Heat-health alert for East of England

A red heat-health warning has been issued by the UKHSA. The warning is in effect from the morning of 24 June 2026 through to the night of 25 Jun 2026. Please ensure you keep up to date with weather reports reports and plan accordingly.

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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

Personal Assistants (PAs) are directly employed or contracted by the individuals and families they support. ECC are therefore not in direct contact with all PAs and do not have oversight of the total number of Personal Assistants working in Essex.  Analysis into the number of Personal Assistants in Essex suggested there were circa 1800-2000 PAs employed by Direct Payment recipients in Essex.  Last Month Penderels Trust processed payroll for over 1250 PAs.

Following research with people with lived experience, we recognised that PAs sometimes feel isolated and are not consistently accessing the training they feel they need or employer supervision to ensure they are fully confident and able to deliver high quality support.

Individuals also reported challenges with recruiting suitable PAs given the pressures in the labour market.  Many told us that they subsequently rely on family and friends to fulfil the role.

The Direct Payment Support Service provider, funded by ECC, provides support  to help people find PAs.  This includes, A Personal Assistant finder tool, Recruitment support, support to ensure employers are meeting all their legal obligations.

Personal Assistants can support people according to their individual needs and aspirations. Support may vary from personal care, respite, support to accessing the local community and pathways to employment and meaningful occupations. They can also support people across all cohorts and ages.

Whilst we do not hold sufficient data on Personal Assistants (as they are not commissioned directly by ECC) to know the exact status of the market, The evidence the council can access and information received from Direct Payment recipients suggests the number of PAs in the market is increasing. This follows a reduction in the market in the early 2020s.  In order that Direct Payment recipients can enjoy the benefits of employing a Personal Assistant to provide support there is a need to continue this increase in the number of PAs operating in Essex.

There seems to be a particular difficulty for families who manage a Direct payment on behalf of children to recruit as the role is required less in term time and more at weekends and during holiday times.

Essex ASC Market (ECC Funded/Using Direct Payments)  
Spend £33 Million
No. Adults 1,276
Essex ASC Market - Sourcing  
Average Rate per hour £15.71* 
Placements/Month 40

The information shown in the table(s) above is correct as of 1st April 2026.

* £15.71 is a current guide price, a true average is being established that takes the whole market into account.

ECC has been working with individuals in receipt of Direct Payments to develop options to grow the Personal Assistant and carer market.  We have seen a recent significant increase in successful recruitment of PAs.  This is in part due to the additional support offered by the Direct Payment Support Service.  The growth of the PA Market needs to be aligned to changes in the provision of Direct Payments to assure that supply is matched with demand.

The Area of greatest need is for PAs supporting Children.  Significant work across the council is ongoing to improve this situation.

Current market risks:

  • If Direct payment recipients struggle to recruit. This means in the meantime there that individuals are not supported in the ways that they need and want.
  • If appropriate employment contracts are not in place or employment practices are not adhered to employment issues and disputes can arise.
  • Some PAs are self-employed and so it is important that individuals managing personal budgets know how to enter into contracts with those who are self-employed and ensure they meet the self-employment test as set out by HMRC.

The Direct Payment Support Service are available to provide reviews of employment contracts, insurance policies and other related matters.

Our current areas of focus are:

Essex County Council are undertaking a number of actions to ensure there is a thriving market place for Personal Assistants.  More PAs need to be encouraged into the market and existing PAs will be encouraged to stay in the market.  The work to deliver this includes:

  • To continue to listen and gain insight into the experiences of individuals currently managing personal budgets, their families, PAs and support providers and for this to inform our approaches.
  • Working with the Direct Payment Support Service (DPSS) provider to encourage prospective PAs onto the PA register. This is done through constant advertising campaigns, attending job fairs, universities and other work to promote the role across the county.  This work is also done in collaboration with ECC’s internal care workforce development team to promote working in the care sector.
  • Providing support to employers – The best way to recruit and retain PAs is to ensure DP recipients are the best employers that they can be. The new Direct Payment Support Service will provide practical support to ensure that employers have policies and strategies in place to be great employers and are given support when it is required.
  • Support to PAs – The Direct Payment Support Service offers support to Personal Assistants to encourage them to stay in the market.  Feedback form PAs was that it can be an isolating role.  Therefore a Peer support group has been developed so PAs can meet others and develop networks to help them feel better supported in their role.  A PA Hub/Community Centre has been developed in Essex this will provide advice, training, wellbeing support and networking opportunities for PAs
  • PA salaries - Whilst PA salaries are set by their employers this is often limited by the level of personal budget available to DP recipients.  ECC are developing a strategy to identify and implement a fair cost of care model for people employing PAs.  This will ensure the guidance rates for generating a personal budget for a person who employs PAs is set at a level which allows salaries to be set at a level  that recognises the responsibilities of a PA. The guide rate for PAs has increased by 22% over the last three years which is above increases in National Living Wage within this timescale.  This will encourage new entrants into this section of the labour market and reduce the number of people who are leaving as a result of higher salaries in other areas of the economy.

To explore the use of digital and technology solutions that may support individuals and PAs in their roles.

Last updated: 01/04/2026
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