- In an unstable economy the rising cost of maintaining and running residential properties is felt by the market.
- The need to raise salaries to match rate of inflation adds pressure to existing difficulty in recruitment in the market. Especially when competing within the industry and other sectors that are able to offer higher entry level wages.
- Essex’s proximity to London means that their councils are competing to place within Essex. They are able pay higher fees to make placements and this in turn depletes our market’s capacity.
- Providers are pricing to include an element of risk, and this has an impact in both the short and long-term procurement timelines.
Essex County Council has been working strategically to ensure there is enough provision for the children of Essex and to support legislative changes, this includes:
- Building a presence within the market by attending regional and national conferences (e.g. FEVACA Supported Accommodation Providers Forum and The Children's Commissioners Conference)
- Engaging providers on a cross-functional level with procurement, commissioners' operational presence, and arranging visits to establish different communication and ways of working.
- Working with other local authorities and districts including CCRAG and the Eastern Region Commissioning Group to share opportunities for learning and resources.
- Conducting quarterly Market Engagement Events to receive feedback on work conducted by the Council, deliver updates on upcoming and ongoing services, and have a direct link to feedback from the market.
- Gathering resources and delivering support around the new Ofsted changes, sharing details and reassurance to the market.
- Identifying Procurement opportunities during forums to flex procurement options during development of service specifications.
- Introducing Care Cubed alongside the Council’s new uplift policy to start a better understanding of the cost of care, managing benchmark data with a provider’s uplift request to ensure an optimal return on investment, but also to ensure that the care that is being delivered is evidenced in the uplift.
- Form an understanding of the costs involved to better navigate mounting financial pressures - our recent uplift process has opened up the dialogue regarding the pressures felt by the market.
- Began development of provider training offer under Essex Adult Social Care Training (ESCA). A working group has been created to create an offer of support and training to providers, so they have access to the level of expertise required.
Existing Market Pressures
The Children’s and Young People Residential market in Essex is facing a multitude of complicated difficulties due to a number of factors, these include:
The new national standards becoming mandatory for all providers to be Ofsted registered from Autumn 2023. The first inspections are due from April 2024. This has generated uncertainty around legislative expectations and how best to meet them within the timescales.
Throughout COVID-19, the early intervention service was not in place. As a result, there has been an effect on family resilience and an increase in the breakdown of family bonds.
- Specialist services are not evenly spread in Essex, which means that high level needs are not easily met near to the service users.
- Risk aversity is present within the market, in light of an emphasis on matching a service to high level needs.
- Lack of suitable capacity with rising demand to meet complex needs locally, means provisions out of county have to be utilised. Adapting from lessons learned from this approach, we are now incorporating how to support availability of service within the local area.
- The complexity of high level needs creates barriers in accessing the statutory services that are required (ie. police, mental health services)
- There is a concern for workforce burnout, combined with the obstacles of how to deliver necessary training and maintain a high standard of recruitment and retention.