All-Age Advocacy | Provider Hub

Market Context

Advocacy services encompass the provision of support for vulnerable people to ensure their rights are upheld and their voice and views are heard when key decisions that impact upon their life are being made. This includes supporting people to access information and services, facilitating their involvement in decisions regarding their lives; exploring their choices and options alongside ensuring that organisational procedures are being adhered to and implemented correctly.

Advocates are independent of health or social care services and can accompany individuals to meetings involving their care and support alongside corresponding agencies on their behalf.

People are legally entitled to advocacy support in some scenarios, for example supporting someone through a Care Act review if they would struggle to understand the information or struggle to ensure their views, wishes and feelings are expressed.

Essex County Council currently commissions a single advocacy service providing both statutory and non-statutory advocacy. This service is delivered by Voiceability and is available for all eligible children, young people and adults within the administrative boundaries of Essex (excluding the unitary authorities of Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock). The all-age advocacy hub encompasses the following services:

Statutory Services

Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA).
Paid Relevant Person Representative (RPR).
Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA).
Independent Care Act Advocacy (ICAA).
Independent Health Complaints Advocacy (IHCA).
Independent Advocacy for Children and Young People.

Non-statutory services

Advocacy for the parents of children subject to, or undergoing an assessment for, a Child in Need or Child Protection Plan
General Advocacy.
Peer and Citizen Advocacy.

In addition, the current advocacy service encompasses the provision of non-statutory community based, citizen advocacy to ensure that those individuals not eligible for statutory advocacy services can be supported to have their voices heard through the use of volunteers and the promotion of other low cost/no cost solutions.

This service commenced in July2024 following extensive coproduction, and the current contract will expire in 2029.

Cases Opened 1. April 2025 - 31. March 2026	Accepted Referrals
Statutory
ICCAA - Care Act Advocacy	427
IMHA - Independent Mental Health Advocacy	1,197
IMCA - Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy	580
IHCA - Independent Mental Health Advocacy	182
RPR - Paid Relevant Person Representative	1,190
Statutory Children's Advocacy	144
Non-Statutory
General Advocacy	255
Peer based support	3
Total	3,978
Total Spend April 2025-March 2026	£1,102,145

The information shown in the table above is correct as of 31^st March 2026. This data reflects activity undertaken between 1^st April 2025 – 31^st March 2026.

As detailed above, the current advocacy provision in Essex has been commissioned to secure a cohesive, single advocacy provider to secure a streamlined approach to advocacy. This service incorporates a single referral process with a consistent offer across all age groups, care groups and advocacy types.

During the re-commissioning process, the Council has reviewed the performance and benefits of the previous model and its statutory responsibilities in relation to advocacy as part of the formal options appraisal. The Council engaged with people with lived experience as well as the current market to determine that the preferred service model would be a lead provider operating a single point of access with specialist advocates in order to deliver an Essex-wide all age service for all advocacy types.

The Council is aware of forthcoming legislative changes, including but not limited to, the reforms within the Mental Health Act and more recently the over-turning of the 2014 Cheshire West judgment. It abolished the "acid test" (continuous supervision, control, and lack of freedom to leave) as the sole measure for a deprivation of liberty. These changes are likely to pose a substantive impact upon the approach and demand for advocacy services.

While the exact detail of the legislative changes and subsequent guidance are not yet clear the contract does allow for some extra capacity if required. If additional capacity and finance beyond this are required, this will be subject to separate governance.

Our current area of focus is:

To respond and manage the anticipated legislative changes and the impact of those on current provider
To increase awareness of statutory advocacy among providers to ensure referrals are being made appropriately when required
To grow and develop our Community Advocacy offer by working with and upskilling the wider Voluntary sector partners to provide self-advocacy toolkits and support groups

Last updated: 01/04/2026

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