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

Section 25 of the Children and Young Persons Act requires local authorities to provide short breaks for families with disabled children. Short breaks Community Clubs and Activities (SBCCA) give parent carers and siblings a break. This also enables CWD to meet friends, take part in activities, develop independence and have fun. SBCCA are directly accessed by families, and don’t require a social assessment identified need. In April 2023, 12 new SBCCA contracts commenced. The market is adapting well to the improvements identified by families. .  

Current Market Status

The market is strong and recent procurement efforts to improve accessible SBCCA has led to the formation of new delivery partnerships in North, Mid, and West Essex. There is increasing demand with on average 100 new registrations to Short Breaks every month. Providers are able to flex contracts to meet demand currently. This needs to be monitored to ensure market capacity can keep up. Recruitment is a challenge for providers. Several providers have links to local colleges and universities, and tend to have good retention of staff.

Market Rating

Across Essex there are a good number of providers although there is increasing demand. Essex will need to track access to provision to ensure that families can access appropriately targeted short breaks. Providers are developing their capacity to respond to complexity of need and are able to flex the service to meet the needs of families local to them through co-production opportunities. 

 

Market Quality Market Supply Market Demand
Moderate Good High
Market Workface Market Ambition Market Maturity
Very Low/Low Manage Supply Evolving

 

North and Mid Essex have 6 contracts delivered by 7 organisations in partnership (new CIC used as a special purpose vehicle). West Essex have a lead provider model with two subcontractors and a single provider. South Essex have a single provider (although there are several market providers not contracted to deliver Short Breaks).  Contracts run from April 2023 for 3 years plus option to extend for 2 years.

Total Number of Providers:

13

Total Market Spend per year:

£1,322,000

ECC Funded Placements

All ECC funded

Provider Quality – Good or Outstanding:

CQC/Ofsted not required

Number of Emergency Placements:

None, this is a universal/additional offer

Number of Planned Placements:

None

Expected future Capacity Required:

Significant increases expected.

The market has developed considerably over the last year. There are new partnerships formed with new contracts in place. Providers are working together and supporting each other as the new relationships bed in.

  • The market has faced considerable change, and requires ongoing support to ensure it stabilises and can face future challenges. 
  • If presenting needs continue to increase in complexity thought will need to be given as to how provision maintains inclusivity whilst managing demand.
  • Increased pressure to front line residential workers and providers retaining their workforce
  • Ensure the provision implementation and ongoing delivery is supported through robust contract and performance management
  • Ensure the provision continues to be coproduced with families
Last updated: 15/01/2024
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