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.

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

Essex County Council - Provider Hub
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Market Vision

​To increase the opportunities for individuals with Mental Health needs to gain and retain employment (Individual Placement Support)​

Expand the existing offer into primary care settings​

Key aims/objectives:​

  • Adults with diagnosed MH conditions are supported to gain employment​
  • Adults are supported to manage/retain their employment during an episode of poor mental health​
  • Employers are engaged to support employees to manage their MH and remain in employment​
  • Promote employment as a social determinant to support recovery.

1 Year Delivery Plan by end of 2025

Description: ​

Implementation of the IPSPC (Individual Placement Support in Primary Care) Grant fund from DWP​

A redesign of the previous IPS service, implemented and created as a single service to reduce overheads and deliver efficiencies, for supporting support individuals with Serious Mental Illness. 

Key Milestones:​

  • Key Decision IPSPC June 2025
  • IPSPC service commences 1st September 2025​
  • 35 employment specialists recruited and 1,224 people supported by September 2026

 

3 Year Delivery Plan by end of 2028

Description:​

IPS and IPSPC contracts end 2028.  

Key Milestones:​

  • December 2024 Initial discussions complete, and initial options scoped​
  • Funding agreed ​
  • April 2024 Options paper​
  • July to Oct 2025 Governance​
  • April 2025 to June 2025 Tender process​
  • Feb 2025 to end May 2025 Mobilisation​
  • Oct 2026 Review first year of delivery​

 

7 Year Delivery Plan by 2030​

Description:​

We should begin to see a shift and focus into employment support for people primarily with mild to moderate needs to have better outcomes that suits their recovery and wellbeing. ​

In Essex we are seeing a trend downwards in the number of people with mild to moderate mental health needs and physical needs out of work. 

​

Workforce recruitment

  • Recruit the right number of employment specialists to deliver the IPS and IPSPC by April 2026

Capacity and demand management

  • Through monthly reporting from the provider, track referrals and waiting lists

Putting lived experience at the centre

  • People with lived experience of mental health issues and of the employment service will be involved in service improvements

Delivering good quality services

  • Annual Fidelity reviews through IPS Grow

Promoting Financial Sustainability

  • Using IPSPC test and learn, establish levels of need to inform future commissioning
  • Engage with NHSE and DWIP to understand priorities for future funding

Integration with Health

  • The funding for the IPS service comes via the ICBs with ECC commissioning the service on their behalf. ECC contributes to the retention element of the service
  • The ICBs are actively engaged in the development and improvement of the service

Diversity, Equality & Inclusion

  • Use the monitoring data to ensure the equal access for groups identified in the Equalities Act 2010, and groups can be targeted

Climate and Environment

  • Use Teams as much as possible for meetings
  • Explore use of public transport for meetings and supporting individuals when seeking work
Last updated: 21/05/2025
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