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Report of the Cabinet

Committee report · Full Council · Tue 2 Dec 2025 · East Sussex County Council

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The projected overspend would mean an unplanned draw of £14.9m from reserves in 2025/26, in addition to the planned £11.4m draw made when the budget was set. p28

The report also records that the Care Quality Commission rated Adult Social Care and Health as 'Good' in its assessment published on 3 October 2025, and that an Ofsted focused visit to Children's Services in July 2025 made one recommendation, on the timeliness of child protection strategy meetings. p83p84p128p142p143

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  • p281.11 The net impact of the above is an unplanned draw from reserves of £14.9m in 2025/26. This is in addition to the planned £11.4m draw to present a balanced position in setting the 2025/26 budget. Use of the Capital reserve has the potential to increase the requirement to borrow, leading into increased costs in the future; use of Collection Fund surplus and Insurance and Local Government Reorganisation Reserves will likely hinder the Council’s management of future risk and transformation. The Council’s strategic reserves are £16.5m at 1 April 2025 - for comparison, the latest published budget gap after likely funding scenarios for 2026/27 is £24.6m. Any reduction in reserves reduces the flexibility available in dealing with the challenge of addressing next year’s projected deficit and setting a balanced budget, without having to seek further savings or exceptional financial support. To address the projected in-year overspend and reduce the required draw from reserves, the Council continues with several actions introduced last year, including:
  • p833.8 The CQC published its assessment of East Sussex Adult Social Care and Health’s delivery of the Care Act on 3 October 2025. The full report can be found at Appendix 12. Key findings from the assessment are summarised below. Proposed next steps are set out further in the report.
  • p84Overall rating 3.9 Adult Social Care and Health achieved a rating of ‘Good’. This means that the CQC consider the service to be performing well and meeting their expectations. Areas of strength and areas for improvement
  • p1284. Ofsted Focused Visit – July 2025 4.1 Ofsted undertook a Focused Inspection of the East Sussex Children’s Services between the 23 and 31 July 2025 (on-site 30 to 31 July). The purpose of this type of inspection is to evaluate an aspect of service, a theme or the experiences of a cohort of children. For this inspection visit, the theme was:
  • p1424.7 We have received one recommendation for improvement:
  • p143The timeliness with which child protection strategy meetings are held, as this is not consistently timely for all children (outcome 3, national framework).

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