Heat-health alert for East of England

An amber heat-health warning has been issued by the UKHSA. The warning is in effect from the morning of 11 August 2026 through to the evening of 14 August 2026. Please ensure you keep up to date with weather reports reports and plan accordingly.

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Interim Deprivation of Liberty Practice Guidance (AGNI Judgment 2026)

New interim guidance has been published following the AGNI 2026 Supreme Court judgment. Adult Social Care providers are encouraged to review the guidance to understand Essex County Council's current interim approach while further national guidance is awaited.

Read the guidance

Essex County Council - Provider Hub
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Our Market Position Statement (MPS) is a summary of Essex County Council’s Children in Care and Young People Market for 2024/25.  The content of the MPS provides an overview of current commissioning intentions, market pressures and ambitions to supports strategic objectives within the Council.

Within our MPS there are different markets that provide services and support Children and families across Essex. Each market has varying levels of complexities, including demand, capacity, quality and locality pressures impacting on our stability across Essex.  

The MPS is directed at providers supporting looked after children, to help shape services and enable the market to make informed decisions. This content will share information or analysis on:

  • Our Essex demography, population, trends, market spend, and current market pressures
  • Current benchmarking insight alongside other Local Authorities, market quality, and financial forecast
  • Children in Care Services
  • Children and Young People needs
  • Market enablers that provide different services alongside our existing markets

The information shared within the MPS is our baseline of insight to support the delivery of our Market Shaping Strategy for 2023- 2027.  

The content of the MPS will be updated every 6-12 months, dependant on any significant changes to existing markets. 

"Essex County Council has an ambition to ensure that “children and young people are our future, and we need to ensure they want to stay in Essex.” 

Detailed below are key statistics on our children in Essex, our analysis reviews the current and potential impact to children across our districts and wards.

  • Essex has 1.5 million Residents; the population means that we are the 2nd largest council population in England.
  • 315,591 Children and Young People; 21% of our Essex population are under 19. 
  • 1050 Children in Care (excluding Separated Migrated Children) are placed in Essex. 
  • 82% of Children Residential Homes in Essex are rated with Ofsted as good or outstanding. 
  • 1047 requests for Children and Young People's to enter care or change of care setting in 2022/23
  • There are 1141 Looked After Children within Children and Family Services 
  • 13% of Children and Young People are estimated to be living in poverty 
  • £153 Million is spent in total on Children and Family Services. 

This information is for:

  • Existing Providers working with Essex County Council
  • New Providers who are looking for opportunities within Essex.
  • Other businesses or organisations such as, Health, Community Health Providers, Voluntary or Community organisations working with Essex County Council.
Last updated: 05/08/2026
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