Appendix 5 CSD - 24.09.2025

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It reports that Child in Need numbers remained broadly stable at 951 in June 2025, while Child Protection Plan numbers reduced to 579 at the end of the quarter, down from 614 in the previous quarter. p9p11

The department forecasts a year-end overspend of £16.664m against a net budget of £158.060m, with the main pressure coming from Looked After Children, Child Protection and Home to School Transport. p26

Major refurbishment of the Hollington Youth Hub began in April 2025 following a government capital grant, with work expected to be completed in February 2026 and youth programmes delivered from local community venues during the closure. p7

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• p7· Family Network Approach – this new focus will support family led plans continuing work on a draft model, guidance and workforce development offer which will be developed and finalised over the summer. This is building on our well embedded Family Group Conferencing model in East Sussex. Family and Youth Hubs The Government’s Youth Investment Fund programme to improve Youth Hubs in East Sussex is nearing completion. Heathfield Youth Hub will be a new multipurpose facility for children and young people serving Heathfield and the surrounding villages. The Joff Youth Hub, situated in Peacehaven, is undergoing a major extension and refit and will serve the Havens. Both Youth Hubs are expected to open in Q2. Major refurbishment works on the Hollington Youth Hub began in April 2025 following a capital grant from the Government Work should be completed Feb 2026. During the closures the Youth work programmes have been delivered from local community venues. The new and refurbished Hubs will deliver a range of activity programmes and support services for young people that focus on emotional and physical well-being, delivered by the Council and a range of partner organisations.
• p9Child in Need numbers remain broadly stable at 951 (June 2025) plus 152 children allocated to Children’s Disability Service . This reflects the number of children having their Child Protection Plans stepped down to Child in Need plans whilst the volume of new cases coming from the Duty and Assessment Team (DAT) remains relatively high in Q1.
• p11Child Protection Plan levels have reduced to 579 at end of Q1 (547 plus 11 unborn children), down from 614 in Q4 2024/25. This has been achieved through effective multi-disciplinary work with children and families, reducing risk and effecting change with families.
• p26A new Multi-Agency Neglect Toolkit has been created to support the needs of a wide range of professionals in their work with children and young people. The Council’s Practice Educator has collaborated with professional stakeholders to ensure that professionals in education, health and early help and social care can access a new model of practice and carry out work that is a priority across the county. The toolkit now includes standardised documents for assessing neglect and resources specific to different professions. Revenue Budget Summary Based on current financial modelling, the Q1 predicted outturn for the end of 2025/26 is £174.724m. This is a forecast year-end overspend of £16.664m (ref xvi) . In 2025/26 CSD has a net budget of £158.060m. There has been £13.301m additional budget given for growth and inflation, however £3.239m has been removed for permanent savings (ref ix) . This equates to a net increase of £10.062m. This year, all £3.239m of savings have been achieved. CSD’s year-end outturn for 2024/25 was £157.585m. This was against a budget of £146.985m, representing a £13.647m overspend. The CSD 2024/25 Q1 forecast was £157.375m, only £0.210m less than the final outturn figure. This shows the accuracy and consistency of the forecasting throughout the year. The main financial pressure continues to come from the statutory demand-driven areas of Looked After Children, Child Protection, and Home to School Transport. Not included in the figures reported above is the position of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), which, in accordance with the Schools and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2020, is required by local authorities to be shown on their balance sheets. As of 31 March 2025, East Sussex has a cumulative surplus of £2.837m, which is very unusual, as most local authorities have significant deficits. However, there is an in-year forecast deficit of £19.133m on the DSG, which will result in an overall deficit by the end of 2025/26.