contract with MLL Telecom provides the Council’s digital infrastructure, which connects 255 council and school sites. This contract secured a social value offer of circa £2.5m (around 20% of contract value) across East Sussex. This included local spend commitments, the creation of local jobs, apprentices and a sector-based work academy programme with training support.

In response to the current recruitment and retention challenges, the Council is seeking to maximise the use of apprenticeships, traineeships, intern arrangements and more flexible working arrangements as a way of attracting new talent. In support of this, we are attending events such as careers fairs to maximise our presence with job seekers. We are also linking in with organisations that support people back into employment to extend our reach into sections of the labour market that are underrepresented or face significant barriers to employment.

1.6 Children

Delivery outcome: All children progress well from early years through school and into post-16 education, training and employment

We want local people to have the skills they need to succeed and all children to progress well from early years through school and into education, training and employment.

Our partnership infrastructure remains the key local mechanism for delivering our shared ambitions. We will continue to work collaboratively to build capacity across the system for school-led improvement. We will work in partnership, within available resources, to meet the needs of all pupils and deliver excellent educational outcomes.

We will continue to place a strong focus on our most disadvantaged pupils to ensure that they achieve consistently high outcomes. We will also work closely with every school, setting and college to secure a strong Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) offer which makes education accessible to all children in their local community school.

Educational attainment is negatively affected by poor rates of attendance. We will work closely with providers to support them to identify best practice and secure improvements in attendance and reductions in exclusions for all groups of children and young people.

We will work with our partners, to promote and secure participation in post 16 education and training, including provision and support for vulnerable groups and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities. We will ensure that we prepare young people for work by providing good quality careers guidance, work experience and new projects focussed on improving attendance and post 16 oracy. We will continue to provide targeted 1-1 support for vulnerable groups via the Youth Employability Service (YES) and we will implement robust tracking and data analysis to inform interventions that will improve transition and progression to post 16 education, training and employment.

The Schools White Paper sets out a clear role for the local authority as the ambassador for all children and young people, especially the most vulnerable. It also outlines the aspiration for all schools to be part of a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) by 2030. This means our role in facilitating partnerships between schools, and the strategic role of the Joint Board in shaping a strong school landscape across all phases, will become even more critical over time.

The national policy to promote a Trust led school system, alongside proposals being made in the SEND Green Paper, mean that it is timely to reshape our internal structures to reflect new national priorities. The Standards and Learning Effectiveness Service (SLES) and the Inclusion, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Service (ISEND) will be brought into one single Education Division. This process will take place over the course of the academic year 2022-2023, following appropriate consultation with staff and stakeholders. We will also move to a locality-based operational delivery model for some school-facing services which will ensure that we meet local needs and work effectively across different areas of the county.

1.7 Planned work

Examples of planned work during 2023/24

· We will produce an Economic Insight Analysis which will set out the evidence base for a range of interventions that will have most impact on the economy, particularly in relation to productivity, innovation and pre-scale up businesses

· We will support the delivery of the South East Create Growth Programme, providing access to business support, investment and grants for pre-scale up creative sector businesses

· We will work with Towner Eastbourne to maximise the benefits of Turner Prize coming to Eastbourne in 2023

· We will grow the value of our tourism sector by working with West Sussex and Brighton and Hove partners to create a “Sussex Story” marketing narrative and commission film and photography that all businesses can access to promote the county to local, national and international visitors

· We will deliver at least 60% of the Council’s circa £400m procurement spend through local companies

· We will work with stakeholders to further evolve the approach to social value, targeting areas where sector-specific factors require tailored approaches. This includes working with areas where supply chains are characterised by high levels of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector contribution.

· School improvement in East Sussex is delivered in partnership with schools. The priorities identified in partnership for the current academic year include a focus on improving language and communication across all phases; enhancing outcomes for disadvantaged learners and children with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND); ensuring leadership and governance are of the highest quality; improved transition from Year 6 into Year 7 and Year 11 into post-16; ensuring all schools maximise attendance and minimise exclusions

Priority - Keeping vulnerable people safe

Priority Overview

Ensuring vulnerable children and adults are safe is one of our key priorities and responsibilities to the community.

There will always be children and adults who cannot be looked after at home by their families. Where it is clear this is the case for children, we will intervene early and find permanent or long-term placements for them through fostering or adoption where appropriate. We will be ambitious so that they can achieve their best and we will continue with effective placement planning to ensure that the right child is cared for, in the right place, for the right amount of time and at the most appropriate cost. We will also ensure that vulnerable adults are safeguarded whether they are looked after at home or somewhere else.

The pandemic has resulted in some very specific new tasks and functions for Public Health and the challenges of adapting services and responding to new and emerging needs will continue to shape much of our work; whilst also changing the role of Public Health or the challenges already identified pre COVID-19. As demand for both health and social care services continues to increase and the financial challenges facing the Council remain, we will continue to ensure a focus on prevention and early intervention.

2.1 Vulnerable people

Delivery outcome: All vulnerable people in East Sussex are known to relevant local agencies and services are delivered together to meet their needs

One of our key objectives is that there is an effective multi-agency early help and child protection system, which ensures that children and young people who are, or are likely to be, at risk of harm are identified, supported and protected. This is part of a wider multi-agency safeguarding system, underpinned by strong statutory multi-agency governance and scrutiny by the East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership.

Through the partnership network of organisations which constitute the Children and Young People’s Trust, we aim to work across health, social care, education, and criminal justice. We will work with partners in the statutory and voluntary sector to progress our priorities.

We will continue to support families with complex needs through the Government’s Supporting Families (previously Troubled Families) programme. We will extend the number of teams and services taking a whole family approach as set out within the Supporting Families Outcomes Framework. We will continue to work with partners to promote a whole system, whole family approach for the planning and delivery of services. We will identify as many external funding streams as possible to sustain family support programmes and youth work.

We will also continue our work to safeguard vulnerable adults through the Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB). This is a multi-agency partnership, made up of statutory and voluntary partners as well as lay members, established to promote well-being and oversee Safeguarding Adults work county-wide.

Health and Social Care Connect, the Adult Social Care and Health contact centre, continues to provide a single point for information, advice and access to community health and social care services seven days a week, from 8am to 8pm.

The Council is a member of the Sussex Health and Care Partnership (SHCP), a partnership of health and care organisations working together across Sussex. The SHCP was awarded Integrated Care System (ICS) status in April 2020.

We will work with our partners in the SHCP to deliver the 5-year Sussex Integrated Care Strategy. The Strategy aligns with and builds upon the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and associated plans. The Strategy provides an overarching framework across Sussex, and describes a shared ambition to support people to live healthier longer lives, particularly those who are most disadvantaged, and to develop a new way of working with our different communities that better understands local people’s need and responds to them in the best possible way. It focuses on keeping people healthy, supporting all aspects of people’s lives and the specific needs of children and young people. To achieve this shared ambition, there will be a focus on doing more to grow and support our workforce and to improve the use of digital technology and information, as well as supporting stronger partnerships and collaboration necessary to enable delivery.

We will continue to pursue a range of projects and initiatives aimed at improving the mental health and wellbeing of East Sussex residents. We are committed to supporting people in crisis, including those at risk of suicide. We will take a lead role in developing the new ICS suicide and self-harm prevention strategy. This will include a local programme of activity and continuation of our work to reduce deaths at coastal locations.

The Homes for Ukraine visa scheme was launched in March 2022 in response to the war in Ukraine, providing Ukrainians without family connections in the UK with the opportunity to match with sponsors who can host them in their homes and provide support to access local services. We will work to ensure that Ukrainian families can take the next steps towards independence as East Sussex residents. This means ensuring all Ukrainians can access support with welfare and wellbeing, English language, employment support and routes into secure accommodation. We will share learning between the Homes for Ukraine programme and other arrangements and resettlement schemes for refugees, asylum seekers and migrant groups, to ensure East Sussex is a safe and welcoming county for all people arriving in our communities.

2.2 Safe at home

Delivery outcome: People feel safe at home and well supported by their networks

We work with partners, including health services, police, ambulance, and fire and rescue services, to ensure people are safeguarded and able to live independently and free from abuse. We will raise awareness of safeguarding issues and enquire into concerns of abuse.

We support the most vulnerable families, helping them to find ways to manage independently and cope with problems so that they can stay together where possible and achieve better outcomes for children and parents.

Early Help services support families to tackle their problems before they become more difficult to reverse. We will continue to deliver this via an integrated service with health visitors as part of the 0-19 Early Help service alongside the development of Family Hubs. The aim is to provide earlier support and prevent escalation to more intensive specialist services helping to manage demand for higher cost services. The strategy includes keywork with vulnerable families, early years family support services integrated with delivery of the Healthy Child Programme by our health visitors, and evidence-based youth work with vulnerable young people.

We also offer universal, open-access and drop-in early help services for children, families and young people where these are fully externally funded. We have a network of 16 children’s and youth centres.

We work in partnership to reduce crime, anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse and help victims to stay safe from harm. We work with a number of partners to provide support services and raise awareness of domestic abuse across the county. Through our partnership work we continue to support East Sussex residents to address drug and alcohol misuse, sustain their recovery and to prevent drug and alcohol related deaths.

Our Trading Standards service helps to protect vulnerable people from exploitation such as rogue traders and cold callers. We also investigate food fraud, illicit tobacco and counterfeit alcohol to protect people from the increased risks associated with these. These services are provided in partnership with the police and other agencies to ensure an effective level of prevention and support work is offered to the residents and businesses of East Sussex.

2.3 Supportive relationships

Delivery outcome: Children grow up supported by enduring, loving relationships

Our aim is to ensure that all children grow up supported by enduring, loving relationships. We will implement the nationally trialled Family Safeguarding model which in line with the recommendations of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care. This model involves professionals from different agencies working together to support families to identify and implement the changes they need to make to ensure children can remain safely at home.

2.4 Support services

People feel safe with services

While we aim to help people stay safe and independent, this is not always possible. There will always be children and young people who cannot be cared for at home and with their families. Where it is clear this is the case for children, we will intervene early and find permanent or long-term, cost effective, placements for them through fostering or adoption where appropriate. Vulnerable adults that cannot cope by themselves need to have support services that are safe and of good quality; we will continue to monitor satisfaction with our commissioned services including through service user evaluations.

We will continue the development of our Adult Social Care strategy in partnership with local residents and partners. The strategy will be centred on the needs of local people who require care and support. The strategy will provide a clear direction for staff and services, helping them work together to keep vulnerable people safe.

2.5 Health

Delivery outcome: We work with the wider health and care system to support people to achieve the best outcomes possible

As a result of the changes brought about during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have adapted the way we provide support to vulnerable adults. The East Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People 2022 - 2027’, sets out our shared vision and commitments in response to our population’s health needs and challenges. We will work with partners to help deliver this and our rolling Health and Wellbeing Strategy. This provides the overarching framework for our plans for health and care services within the county and our shared work to improve the other factors that influence health.

2.6 Planned work

Examples of planned work during 2023/24

· We will continue to help prevent vulnerable people from becoming a victim of mass marketing fraud and intervene if people have already become a victim

· We will continue to protect people from the increased risks associated with food fraud, illicit tobacco and counterfeit alcohol through the risk based investigations undertaken by Trading Standards

· We will support people who have been a victim of sexual violence and domestic abuse through the specialist domestic abuse and sexual violence service

Priority - Helping people help themselves

Priority Overview

Whilst we must keep vulnerable people safe, people prefer and need to be independent. If we can encourage families and communities to work together to build better local communities, meet local need, and support individuals to stay independent, we can meet our objectives of breaking dependency, while reducing demand for services and therefore costs. Helping people to be self-supporting will become increasingly important as the resources available to public services decline.

3.1 Putting people first

Delivery outcome: Commissioners and providers from all sectors put people first when providing services and information to help them meet their needs

One of the best things we can do to support people is to focus very clearly on their needs when designing and providing services and when we make information available so people can help themselves.

Our focus is to provide people with the support they need as early as possible to help them remain healthy and independent. When they need them, our services will be provided by integrated health and care teams, meaning their care will be more efficient and personal, delivered by one system.

Our focus on providing support as early as possible should mean that people don’t need health and care services as much. But when they do, we will make sure they can get services quickly, easily and, before they reach crisis point.

We want to ensure that local people receive the right services, in the right place, at the right time. This may mean they access and use services differently. We aim to empower them with the knowledge of how to best use available health and social care services, and how to best get the support they need.

As part of the core services for Adult Social Care we will provide information and advice for all those seeking care and support; and provide support that reduces the need for social care in the longer term and/or prevents the need for a more expensive service. We will continue to work with health partners to support hospital discharge.

Health inequalities are avoidable, unfair and systematic differences in health between different groups of people. We will ensure that tackling health inequalities is a principle applied throughout all aspects of our business planning processes and service delivery.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a disproportionate impact on people who were previously experiencing significant health and structural inequalities. Their recovery will require a detailed understanding of their concerns, a commitment and collaboration between agencies and genuine efforts to co-produce solutions. The three-year ‘Living Well with COVID’ programme started in May 2022 covers a range of statutory functions and good practice public health interventions. Taking a community leadership approach framed within a disaster recovery context the programme will seek to support three target communities: Young Adults living in deprived areas, Black and Ethnic Minority groups, and our Workforce. We will publish a county wide three-year Creative Health & Wellbeing Strategic Plan by May 2023 to help people’s recovery.

We provide online access to information, for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families, about services and expertise available in the area from a range of local organisations, including providers of education, health and social care. We will use feedback from service users to improve the accessibility of this information and address any gaps.

We are committed to ongoing co-production and participation activities to ensure the voice of children and young people and their families is central to the development of services and decision making.

The service helps improve the lives and outcomes of children and young people with SEND, helping them to achieve their ambitions and become successful adults. We will carry out statutory assessments of children with SEN where there are significant barriers to learning and we will aim to secure the right education provision for those with the greatest need.

3.2 Maintaining independence

Delivery outcome: The most vulnerable get the support they need to maintain their independence and this is provided at or as close to home as possible

It is often best if people in need of care and support receive this at home, if possible, with the help of friends and family. We work to ensure that people’s homes are safe, providing access to care services, and personal budgets so that people can choose the care and support they need.

We will continue to encourage local adult social care providers to register with the Support With Confidence scheme, helping adults in need of support to find vetted and approved providers of services that meet their needs.

Five Mental Health Support Teams will continue to operate across the county, and we will work to embed them into 68 targeted schools. Their remit is to deliver high quality interventions to support children and young people who are referred to the service. We will use the learning from these schools to champion the Whole School Approach to mental health and emotional wellbeing, and work with partners to develop a cohesive offer of Whole School Approach support for all schools and colleges. Throughout the academic year, the Mental Health Support Teams service will extend the offer to children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in both mainstream and special schools and develop a cohesive programme of support for parents and carers in supporting their children with emotional wellbeing.

3.3 Local mutual support systems

Delivery outcome: Through working well with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, individuals, families and communities are supported to be independent and to thrive

People, families and communities across East Sussex have huge potential to thrive and to support each other. There is a substantial infrastructure of public, voluntary and community sector work across the county that can seek to help local people achieve their ambitions.

We work with partners and communities across the county to help local communities thrive and tackle some of the most difficult issues that impact on people’s happiness and wellbeing, such as loneliness.

We are working with partners across health, social care, the voluntary and community sector, and others to increase community and personal resilience in East Sussex. We aim to increase volunteering; improve and coordinate support to strengthen communities; and help individuals to improve their own health and well-being and take action to prevent disease and ill health.

As driver error contributes to over 90% of road collisions where people are killed or seriously injured (KSI), funding of £700K has been allocated which will enable a comprehensive behaviour change programme to be developed and implemented, alongside our ongoing programme of work to improve the road infrastructure. The programme has identified a number of target groups who are at the greatest risk of having a road traffic collision resulting in a KSI casualty and potential projects working with these groups have been developed.

Community networks provide a range of prevention support, access to practical help and increase the availability of social opportunities to local communities. The Council will work in 2023/24 to ensure connections are made across all Council services, as well as with a joint leadership group made up of strategic partners, including the VCSE sector.

The County Council has developed a website and package of cost-of-living support which includes information, and advice on employment and skills, managing debt, maximising benefits and grants income, housing, homelessness, fuel poverty, warm spaces, mental health, food, clothing and transport costs. We have also established a multi-agency financial inclusion steering group with representation from a range of statutory services and the VCSE sector. Amongst its priorities is to maximise funding opportunities across the system, improve the take up of benefits and grants and provide access to the right information, advice and support at the right time.

3.4 Planned work

Examples of planned work 2023/24

· We will increase the number of members of the Support with Confidence scheme, which provides a register of people and organisations that have been vetted and approved by us, so users can be confident in their safety, training and quality

· Following the successful opening of new specialist facilities attached to mainstream schools across the county, we are looking to develop the facilities programme further over the next year and bring more capacity to local mainstream schools. Our SEN place planning strategy also identifies the need for an expansion of special school places in the north of the county

· Following an independent review of young people’s emotional health and wellbeing services across Sussex, the East Sussex Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing (MHEW) Planning Group has been set up. The Group will drive and oversee improvements in MHEW services in East Sussex as part of implementing the new Sussex wide strategy ‘Foundations for our Future’

Priority – Making best use of resources now and for the future

Priority Overview

This priority underpins all our activities and is a key measure of success for all our priority outcomes. It applies to all the resources available for East Sussex, not only within the Council, but across the public sector, voluntary and community sector and private partners, and within local communities. We will work as a single unified organisation to deliver our priorities; ensuring high quality, streamlined services are commissioned and developed in partnership; working to reduce demand for services and focusing on our residents and communities. We will ensure that the decisions we take are sustainable both now and for the future, ensuring they provide best value for money and support our ambitions to become carbon neutral.

4.1 Carbon Neutral

Delivery outcome: To help tackle Climate Change East Sussex County Council activities are carbon neutral as soon as possible and in any event by 2050

We will build on our earlier work to ensure Council activities are carbon neutral as soon as possible and in any event by 2050. We will implement our second Climate Emergency Plan which covers the period April 2022 to March 2025. This includes a focus on reducing the carbon emissions from our buildings, as well as committing capital investment on heat decarbonisation in our schools and non-school buildings. The Council has committed an additional £9.9m of funding up to March 2025 to cut corporate carbon emissions.

During 2022/23 our LED lighting programme will roll out a further 10 sites and we will also install solar PV (photovoltaic) panels on 10 Council properties. We will complete the heat decarbonisation of two sites and will bid for external funding to decarbonise a further seven sites up to March 2025.

We will continue work to reduce carbon emissions from our supply chain. In line with our Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy we will seek to minimise negative, as well as promote positive, environmental impacts, where possible, within the Council’s supply chain, from commissioning and procurement through to contract management.

4.2 One Council

Delivery outcome: We work as one Council

We will ensure that we work in a unified way so that resources are focused on delivering our priority outcomes. This means minimising the cost of back-office services and directing resources to frontline services. We will focus on delivering services close to local people in the most cost-effective way possible. We will also continue to work to exploit technology effectively as an enabler for providing efficient services.

The impact of the pandemic has created a large-scale shift to how organisations operate and has provided an unprecedented opportunity to accelerate our planned changes to how we work in the future. We will continue to invest in enabling technology and evolve our working practices to ensure we have modern, flexible workspaces and work styles that enable hybrid ways of working, building on the success of existing flexible working options. We will review our office estate as part of this work, ensuring that it is the right size for our future needs. New working practices will drive efficiency, as well as significantly reducing carbon emissions through a reduced requirement for staff travel.

We continue to identify new opportunities to harness the power of technology to support new ways of working, connect with partners and support the delivery of resident and community outcomes through our Strategic Digital Framework. We will put people at the centre of our approach to implementing new technologies, whilst ensuring that these support our commitment to achieving best value for money.

The Managing Back Office Systems programme will continue the work to implement a new Oracle Fusion system to replace the Council’s core finance and Human Resources systems. The improvements delivered by the new system will help support our new working practices.

4.3 Working in partnership

Delivery outcome: We work in strong and sustained partnership with the public, voluntary community, social enterprise and private sectors to ensure that our collective resources and influence are used to deliver maximum benefits

We will work in partnership across the public, voluntary and community, and private sectors to ensure that all appropriate available resources are used to deliver maximum benefits to local people. We will be proactive in making the best use of our assets, sharing property, staff, technology and data with partners so we work as efficiently as possible, removing duplication and increasing flexibility. We will join with partners to seek opportunities to achieve better value through our procurement.

Collaboration continues to be important as we continue to support our residents and businesses in recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and challenges around the cost of living.

Orbis, our partnership with Surrey County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council for some of our back-office services, has allowed us to provide efficient and resilient services while achieving savings which are being used to sustain services for residents of all three areas.

The Strategic Property Asset Collaboration in East Sussex was formed by a number of public and third sector organisations coming together in partnership, to look for opportunities to co-locate and collaborate around property, to ensure cost effectiveness and to improve the customer journey by creating more effective environments to deliver services from.

The Council continues its partnership with West Sussex County Council (WSCC).

4.4 Value for money

Delivery outcome: Ensuring we achieve value for money in the services we commission and provide

Across all our resources, services, and partnerships we will seek to achieve the maximum positive impact to deliver our priority outcomes for people in East Sussex.

We will ensure the best value for money from our spend with third parties. We are actively working to strengthen our planning processes to enable better strategic decision making in this area and maximise value for money.

We are continuing to review our properties (excluding schools) to assess the needs of the organisation and ensure these are being used in the most efficient way. This includes reviewing the potential for income generation from our properties.

Work continues to ensure our office spaces are suitable for hybrid working. It is anticipated that this will lead to a smaller footprint for dedicated office space and we will, over time, be able to reduce the cost of occupancy in our corporate buildings. This reduction in office space will also support the Council’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions.

4.5 Maximising funding

Delivery outcome: Maximising the funding available through bidding for funding and lobbying for the best deal for East Sussex

We will continue to take all opportunities to raise the distinct funding needs of the Council with Government, to address the long-term fair funding needs of our services. We will work with partners to press for the best outcomes for the county, lobbying with our local MPs and with our local, regional and national partners including the South East 7, County Councils Network (CCN), Society of County Treasurers and Local Government Association (LGA).

However, the current and forecast economic conditions present a very challenging financial outlook for the Council in the coming years and it may impact on our ability to deliver some services in the future.

4.6 Employer of choice

Delivery outcome: We are an employer of choice and support our staff to achieve and develop

We are committed to the development of our workforce and continue to embed our People Strategy into our culture. The People Strategy helps support our managers and staff to respond to the changing and challenging environment in which the Council is operating, for example, recruitment and retention challenges, future savings requirements and implementation of hybrid working arrangements. The Strategy is built around the four pillars of: i) Leadership and Management, ii) Performance, Development and Reward, iii) Employee Engagement and Inclusion and iv) Employee Health and Wellbeing.

We will continue to build on recent work on identifying the Council as an ‘employer of choice’ with work being undertaken on a new employer brand and updated recruitment materials, as well as ensuring our workforce policies and approaches support individuals to remain in work, such as our financial wellbeing services, wellbeing offer, occupational health and absence management services.

We continue to support the development of our managers to ensure they are best equipped to meet the continuing challenges we face as an organisation. This is informed by our Leadership and Management Capability Framework which sets out the management and leadership expectations in support of the Council’s priority outcomes and operating principles.

4.6 Planned work

Examples of planned work 2023/24

· We will reduce the amount of CO₂e produced from Council operations

· We will maintain or reduce the number of working days lost to sickness absence

· We will refresh the Staff Travel Plan, particularly in response to evolving hybrid working practices

· We will review our use of assets to ensure effective utilisation of our property and land, with consideration of cost and carbon implications

Equality objectives

The Council recognises the diverse needs of our communities and is committed to promoting equality of opportunity and diversity in employment and service delivery. We challenge discrimination and encourage respect, understanding and dignity for everyone living, working and visiting East Sussex. We do this through our influence in the community, strategic planning and policy formation in employment and service delivery. The Council has identified two equality objectives that will be our focus for 2023/24:

· We will lead by example, delivering services that are informed by the views, strengths and needs of our communities and providing an inclusive and supportive working environment for our staff. To help achieve this we will take practical actions on equality, diversity and inclusion as set out in the Corporate Equality Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.

· As part of the Workplace Adjustments Review, we will:

o Engage with disabled staff to identify agreed areas for improvement.

o Use a range of engagement mechanisms to raise manager and staff awareness of workplace adjustments and the process for requesting and implementing them.

o Set up practical, useful and sustainable approaches across the council to improve consistency for disabled staff and monitor implementation.

Revenue budget: gross and net

The charts below show how we will spend your revenue budget money in 2023/24, and where the money will come from (gross and net). More information on our revenue budget can be found in our financial budget summary which explains the difference between the gross and net budgets.

How we will spend your money (gross)

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How we will spend your money (net)

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*Centrally Held Budgets include Treasury Management and contributions to the Capital Programme

Where the money comes from (gross)

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Where the money comes from (net)

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Revenue Spending

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Adult Social Care

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Public Health

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Business Services

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Children’s Services

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Communities, Economy & Transport

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Governance Services

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Revenue Data

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Capital programme

Capital programme: projects in the year ahead 2023/24

The planned capital programme supports the Council's Capital Strategy to 2042/43. It comprises targeted basic need investment that supports services in the delivery of priority outcomes and is supported by a planned programme to 2031/32. It includes providing for essential school places, investments in roads and transport infrastructure, support for climate change initiatives, enhancing the life of existing assets and ensuring they are fit for purpose, as well as support for strategic investment. Details of the full current capital programme are in our financial budget summary. Below are examples of key projects that will be underway in 2023/24 at a cost of £(to be added)m.

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Economic Growth & Strategic Infrastructure