The Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty

You may be aware that the Supreme Court has recently issued a judgment which significantly changes the legal approach to determining whether a person is deprived of their liberty. The judgement can be seen here A Reference by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland of a devolution issue under paragraph 34 o….

We would encourage you to familiarise yourselves with the judgment and carefully consider the implications for your services and practice. Please see the following links for further information: CQC statement on the Supreme Court's judgment on deprivation of liberty - Care Quality Commission and 2026-UKSC-16-Summary-for-website.pdf.

We ask that you refer to this updated position when making any new referrals to the DoLS team.  In addition, as the change came into effect immediately from 2 June, please review any recent DoLS referrals you have made. You should consider whether, in light of this revised approach, any of these referrals may no longer be appropriate.

We hope this offers reassurance whilst we wait for additional National guidance to be disseminated.  At this stage we don’t have further information, but if you have a specific query, you can contact the MCA DoLS Duty Team at Dolforms@essex.gov.uk

Essex County Council - Provider Hub
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Market Context 

The local authority has a Sufficiency Duty to place CIC in  safe, suitable and local placements. One of the options for CIC who need a care placement is a Registered Children’s Home.  A Registered Children’s Home can vary from a solo placement to a multi placement home. The largest in Essex accommodating 12 CIC. In Essex on average a Registered Care Home has around 4 placements at a time.  A standard Registered Children’s Home has children and young people ranging from 10-18 years of age.  All Children Home Providers need to be registered with Ofsted. 

The Council currently commission for three different scenarios. These are to provide support for:

  • Children with disabilities, 
  • children and young people with social emotional or mental health concerns (SEMH),
  • And children and young people requiring emergency placements. 

Within a Registered Children’s Home, a placement supports the children and young people to:

  • Provide short, medium or long term, provision for children and young people requiring a placement,
  • Live in a safe and stable environment,
  • Successfully step down into foster care, less intensive placements, or on to specialist services.

The Residential Framework closed as of February 2024 and a new operating model is in the process of being implemented including block contracts, a Dynamic Purchasing System as well as securing nomination rights into local registered placements. 

Current Market Status 

Across Essex there are a good number of providers and placements. The Council at times struggle to access these placements in County. In the foreseeable future Essex will need to increase access to support demand and support evolution of these services. Ensuring it meets the needs for CIC, encouraging and supporting providers to have a localised agenda.

 

Market Quality Market Supply Market Demand
Moderate Good High
Market Workface Market Ambition Market Maturity
Low Increase Supply Evolving

 

Within Essex there are 247 registered Children homes placements delivered by 58 providers.

Total Number of Providers:

30

Total Number of Placements:

235

Total Market Spend per year:

£20.9 Million

ECC Funded Placements

68

Number of Provider Entries/Placements (20/21): 

16/59

Provider Quality – Good or Outstanding: 

84%

Average Accommodation Placement Size: 

4 

Framework/spot Placement Ratio: 

24%/76%

Number of Placements per year (22/23): 

91

Number of Emergency Placements (22/23):

79

Number of Planned Placements (22/23):

12

Average Length of Stay: 

N/A

Average Package Cost per week: 

£5,450

Expected future Capacity Required:

6

Work is required to increase access to capacity in this sector and ensure all children’s homes are registered with Ofsted. The Council  want to shape the future offer and improve relationships with providers in this market to reduce the number of unsuitable and out of county placements. 

  • The market can be volatile, this includes vast differences between providers. It is unclear how sustainable this market and workforce is, as well as the quality of the service received by the children and young people.
  • Government are investigating options to put in place Regional Care Corporative. This would have a significant impact on our commissioning and procurement approach across Essex. 
  • Due to changes in support accommodation services demand for registered managers is increasing . Making recruitment, retention, and salary affordability a challenge.
  • Increased pressure on front line residential workers and providers retaining their workforce.
  • The costof running and operating a home has increased significantly; notably gas, electric, and petrol prices.
  • Looking to develop options to deliver in-house children’s homes. 
  • Investigate options to recommission our contracted services. 
  • Investigating options to evolve the voluntary sector into the children sector in Essex to increase choice. 
  • To continue to reduce the number of placements for CIC outside of Essex.
Last updated: 18/04/2024
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