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 night of 26 June 2026 through to the morning of 28 Jun 2026. Please ensure you keep up to date with weather reports reports and plan accordingly.

UKHSA weather warning guidance

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

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Supported and Specialist Housing and Accommodation Need Assessment (2025)

The Supported and Specialist Housing and Accommodation Need Assessment (2025) (SSHANA) provides estimates of future need for supported and specialist housing and accommodation for the administrative area of Essex County Council.  It does not include the unitary authorities of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock.

The SSHANA covers adult and children population groups who draw on Social Care support funded by Essex County Council and others with lower-level needs who may not draw on Social Care from Essex County Council but who have support needs that affect their housing and accommodation.  It does not cover the housing and accommodation needs of people who are homeless but includes people who have support needs that affect their housing and accommodation which may be a result of homelessness or risk of homelessness.

The evidence base is designed to enable the current local authorities in Essex, future unitary local authorities and Mayor in Essex to produce commissioning intentions, market position statements, other local housing plans, strategies, and local housing need assessments, Supplementary Planning Documents and other planning guidance for housing developers.  The SSHANA also meets a number of statutory responsibilities placed under the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act (2023). It also provides part of the evidence base for the next iteration of Local Plans, future Unitary Local Plans and the Spatial Development Strategy produced by the Mayor.

Estimates of the need for supported and specialist housing and accommodation are shown at Essex County Council level and are disaggregated to the 12 Essex District Borough and City Councils and to Essex quadrants.

Supported and Specialist Housing and Accommodation Need Assessment (2025) Doc

Supported and Specialist Housing and Accommodation Need Assessment (2025) PDF

 

Last updated: 04/09/2025