East Sussex County Council Passes 2017/18 Budget

In February, East Sussex County Councillors passed the Council’s £365 million 2017/18 budget. The budget included provision to introduce a Government approved 3% Adult Social Care Council Tax levy to cover some of the funding shortfall for Adult Social Care services.

In response to the gap in Adult Social Care funding and continued reduction in Central Government grant, alongside an increase in demand for services, the budget outlines the requirement to make £17m in savings in 2017/18.

Following consultation with public, private and voluntary and community sector partners, the Cabinet made a number of amendments to the original savings proposals outlined in the draft budget (including increasing investment in highways drainage and pavements, the Community Match Scheme, and youth services) to be funded out of reduced annual contributions to the Capital Programme. 

The budget also earmarked £95.5 million for capital projects including ensuring roads and buildings are well maintained and that there are sufficient school places.

In the Government's Spring Budget announced earlier in March, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced £2 billion of additional national funding for Adult Social Care over the next three years. ESCC is awaiting further details of when the funding will be received and the requirements accompanying.  

Welfare Benefits Project April to December 2016 9 Month Achievements 

The East Sussex Better Together Welfare Benefits Project provides free, confidential, welfare benefits advice. The project, funded by Hastings and Rother Clinical Commissioning Group and Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford Clinical Commissioning Group, aims to reduce health inequalities, maintain health and wellbeing, help people help themselves and contribute to economic growth within East Sussex. 

The project's latest round of 9 month achievements have been published. In the 9 months of April to December 2016:  

• More than 7,300 people received benefits advice;
• Over £4.8 million in annualised benefit income and one off claims was realised for clients;
• 79% of respondents said their mental wellbeing had improved following support from the Welfare Benefits Project;
• In the first three months of the new debt service 71 clients were supported, managing over 350 debts totalling £595,000; and
• Over 500 patients have been referred to the Welfare Benefits Project from NHS services. 

Sussex Police & Crime Plan 2017/21

The draft Sussex Police & Crime Plan for 2017/21 was presented to Sussex Police & Crime Panel on 20 January 2017. The four aims of the new Plan are:

Further details of the Plan, including a full list of the draft aims and 12 underpinning objectives can be found here. 

A public consultation on the draft plan took place in November 2016, and a Police & Crime Plan Reference Group was established to assist in the development of the new Plan. The Reference Group comprised of representative members from Sussex Police, community safety and criminal justice partners. Further to any recommendations made by the Police & Crime Panel, the new Plan will be launched before the end of March 2017. 

New data on health and wellbeing in East Sussex 

Want to know how life expectancy compares between different areas in East Sussex? Or which areas have the highest emergency hospital admission rates, or numbers of Looked After Children?

The East Sussex Joint Strategic Needs and Assets Assessment (JSNAA) process is aimed at understanding and, ultimately, improving the health and wellbeing of our local populations.

The Public Health Team at East Sussex County Council has just updated the major resources underpinning the East Sussex JSNAA. Using a combination of nationally and locally collected data on indicators of health and wellbeing, these resources are designed to help you understand more about the needs and assets of East Sussex populations.

These and more East Sussex JSNAA resources are updated regularly. To stay up to date with health and wellbeing information on East Sussex, subscribe to monthly email alerts at: www.eastsussexjsna.org.uk/subscribe. 

New East Sussex Against Scams Parntership 

A new East Sussex Against Scams Partnership (ESASP) has launched in East Sussex. ESASP are encouraging businesses, organisations, clubs, societies, partnerships, voluntary groups etc. to sign up to a Charter and pledge to do at least one thing to help people deal with scams. One of them could be, for example, to organise a 20 minute Friends Against Scams online session for staff, clients, members, volunteers, families and friends (see link for details https://www.friendsagainstscams.org.uk/page.php?xPage=elearning.html).

In return, ESASP are asking for organisations to record how many people do, for example, the online Friends Against Scams session, or how many social media messages on scam prevention are shared, and to give ESASP periodic feedback.

ESASP have a website (click here) and hope to capture there shortly any joint working initiatives between organisations in East Sussex. You may, for example, be working alongside other community or voluntary organisations to help fund leaflets or run display stands at events. These would be ideal initiatives to be captured.

Don't forget for more news and updates in East Sussex you can follow the East Sussex Strategic Partnership on Twitter at @ESSP_eastsussex - www.twitter.com/ESSP_eastsussex 

Have your say at the East Sussex Have Your Say Hub

Please visit the East Sussex Have Your Say Hub for opportunities to give your views. You can search for consultations by keyword, postcode, interest etc. You can also see how previous feedback has influenced our decision making process and what has happened as an outcome.

Uckfield computing conundrums cracked over cake

Wealden District Council are bringing their popular Coffee, Cakes & Computers digital skills events back for 2017.

Their FREE events are for anyone interested in developing their computer skills or wanting help to get online. Attendees will be able to get advice and tips or discuss computers over a hot drink and a slice of cake. Everyone is welcome no matter what your level of ability! If you’ve got a laptop or tablet that you’d like to bring along, please do. But if you’ve not then don’t worry – there will be some tablets available to use on the day.

Sussex Community Development Association Courses and Training

Behaviour Change for Health (MECC) Training

This training covers MECC Competency Levels 1&2 and is aimed at frontline staff and experienced volunteers providing support provision in East Sussex. Over 400 frontline staff and volunteers in East Sussex have received training in MECC since 2012. This course is now core training for Home Works and is recommended by Supporting People and Public Health England as the leading tool for prevention work and support provision in the community.

 Participants will practice key Behaviour Change techniques and learn how lifestyle impacts on health; specifically smoking, alcohol, healthy eating and physical activity. Participants will develop the skills, knowledge and confidence to provide opportunistic Brief Advice through Health Chats, Motivational Interviewing, Active Communication, SMART, Goal Setting, Support Assets and Live Case Studies. Participants will also receive Healthy Living Factsheets, a Toolkit, Workbook and a Healthy Lifestyles Resource Pack detailing services available throughout East Sussex. This course is 85% practice-based and uses techniques that have the highest recorded success rate in helping people change unhealthy behaviours.

Courses can be designed and delivered bespoke for organisations. To book a consultation please email: jazka.atterbury@sussexcommunity.org.uk or call 01273 516032. 

Health Champion & Volunteer Training Programme 2017

Get involved in this fantastic FREE opportunity to improve your own health and well-being and to help others in your community.

SCDA needs people to join its new Health Champion & Volunteer programme to support our work in a wide range of health improvement projects. We offer a programme of seven courses and support sessions designed to give you skills, knowledge and experience and to undertake a role that suits you – however much time you have to give.

April East Sussex Strategic Partnership meeting 

The agenda and papers for the next East Sussex Strategic Partnership meeting to be held on 25 April, in Hastings, will be added to the website soon. An introduction from Hastings Pier Charity, an update on local Transport scheme and an update on the Environment Strategy are currently on the draft agenda. The minutes and all presentations from our last meeting in February can be found here: www.essp.org.uk/Meeting-papers-and-reports

November 2016 Older People's Partnership Board meeting update

At its meeting on 7th November 2016, the Older People’s Partnership Board:

• Increasing concerns about the County Council’s response to the continuing cuts imposed by Central Government on Local Authorities were discussed. 
• Ivy Elsey advised that, following in the first wave of visits to residential care homes in East Sussex, Health Watch East Sussex were planning to visit approximately 50 nursing care homes, starting in January 2017. The East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT) had invited Healthwatch back to undertake a second 24 hour engagement activity towards the end of November. Healthwatch England had also published its annual report ‘Every Voice Matters', available here.
• Martin Hayles updated the Board, on behalf of High Weald Lewes and Havens Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and discussed the Sussex and East Sussex Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP). The STP is one programme which brings together East Sussex Better Together (ESBT), the Coastal Areas and Central Corridor (which runs from Brighton to Tunbridge Wells). The aim is to minimise acute care costs and increase care in community.
• Martin Hayles updated the group on ESBT progress and discussed the single integrated investment plan as being integral to the ESBT/Accountable Care model. A shift from acute to community based services is integral to the development of these services. ESBT is looking at the impact of local clinical triage services, in advance of potential visits to the hospital. 
• Bianca Byrne presented information on the Commissioning Intentions and Market Position Statement, which is the first integrated planning document to support ESBT and Connecting 4 You.
• Affy Wajid presented information on the ESBT Integrated Strategic Planning and Investment Framework. The Integrated Framework is a model which seeks to address questions of how to do more for less. The model seeks to support the development of partner organisations, a whole population system view, and a  framework that works across Social Care, two CCGs, ESHT and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. 
• Paul Welch, Samantha Tullett and Keith Hughes presented information on the Joint Community Rehabilitation service and Falls Service integration. This is a countywide service set up in April 2012. The service offers time limited support to promote faster recovery from illness or injury in order to: restore or minimise loss of function and maximise independence, prevent avoidable admissions to hospitals and long term residential/nursing care, and promote timely discharge from hospital back to the community. 

Full minutes of all meetings can be found at: https://new.eastsussex.gov.uk/community/over50s/developingservices/oppb/

Update on East Sussex in Figures – March 2016

East Sussex in Figures (ESiF)

Headlines
Gross annual earnings in the county have fallen slightly from 2015
The number of active businesses continues to rise, read the latest Economic Update.

Latest datasets – highlights
Latest earnings data by residence and workplace: 2016 data added
New Business Demography data – updated with 2015 data
Claimants of out-of-work benefits – data added
Disability Living Allowance claimants – data added
Claimant Count including JSA and Universal Credit

Please contact the Research and Information team if you have any specific data or information enquiries.