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Ref
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Strategic
Risks
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Pre
Mitigation RAG rating
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Risk
Control / Response and Post Mitigation RAG score
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Post
Mitigation RAG rating
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Strat-5
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RECONCILING
POLICY, PERFORMANCE & RESOURCES
There is ongoing
uncertainty in relation to future funding levels, the longer-term
local government funding regime and the impact of national reforms,
particularly across Children’s Social Care and Adult Social
Care. The impact of a period of high inflation/cost of living are
leading to higher demand for Council services and have increased
the direct cost of providing services. Together these create a risk
of insufficient resources being available to sustain service
delivery at the agreed Core Offer level to meet the changing needs
of the local community.
Our revenue budget for 2024/25 includes a draw from the Financial
Management Reserve to provide a balanced budget. In year pressures
in 2024/25 are likely to require an additional draw on reserves.
Our proposed budget for 2025/26 includes additional savings and
further use of our limited reserves. We are reliant on the
multi-year settlement in 2026/27, fair funding review and business
rates review delivering sufficient funding to meet the needs of our
residents.
Additionally, there are risks and uncertainties regarding the
capital programme over the current Medium Term Financial Plan
period and beyond, which could impact on the ability to deliver the
Council’s priorities and set a balanced budget. Funding
uncertainty (including capital grants, receipts and developer
contributions), inflation, supply chain issues and high interest
rates could all constrain our ability to implement our Capital
Strategy and increase the pressure on the revenue budget via
increased borrowing costs.
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We
employ a robust Reconciling Policy, Performance and Resources
(RPPR) process for business planning, which ensures a strategic
corporate response to resource reductions, demographic change, and
regional and national economic challenges; and directs resources to
priority areas. We take a commissioning approach to evaluating need
and we consider all methods of service delivery. We work with
partner organisations to deliver services and manage demand, making
best use of our collective resources. We take a 'One Council'
approach to delivering our priorities and set out our targets and
objectives in the Council Plan. We monitor our progress and report
it quarterly.
The Council reviews and updates its 20-year Capital Strategy
annually as part of the RPPR process, which sets the framework in
which the capital programme is planned and allows the Council to
prioritise investment to support its objectives. The development
and delivery of the capital programme is overseen by a Capital
Strategic Asset Board (CSAB), which is a cross departmental group,
who also hear from Departmental Capital Board/Sub Boards who
oversee priority areas.
Our plans take account of known risks and pressures, including
social, economic, policy and demographic changes and financial
risks. However, we continue to operate in changing and uncertain
contexts. Current and forecast economic conditions continue to
shape a very challenging financial outlook both for the Council
itself and many of the county’s residents and businesses.
Alongside this we continue to face ongoing challenges as a result
of the persistent legacy of Covid, the increased cost of living and
other national and international factors. We will continue to use
the latest information available on these challenges to inform our
business planning. We will also continually review our performance
targets, priorities, service offers and financial plans, and will
update these as required. As part of this we will continue to take
action wherever we can to mitigate financial and service delivery
pressures – making best use of new technology, investing in
our workforce, seeking efficiencies, and checking that our services
are effective and provide value for money.
We lobby, individually and in conjunction with our networks and
partners, for a sustainable funding regime for local government in
general and for children’s social care and adult social care
specifically, to meet the needs of the residents of East Sussex. If
the funding reforms do not lead to an increase in funding for our
services, we will need to consider further options, including
seeking Exceptional Financial Support.
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Strat-12
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CYBER
ATTACK
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has highlighted the
enduring and significant threat to UK infrastructure. From
ransomware attacks to AI-enabled intrusion, malicious actors are
looking to maximise their disruptive and destructive efforts in an
increasingly connected world.
Cyber attacks are growing more frequent, sophisticated, and
damaging when they succeed.
Amid a rise of state aligned groups, an increase in aggressive
cyber activity and ongoing geopolitical challenges, there is an
accelerated need to keep pace with the dynamic threat
landscape.
Furthermore, while AI presents huge opportunities, it is also
transforming the threat landscape. Cyber criminals are adapting
their business models to embrace this rapidly developing technology
- using AI to increase the volume and impact of cyber attacks
against citizens and organisations. Meanwhile the proliferation of
advanced cyber intrusion tools is lowering the barrier for entry to
criminals and states alike.
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Most
attacks leverage software flaws, gaps in boundary defences or
social engineering-based insertion methods (such as legitimate
looking emails which trigger viral payloads). These are becoming
harder to identify and filter.
IT&D use modern security tools to assure our security posture:
Monitoring network activity and identifying security threats;
Keeping software up to date with regular patching regimes;
Continually monitoring evolving threats and re-evaluating the
ability of our toolset to provide adequate defence against them;
Ongoing communication with the security industry to find the most
suitable tools and systems to secure our infrastructure.
IT&D continues to invest in new tools, which use pre-emptive
technology to identify threats and patterns of abnormal
behaviour.
Services hosted in ISO 27001 accredited Orbis Data Centres.
As well as mitigations against attack, the following measures are
currently in place to minimise the impact should there be a
successful attack:
• Behavioural analysis systems defend against hostile
activity
• Resilient systems enhanced with immutable backups enable
quick recovery
• Robust protocols for response escalation and
communication
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Strat-22
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DELIVERY
OF ORACLE IMPLEMENTATION
There
is a risk that the implementation of Oracle may not achieve the
outcomes planned which results in:
•higher delivery costs
•longer timescales
•a reduced quality of back office services from a substandard
technical implementation
•risk of not meeting statutory or contractual requirements
such as payments of Pay as You Earn (PAYE) / National Insurance
(NI), pensions, suppliers and employees
•an inadequate control environment
•lack of user buy-in and adoption due to a lack of
organisational readiness impacting on core business
processes
•additional pressure on business as usual capacity from high
resource demands during delivery
•risk to employee wellbeing from high workloads and delivery
timescale
Failure to implement would result in the use of an unsupported and
unlicenced system (or subject to ransom charges on some level of
support) as the SAP system passes its expiry date and would miss
out on efficiencies that can be gained through the new
system.
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Mitigations are in
response to the four main elements of programme delivery:
1. Effective governance and internal controls
The Oracle Programme Board, Sponsors, Workstream Boards and the
Audit Committee Sub Group meet regularly and CMT receive regular
reports. Internal audit continues to undertake reviews across the
programme.
2. Technical delivery
A phased ‘Adopt not Adapt’ approach is being taken as
the most cost-effective and straightforward route to
implementation. The Oracle solution, both functional and data, is
tested to a pre-defined and approved set of quality standards. The
solution is not released for organisational use unless it meets
these standards and is approved by the Oracle Board and
CMT.
3. Organisational readiness
To go-live successfully, it is necessary for the organisation to
adopt the new system with the ‘adopt not adapt’
approach being the most cost-effective.
There is therefore a substantial communication, engagement, change
and training workstream in place to support the organisation to
understand and adopt the necessary changes in working practices in
areas such as hiring processes, budget processes, raising purchase
orders or in using self-service for expenses, payslips, timesheet
and absence.
4. Support model
To ensure confidence in the system and ongoing effective use post
go-live it is essential to have a support model in place to respond
to inevitable issues and queries, and for users to understand what
the user experience will be in advance of that.
To increase resilience and the ability to flex depending on the
level of support required, a blend of internal and external
resource is being used.
A variety of other support tools are also in place such as a
Helpdesk, Oracle Guided Learning, floor walkers, bitesize
briefings, and Advocates.
For Phase 2 of the implementation (covering Finance, Procurement
and Recruitment) all of the above elements were successfully
delivered and rated green. This Phase therefore went live on 17
April 2025. Inevitable post go-live issues are being effectively
dealt with.
Work continues on Phase 3 (payroll, and employee and manager
self-service) and an earliest realistically achievable go-live date
for this phase is currently being considered.
To deliver the implementation, it is necessary to ensure that
sufficient programme resource is in place, and this is therefore
kept under constant review. In addition, a positive ongoing working
relationship with our implementation partner, Infosys, needs to be
in place. The project lead therefore has regular conversations with
Infosys senior staff and escalates issues where
necessary.
It is also necessary for the organisation to prioritise programme
activity at key points in time and this is also therefore kept
under constant review.
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Strat-15
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CLIMATE
Failure to limit global warming to below 1.5°C above
pre-industrialisation levels, which requires global net
human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) to be reduced by
about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net
zero’ by 2050 at the latest. The predicted impacts of climate
change in East Sussex include more frequent and intense flooding,
drought, and episodes of extreme heat, as well as impacts from the
effects of climate change overseas, such as on food supply. This
will lead to an increase in heat-related deaths, particularly
amongst the elderly, damage to essential infrastructure, increased
cost of food, disruption to supply chains and service provision,
and greater coastal erosion.
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Climate change
mitigation: the science-based
target is to reduce scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 50% every 5
years (equating to 13% per year). The focus is on buildings, as
they made up 79% of carbon emissions in 2020/21. Internal oversight
of progress is by the corporate Climate Emergency Board.
Climate change adaptation: we work with partners on some aspects of
adaptation, such as flood risk management and health impacts.
A) Mitigation:
1) Carbon Reduction Target: the target is
a 13% carbon reduction in 2024/25 compared with 2023/24, which
would achieve a cumulative reduction of 50% against the baseline
year of 2019-20. Carbon data for Qs 1-3 show a 2% reduction
compared with Qs 1-3 in 2023/24. If energy usage is similar in Q4
this year to Q4 last year then the annual carbon reduction in
2024/25 will be 1%, against the target of 13%. This will deliver a
cumulative reduction of 36% against the baseline, against the 50%
target.
2) Carbon Reduction Schemes: the target for 2024/25 is for the
delivery of a further 23 capital schemes. A total of 20 schemes
were delivered to date (5 solar PV, 4 LED lighting, 7 heat
decarbonisation, 1 Building Closure, 3 Insulation schemes). This
reflects cuts to both the Salix Recycling Fund and CET CC budget
for directly funded carbon saving projects
B) Adaptation:
1) Corporate Adaptation Plan: During Q1 a
climate change vulnerability and risk assessment report was
completed and published. In Q2 council plans and strategies were
reviewed to identify where adaptation may need to be embedded, and
progress was reported to Place Scrutiny Committee. In Q3 work began
on developing adaptation tools and guidance for Council services.
These tools and guidance will be completed in Q4 and begin to be
applied in 2025/26.
Ultimately there is not sufficient funding available for the
Council to be able to keep pace with the science-based target to
halve emissions every five years. Although grant funding will be
sought to mitigate against this, it is unlikely to be sufficient.
The council will continue to work on what it can to reduce
emissions with the funding it has available including working with
its supply chain on Scope 3 emissions.
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Strat-20
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PLACEMENTS FOR
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE IN OUR CARE
Inability to secure sufficient high quality placements for children
in our care, suitable accommodation for care experienced young
people and respite provision, leading to significant financial
pressure and poorer outcomes for children/young people.
The risk of the failure of one or more key providers in the
independent sector is an increasing concern, set against necessary
regulatory tightening of profit which might further impact the
market.
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Effective demand
management, robust management of front door
Delivery of early help services, implementation of Family Hub
programme throughout 2023-24, and Level 2 Family
Keyworkers
Implementation, monitoring and evaluation of Edge of Care
'Connected Families', The Family Hubs programme has been
implemented across E.Sussex delivering early intervention and
support within communities, Connected Families (Connected Coaches
and Intensive Practitioners), Foundations, SWIFT are delivering
intensive evidence based interventions alongside Social Workers to
maximise the opportunity for children to be cared for within their
own family. There has been a 14% reduction in the number of
children subject to child protection plans since February 2024,
this is as a direct result of the launch of the Connected Families
Intensive Practitioners (CFIP service).
Further delivery of kinship/Special Guardianship Order
placements.
Capital bid for Sorrel Drive.
In 2023/24 Children’s Services worked with IMPOWER to enhance
our approach to using data to shape placement sufficiency. We
have developed trajectory planning, implemented the 'Valuing
Care' approach to ensure children receiving the right care for
their needs and value for money achieved, and improved support for
in house foster carers, including an investment in allowances. An
analysis of the children becoming Looked After during Q1 2024-2025,
indicates that a high proportion (81%) are entering into foster
care or kinship care provision rather than residential
care.
Fostering Recruitment & Retention Strategy completed. East
Sussex County Council is part of the South East Sector Led
Improvement Programme, Regional Fostering Strategy and piloting
Mockingbird hub.
Uplift to fostering allowance (for in house carers, Special
Guardianship Orders, Kinship carers) approved by the Chief
Management Team to help secure sufficient supply of in house foster
carers as an alternative to more expensive care packages.
The valuing care tools have been embedded into the business as
usual with a strong focus on reunification. In Q4 A strategic group
was set up to drive forward the valuing care agenda which will
report into the Transformation Board chaired by the Director of
Children's Services.
Fostering allowance uplift has been made part of the recruitment
drive. Both elements are attempting to mitigate the increased costs
due to the lack of placements for Looked After Children.
Q1 has seen a significant rise in foster carer applications in this
period. The new Duty and Commissioning team have added capacity to
the service and we are already seeing impact with placements and
prices.
Q2 has continued the trajectory above with tighter discussions and
process, however the market continues to present a
challenge.
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Strat-19
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SCHOOLS
AND INCLUSION, SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS AND DISABILITIES
(ISEND)
For
Children with Special Educational Needs. Inability to secure
statutory provision due to lack of availability of specialist
placement within the county and increasing demand for placements in
this sector. This would put the Council at risk of judicial review
and/or negative Local Government Ombudsman judgements for failing
to meet our duties within the Children and Families Act 2014, with
associated financial penalties and reputational damage.
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Effective use of
forecasting data to pre-empt issues.
Work with statutory partners to develop contingency plans.
Work with the market to increase provision where needed.
Expanding internal interim offer for children.
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Strat-1
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ROADS
Extreme weather events over recent years, including the last
winter, have caused significant damage to many of the
county’s roads, adding to the backlog of maintenance in the
County Council’s Asset Plan: and increasing the risk to the
Council’s ability to stem the rate of deterioration and
maintain road condition.
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The
changing climate is now influencing the rate of road deterioration,
with more extreme events such as warmer wetter winters; and drier
summers punctuated by unseasonal heavy downpours (drying and
shrinking the substructure of roads). Additional funding over the
last few years has helped maintain road condition, however, the
latest condition and funding modelling showed the potential for
deterioration over the next 10 years.
Works from additional investment made in 2023 on patching, footway,
signing and lining have provided greater network reliance. However,
deterioration in road surfaces in 2025 has continued. Recognising
this, Cabinet have approved a further £1m in July 2024 for a
programme of targeted patching works to address the worst areas of
road damage.
Mitigations include encouraging road users to report potholes so we
can intervene as soon as possible in accordance with our policies;
closely managing the operational performance of the highway
contractor; and lobbying Government for additional investment as,
without it, it will be increasingly difficult to manage the risks
of further decline.
In conjunction with this, new technologies and materials are being
trialled to introduce improvements to practices and ensure works
are as efficient as possible. This includes introducing a new Asset
Management system with enhanced capabilities for data management
and funding modelling, and introducing smart street lighting
systems that allow greater control over levels of lighting,
reducing energy consumption.
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Strat-4
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HEALTH
Failure to secure
maximum value from partnership working with the National Health
Service (NHS). If not achieved, there will be impact on social
care, public health and health outcomes and increased social care
operational and cost pressures, as well as shared Integrated Care
System objectives for jointly managing patient flow through our
System.
An increase in activity and complexity in the presentation of
patients through our acute hospital sites, has resulted in an
increase in the NCTR (No Criteria to Reside) numbers and presents a
system risk in respect of adequate patient flow.
Integrated Care Board (ICB) operating costs and programme funding
will need to reduce by 50% by Q3 2025/26 as per a national
mandate. For NHS Sussex this means a reduction of 53% which
presents a risk to the way ESCC works with the NHS to jointly
commission services locally and get the best value out of the
collective resources available for our population, and could have
implications for the Sussex Integrated Care System (ICS) which
would impact on alignment with the Sussex Combined Mayoral
Authority Devolution plans.
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East
Sussex was allocated £5,088m, as part of the national
Government Discharge Fund Grant for 2024/25, to support local
authorities to build additional adult social care and
community-based reablement capacity to reduce hospital discharge
delays by delivering sustainable improvements to services for
individuals - focussed on improving discharge to home, alongside
increased therapy and assessment provision and associated plans to
reduce the use of bedded discharge pathways. Collaborative work
continues with ICB and NHS colleagues on our Hospital Discharge
Transformation work and how as a system we can support and expedite
discharges from both local and out of county hospitals, to address
the increase in the number of patients who no longer meet the
Criteria to Reside (NTCR) in an acute hospital bed. National data
provided by NHSE places East Sussex the third highest in the
country in regard to high numbers of NCTRs compared to local
population. In light of this, two Hospital Social Work Teams
currently support discharge either through established routes via
SPOT purchase or Discharge To Assess beds in the community.
Additional support has been provided over Winter via £1million
additional joint ESCC and ICB investment. This was utilised through
a temporary increase of D2RA ('discharge to recover and assess')
and spot-purchased beds in the community to the end of March 25. An
additional scheme to expedite discharges of self-funding patients
from acute sites was commissioned with Xyla. This supports 15
placements a month and oversight of this is through place-based
Operational Executive (OPEX). System funding allocations have been
agreed for Q1 2025/26 for Hospital Discharge Schemes, the use of
which is being monitored at Place.
Building on our ICT development work in 2024/25, we have now
established the shadow leadership infrastructure for our 5
Integrated Community Teams (ICTs) in East Sussex across primary,
community and social care, linking with mental health, VCSE and
housing. This will enable the development of joint local action
plans based on population needs and challenges and aligned to the
strategic objectives of our health and care system, building on
relevant tests of change and other pilot activity to support
integrated care through closer working at the neighbourhood level.
Over time this is expected to reduce the need for urgent and
unplanned attendance and admission to hospital, through moving to a
model of better coordinated and proactive multi-disciplinary care
for people with complex health and care needs, for example due to
multiple long term conditions and frailty.
In March 2025 it was nationally mandated that Integrated Care Board
(ICB) operating and programme funding costs will need to reduce by
50% by Q3 2025/26, with running costs of £18.76 per head of
weighted population set as a national target for ICBs, excluding
certain services. This target means each ICB, or the regions they
are a part of, must reduce their overall spend per head of weighted
population to this level. For NHS Sussex this equates to a
reduction of 53%, and comes on top of already having recently
restructured significantly to deliver a 30% running costs reduction
in 24/25. This presents a risk to the way ESCC works with the NHS
to jointly commission services locally and get the best value out
of the collective resources available for our population. This
could also have implications for the Sussex Integrated Care System
(ICS) more broadly, for example if the ICS footprint changes to a
larger scale to accommodate the reduction, which would impact on
alignment with the Sussex Combined Mayoral Authority Devolution
plans. A national ICB model blueprint has recently been produced
which describes the future strategic role of ICBs, and signals
potential transfers of current Continuing Healthcare, SEND and
safeguarding functions, all of which would need primary legislation
to enact (and would therefore be post cost reductions). More detail
is expected. Feedback about the lack of engagement with Local
Government (LG) as a key partner, and the importance of coterminous
footprints with the NHS for a future Sussex CMA and Devolution has
been given to the Minister for Local Government and English
Devolution, and via the LGA. Locally all three Local Authority
partner members on the Sussex ICB are in collective agreement about
the need for a continuing Sussex ICB footprint and this is being
fed into the local planning discussions both formally and
informally. The ICB's decision will be made public in June
25.
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Strat-23
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LOCAL GOVERNMENT
REORGANISATION AND DEVOLUTION
Both the proposed creation of a new Mayoral County Combined
Authority for Sussex and the proposed transition from a two tier
local authority arrangement to a unitary government model for East
Sussex will have a significant effect on our workforce. These are
likely to lead to additional workloads for staff over the next few
years. The timescales for implementation are challenging and will
place considerable additional pressures on teams. This could have
result in resources being diverted from the ongoing delivery of
services and a consequential deterioration in service
delivery
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Through
our RPPR process we will continue to review the resources required
to support Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation and
will lobby Government for additional funding to help support
the significant additional workload this will place on the Council.
We will also continue our work on supporting staff through change
and will ensure all staff are aware of the full range of support
available to them.
Additional mitigations will be implemented as the potential impact
on both the Council and our local area becomes clearer.
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Strat-9
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WORKFORCE
An inability to
attract and retain the high calibre staff needed could lead to a
reduction in the expertise and capacity required to deliver
statutory services to our residents, including to prevent harm to
children, young people and vulnerable adults at the required level
and standards, impacting on the achievement of the Council’s
strategic objectives.
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A
number of strategies responding to the current significant
recruitment and retention challenges have been put in place.
Highlights include:
- On-going attendance at events such as careers fairs to maximise
our presence with job seekers.
- Continued use of apprenticeships, traineeships, intern
arrangements and more flexible work arrangements etc as a way of
bringing in new talent to the Council.
- Continued delivery of our two leadership development programmes
to support our talent management strategies: the ‘Ladder to
Leadership’ programme and ‘Head of Service
Masterclasses’.
- Provision of 1-1 advice and guidance sessions to prospective
candidates who require support around making an application,
undertaking interviews etc
- Engagement with employees at ESCC, who are under 25, to get
feedback on what attracted them to the Council as an employer; and
to begin establishing a forum for young people in the new year to
highlight any issues, and to attract candidates from a younger
demographic to the Council.
Additional work undertaken in Q4 includes:
- continued delivery of inclusive recruitment training to
managers
- guidance on making reasonable adjustments for disabled candidates
has now been published and promoted to recruiting
managers
- the Council’s suite of recruitment policies is currently
being reviewed to embed inclusive practice
- guidance on the use of volunteers as a route into the workplace
is currently being developed. The intention is for such
opportunities to support people who are out of work to come back
into the workplace through gaining confidence and experience of
work
- the ‘study smarter’ (recruitment platform) monthly
views increased from 2,534 in January 24 to 6,251 in December
24
- the Council’s Apprenticeship team has been invited by the
DWP to be part of a mentorship programme for jobseekers aged 18-24,
which aims to work in tandem with the Government ‘Youth Job
Guarantee’
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Strat-18
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DATA
BREACH
A breach of security/confidentiality leading to destruction, loss,
alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal
data. This includes breaches that are the result of both accidental
and deliberate causes. A personal data breach is a security
incident that has affected the confidentiality, integrity or
availability of personal data regardless of whether information has
been accessed, altered or disclosed via electronic or manual
means.
Risks to individuals, reputational damage, fines from the
Information Commissioner’s Officer (ICO), compensation
claims.
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Policy
and guidance procedures in place to support practice.
Data Protection Officer (DPO), Caldicott Guardians and Information
Governance Officers monitor breach reporting and put in place
mechanisms to minimise recurrence.
Staff training to develop awareness. E-learning and policy delivery
mechanism expanded to enhance skills and increase awareness of
responsibilities under General Data Protection Regulation
legislation.
Technical security measures operated by Information Technology and
Digital (IT&D), including access control and segregation of
duties.
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Strat-6
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LOCAL ECONOMIC
GROWTH
The transfer of
South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) responsibilities
and functions to East Sussex County Council (ESCC) does not
successfully integrate the development of economic strategic
planning, business support, and management of capital funded
programmes, into Council operations as required by Government
policy.
Possible consequences if the transfer is not managed successfully
include:
•Management, monitoring, and evaluation of the current
capital programmes do not meet Government requirements, leading to
potential clawback of £m funds; or an inability for ESCC to
demonstrate it can manage funds successfully, affecting future
allocations of growth funds.
•Third parties with existing contracts may raise concerns if
new / variation funding agreements are not put in place early from
April 2024.
•Loss of an effective ‘business voice’ through
the current local economic growth board (Team East Sussex) and its
various subgroups.
•An inability to produce an agreed local economic strategy,
which sets the ambitions, objectives, and key outcomes for East
Sussex.
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East
Sussex County Council, working with partners, has successfully
secured significant amounts of local growth funding totalling
£127m since 2012 via the South East and Coast 2 Capital Local
Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), to deliver a wide range of
infrastructure projects in East Sussex. In August 2023, Government
formally announced that direct funding for LEPs will be removed
from April 2024. Upper tier local authorities (UTLA’s) will
then be required to take on the current non-statutory LEP powers,
responsibilities, and functions. These include strategy
development, business support and oversight/management of capital
programmes. We submitted our proposal to Government in November
2023 to become an UTLA as per the guidance issued. East Sussex has
now been confirmed by Government as a ‘functional economic
area’ to take on LEP responsibilities. A recent Government
consultation was run in Feb 2025 as Government were minded
‘to withdraw’ financial support to authorities carrying
out the transferred LEP functions. Government has since confirmed
in March 2025 that it will remove the funding but expects the
authorities to continue to perform the above stated
functions.
The South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) and East Sussex
County Council have produced integration plans to mitigate the
transfer risks on current and future capital programmes; and the
financial, legal, and reputational risks. SELEP and our own
Corporate Management Team endorsed the integration plans in quarter
3 2023/24, and the plans were taken to Lead Member in January 2024
and approved by Cabinet in March 2024. Further Government guidance
and a Local Economic Development Fund - Assurance Framework were
finally issued in October 2024 setting out the transition
arrangement requirements.
Essex County Council (ECC) as the Accountable body for SELEP, have
issued on 30 August 2024 a Transition Agreement between all six of
the upper tier local authorities (incl. ESCC) to hand over local
accountable body responsibilities for the legacy capital programmes
to UTLA’s. A response has been provided by ESCC and whilst
there have been delays from Essex CC in finalising the agreement it
is now expected to be signed in early Q1 2025. In the absence of
this agreement, East Sussex has established clear governance,
reporting and transparency arrangements to address the
Government’s responsibilities since April 2024 in overseeing
the management of current LEP funded programmes/projects.
Looking ahead, the lack of large-scale funding programmes to
support economic growth across the county presents a significant
risk to achieving growth ambitions. Recent funds have been awarded
directly to local Borough and District authorities (e.g., UK Shared
Prosperity Fund, Levelling Up Funds and and Plan for
Neighbourhoods) or funding has come from time-limited specific
sources.
We now have a new growth strategy – East Sussex Prosperity -
and will be developing in the accompanying investment plan in 2025
with strategic partners to articulate our investment propositions
and asks to Government and also respond to the Governments emerging
Industrial Strategy and Sector Plans.
The Council is already in a good position to mitigate the risks on
business support and ensuring business has a voice. We directly run
the Business East Sussex Growth Hub services and Government have
confirmed funding 2025/26 and we await to receive the grant terms
and conditions for signing in Qtr 1. We will also ensure the
business voice continues to be heard through Team East Sussex, our
local strategic advisory economic growth board for the county,
which continues to meet on a quarterly basis.
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Strat-21
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CARE ACT REVIEWS
AND DEPRIVATION OF LIBERTY SAFEGUARDING (DOLS)
ASSESSMENTS
Demand exceeding capacity for annual Care Act reviews and
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguarding (DoLS) assessments
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• These are
known issues for virtually all local authorities with social care
responsibilities as this activity falls within our duties under the
Care Act 2014 and Mental Capacity Act 2005.
• We have measures for Care Act reviews and DoLS assessments
included in the Council Plan for scrutiny from Members and the
public. As of Q4 2024/25, we are meeting our target for adult Care
Act reviews (outturn is 6 days against a target of 6 days) and
carer Care Act reviews (outturn is -1 day against a target of 6
days, meaning reviews started on average 1 day before their
proposed start date). We are also meeting our target for the number
of people with a DoLS episode awaiting allocation of a Best
Interest Assessor (429 people against a target of 650).
• We use regular benchmarking. For example, we have the 3rd
lowest number of reviews overdue by more than 12 months out of 18
local authorities in the South East (comparing March 2025 data to
August 2023 South East data, which is the latest
available).
Mitigations and actions:
• We are continuing to increase the number of reviews
completed year-on-year to help meet increasing demand, and to
prioritise reviews according to people’s needs. The number of
adult Care Act reviews completed increased by 10% in 2024/25
compared to 2023/24, and the number of carer reviews increased by
almost 9%.
• A project to reduce Care Act waiting times began in April
2024. Since then, the median wait time for adult and carer reviews
(combined) has reduced from 7 days to 3 days. As of March 2025,
there were no carer reviews overdue by more than 12
months.
• We have oversight of performance at all levels of the
Council to ensure visibility, accountability and grip. Weekly and
monthly reporting is sent to Operational Managers at all levels,
and then scrutinised by the Waiting Times Steering Group and the
Improvement and Assurance Board on a regular basis.
• Since October, we have piloted the delegation portal with
our strategic partner Care for the Carers, making it easier and
quicker for them to process carer reviews.
• Young carers reviews are undertaken by Imago Community,
ensuring a timely assessment and review for this cohort.
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