East Sussex funding gap: Information about the Adult Social Care and Health savings proposals

Overview

14 November update: A frequently asked question about the National Budget is now available in the FAQs section below.

East Sussex County Council is facing a financial gap of £55 million next year.

Most local authorities are experiencing similar cost pressures at the moment. Despite these pressures, we have a legal responsibility to set a balanced budget. That means we need to make some difficult decisions about what we spend.

Every part of the Council will need to find savings to help close the gap. Cabinet considered some of the savings proposals in September. Any proposed changes that affect services will have a public consultation.

These are the 11 consultations for Adult Social Care and Health. The consultations start on 3 October and close on 28 November 2024.

Please scroll to the bottom of this page to find a list of the consultations and links to the survey pages for each of them.

Decisions are expected to be made on the proposals in February 2025.

Services will continue as normal while we are consulting on the proposals.

For more information about our funding gap, social care support, and how savings proposals have been identified please expand this section by clicking here For more information about our funding gap, social care support, and how savings proposals have been identified please expand this section by clicking here

Our funding gap

East Sussex County Council (the Council) has a net budget of £538.1 million for the year from April 2024 to March 2025. Our net budget is the money we have to spend which is financed by business rates, council tax receipts and the revenue support grant we get from the national government.

We expect our net budget for next year to be a similar amount. This means that we are facing a financial gap of £55 million for 2025/26. The financial gap is the difference between the funding available and the cost of keeping services at their present level.

Most local authorities are facing similar pressures. We face this gap even though we are a well-run and efficient council which has saved £140 million since 2010 and found new ways to work effectively through difficult times. Unfortunately, the cost pressures we face now are so great that efficiency alone is not enough and the limited reserves of money we have available would not be enough to meet the financial gap. Most importantly, reserves can only be spent once and could not repeatedly fill the financial gap which councils face every year. It is also not possible to close the whole gap by raising council tax as the increase that would be required is beyond the limit set by national Government.

We are legally obliged to close the financial gap and balance our budget. This means that some tough decisions will have to be made and reduced services are possible in all areas. When making these decisions, our priority will be to maintain protection and support, wherever possible, for the most vulnerable people in our community.

There is more information about why we have to make savings and what we are doing to highlight the issues local authorities face with the national Government on our website at www.eastsussex.gov.uk/your-council/finance/east-sussex-our-funding-gap

Social care support

Adult Social Care and Health is a department of East Sussex County Council. We work with people aged 18 and over who live in East Sussex. We help people live healthy and independent lives, whatever that may look like for them. We look at people's strengths, capabilities, support network, community and difficulties and work with them to find solutions.

The Council has a legal duty to provide social care support to those who are eligible. About three quarters of the East Sussex budget goes on providing social care for children and adults, with adult social care accounting for nearly half of the budget (48%). Care and support for adults is not free and we charge for most of our services. The amount people pay depends on their financial situation, but most people have to pay something towards their care, with the remaining costs paid by the Council.

Nationally, social care is under pressure due to a combination of demographic, financial, and systemic factors. East Sussex is no stranger to this, facing unique challenges which impact on the need for support and services in the county. Around 25% of the East Sussex population is over 65 compared to a national figure of 18%, average wages remain lower than the national average and 30,000 people in the county are living in some of the most deprived areas of England. We have also seen a 40% increase in the average weekly cost of providing care in East Sussex since 2020.

As people live longer, they may require care and support for longer, and their care and support needs are likely to become more complex over time. There is also evidence that the cost of living challenges have increased demand for care, as well as making people less able to afford their contribution towards the cost of care.

As social care is such a large part of the Council’s budget, we will need to make savings to services in this area too. Reduced services are likely, and we will need to review staff numbers, but the amount we need to save can’t be achieved through reducing the workforce alone.

Developing the savings proposals

Given the financial gap we are facing, we know it is impossible to avoid some of our residents being negatively affected by the difficult decisions that we need to make. We have tried our best to identify proposed savings that would have the least possible impact on people’s care and wellbeing.

We know too that many of our external partners in the NHS, local authorities, providers and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) are experiencing their own pressures in terms of demand for services and funding challenges. Where we can, we’ve tried to take that into account in looking for savings.

Our priority in Adult Social Care and Health is to meet our legal duties under the Care Act. To help us to do this, we have identified funding areas that we think need to be protected when we are looking at savings options.

The priority funding areas are:

Community care budget: This budget covers the cost of care that is provided to adults who are eligible for social care support because of a disability or health condition. This budget is already under pressure because more people need our help, the cost of providing care is increasing, and our residents are increasingly struggling to pay their contribution towards the cost of care.

Carers: As well as protecting the budget for community care which funds support for people who are eligible for social care support, we have tried to protect the direct support we provide to unpaid carers who are looking after their family members and friends. This is because carers play an invaluable role in meeting care and support needs for so many residents and reduce the amount of support residents need from other services.

Voluntary and community enterprise sector (VCSE): These organisations make a huge contribution to preventing, reducing and delaying the need for care and support from the community care budget. For this reason, we want to protect the funding that we provide to support this sector as far as possible, particularly where we can demonstrate that services are supporting our statutory duties and other priority funding areas.

Frontline workers: We need to ensure we have enough social work staff and occupational therapy workers to carry out assessments and put care and support in place. We also need to retain enough financial assessment staff to ensure we are funding those who are most in need and that people pay the correct contribution.

Care market: We need to ensure we have enough staff so that we can support the care market and ensure we have a good supply of services that deliver the best value.

Consulting on the savings proposals

There are no easy choices and we know that some residents will be very worried about how they and their loved ones might be affected. We are committed to consulting with you on these difficult decisions and providing as much information about their potential impact as we can to support decision making.

There are 11 savings proposals for Adult Social Care and Health that affect services. We are consulting with the public about all of these. As well as these savings, we are also looking at other funding, staffing and income generation opportunities.

A Government Budget is planned during the consultation period on 30 October 2024. If any Budget announcements affect these proposals, then that will be taken into account during the decision making process next year.

For frequently asked questions about the consultations click here (new question added) For frequently asked questions about the consultations click here (new question added)

	New question added 14 November
What does the Government Budget mean for the consultation proposals?	The national Government Budget announced on 30 October included an increase in funding for local councils. Unfortunately, the amount is not as much as the gap reported by the Local Government Association, which estimates that UK local authorities face a collective funding gap of £2.3 billion for the 2025/26 financial year. There may also be an increase in costs due to some of the other announcements in the Budget. We will not know exactly what the Budget means for East Sussex until just before Christmas when the Government will confirm funding amounts. Once further detail is available, we will fully analyse what it means for East Sussex. If additional funding is available, we will consider how it is used as part of the decision-making process next year.
	Existing questions available from 3 October
How much does the Council need to save?	East Sussex is facing a financial gap of £55 million. This is the difference between the funding available and the cost of keeping services at their present level next year.
What is the total budget for the Council?	The net Council revenue budget for 2024/25 is £538.1 million. Adult social care - £259.5 million Children’s Service - £144.1 million Communities Economy and Transport - £73.6 million Business Services / Orbis – £29.4 million Governance Services £8.9 million Centrally held budgets* - £22.6 million *Centrally Held Budgets include Treasury Management and contributions to the Capital Programme. You can read more about the council’s budget in the council plan: Council Plan 2024/25 \| East Sussex County Council
Where can I find information about the proposals?	We published the initial savings proposals in the Cabinet papers for 26 September 2024. They are online here: https://democracy.eastsussex.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=133&MId=5887&Ver=4 You can also ask for these Cabinet papers in hard copy by calling Democratic Services on 01273 481955. You can find more information on the consultation webpage for each proposal - see below for a list of the consultations.
What about staff affected by the proposals? Have unions been consulted about this?	The Council is talking to staff, and their representatives, in individual services. However, it should be noted that these are currently only proposals and no decision will be made until after the consultation period. A meeting was held with Union representatives on Friday 13 September 2024, to brief them on savings proposals for adult social care.
When do decisions get made?	Final decisions are expected to be made by Councillors in February 2025.
Is it a done deal?	No. However, if the proposals change, the Council would still need to find savings; so if the proposed savings from these areas didn’t go ahead, then we would need to find savings from somewhere else.
Are all Council departments subject to finding savings?	The whole Council is committed to identifying savings proposals that may address the funding gap. Statutory duties have to be considered when looking at possible areas where savings can be made, but it is expected that every department of the Council will need to find savings to close the funding gap. The size of departmental budgets varies significantly and some departments have large contracts which commit high levels of spend for the contracted period, such as waste facilities and highways. Some of the savings proposals were considered by the Council’s Cabinet in September, including the Adult Social Care and Health (ASCH) proposals that require consultations. More savings proposals for ASCH and the other departments will be discussed at a future Cabinet meeting.
Why are you consulting? There’s not much scope for influence.	It’s a legal requirement that the Council has due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty when it is making proposals about services. The Council wants to better understand the impact and risks associated with the proposals, and if there are any alternatives or other ideas that can be identified. Consultation is one of the best ways to help us achieve this, and also ensures the Council complies with its common law duty of fairness. Having as much information as possible about the proposals and how they will affect people will also help our decision making process.
I want to start a petition/ raise awareness about what’s happening. What will you do with it?	You are welcome to start a petition or any other form or publicity. The East Sussex Petitions website lets you create an online petition that can be shared via social media such as Twitter and Facebook, and circulated in print. A petition may only be signed by those who live, work or study in East Sussex. There is more information about how to get started and what your petition can achieve here: Petitions \| East Sussex County Council Petitions are presented to decision makers along with the consultation report. A petition counts as one submission, regardless of how many people sign it.
The savings proposals show that many vulnerable groups will be affected. What impact assessments have been done?	Equality impact assessments are being completed where required and will be considered by Councillors, alongside responses to the consultations, ahead of any decision being made.
Who else can I speak to about this?	Each consultation includes contact information if you want to request the consultation survey in another format or you need help to take part. See below for a list of weblinks to the 11 consultations. Local MPs, elected members for East Sussex County Council and district and borough councils have been made aware of the consultation. You can find out how to contact elected members on our website: Councillors \| East Sussex County Council. Other partners such as NHS services, service providers and local voluntary sector representatives are also made aware of consultations and will usually comment on our proposals.
I want to make a complaint about the proposals. How can I do that?	Please respond to the consultation itself to let us know if you are unhappy with what is being proposed. If your response needs to be treated as a complaint then it will be managed by the complaints team.
Where can I ask questions and get answers?	If you are affected by the proposals and you have specific questions about changes to services you receive, please contact either your service provider or the relevant service and they will try to answer your question. If you are a journalist, please contact our Press office \| The Newsroom (eastsussex.gov.uk) Due to the likely scale of enquiries, East Sussex County Council cannot guarantee answers to individual questions submitted via email and social media. Any questions received via the consultation will be presented to decision makers as part of the reporting process and will be considered alongside consultation responses. Where we are able to provide an answer, ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ will be published alongside each consultation.
Why isn’t the consultation period longer?	The consultations are running for 8 weeks. We would usually aim to do 10 weeks, but in this case the timeline for decision making and the cost pressures we are facing mean that we need to do a slightly shorter consultation. To ensure people are still able to take part, we’ll be promoting the consultations widely and holding consultation meetings for people using long-term services.

What happens next?

Decisions about whether we go ahead with the savings proposals are expected to be made by Councillors in February 2025. This means there won’t be any changes to services before that date. Anyone currently using the services can continue to do so in the normal way and the services can continue to accept new clients.

Councillors will consider the results of the consultation alongside a report that sets out what we are proposing to do next and an Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA). An EqIA is a tool we use to understand how particular groups and communities would be affected by a proposed change. The papers, including the EqIA, will be available to the public on our website in advance of the meeting.

The time frame for any changes to services would reflect the legal and contractual requirements for the service in question and we would work closely with those people and organisations who would be affected.

Give your views

There are 11 consultations about proposed changes to services to help us close the funding gap. Each consultation has it's own webpage and survey:

Areas

All Areas

Audiences

Community groups or organisations
Voluntary groups or organisations
Public sector groups or organisations
Staff
Providers of services
Carers
People who use our services

Interests

Care and support services (adults)
Carers support
Social care providers
Housing

Contact