Consultations In Essex

Public participation is very important to the development of Essex County Council's services, projects and policies.

Recently updated consultations are displayed below. Alternatively, you can search for consultations by keyword, postcode, or interest.

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Open consultations

  • Short Breaks Survey, West Essex, Children & Young People Aged 15-19

    The Children Act 1989 sets out a legal duty for local authorities to provide a range of short break opportunities for parents and carers which enable them to have a break, and to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have...

    Closes today

  • Bus Network Consultation 2023

    Introduction Essex County Council (ECC) is reviewing its support for 162 local bus services. We want your help to ensure that our future bus network is ready to meet new levels of passenger demand and is providing value for money. ECC is therefore conducting this public...

    Closes 5 October 2023

  • Readiness for Social Care Reform

    In September 2021 the government announced their new plan for Adult Social Care Reform in England. This included a lifetime cap on the amount anyone in England will need to spend on their personal care, alongside a more generous means-test for local authority financial support. ...

    Closes 6 October 2023

  • Local Cycling and Walking Routes

    Essex County Council want to improve walking and cycling routes to provide residents with a wider choice of how they travel. By developing cycling and walking networks, we can make our streets healthier by reducing congestion and improving air quality. They become safer for those...

    Closes 15 October 2023

  • Sawyers Hall Lane Healthy School Street Phase 2 Survey

    What are Healthy School Streets? There is a clear opportunity to improve the street environment around schools, to make streets safer. This could include a number of different measures to make it easier to walk or cycle to school. However, we would really like to hear your views, to shape the...

    Closes 15 October 2023

Forthcoming consultations

  • School Funding Consultation 2024-25

    The consultation concerns proposed changes to the Essex Formula for Funding Schools (the Essex local formula) for the financial / academic year 2024/25. The consultation is for all primary and secondary schools, both maintained and academies. The Essex local formula 2024/25 will calculate...

    Opens 2 October 2023

  • Operation Henderson Impact Log

    Impact and feedback from Operation Henderson day of action (13th October).

    Opens 13 October 2023

Closed consultations

  • Residential Care

    At Essex County Council we are working on a project looking at the provision of residential care to meet the needs of Young People. Through your feedback we want to understand the current view regarding residential care. Your response will help inform Essex’s residential strategy, designed to...

    Closed 15 September 2023

  • Residential & Nursing Care - IRN - KPI's Period 8

    In line with the Integrated Residential and Nursing framework agreement (IRN), The key performance indicators for period 8 (December 2022 to May 2023) are now due. Therefore please complete the survey by 24/07/2023. Any Questions please email: IRN.ProjectTeam@essex.gov.uk

    Closed 6 September 2023

  • Consultation for Great Easton CE Primary SEN Provision

    Invitation to participate in a consultation relating to the proposed new teaching building and associated works following refurbishment of the existing school to provide dedicated SEN (Special Educational Needs) space at Great Easton Church of England Primary School

    Closed 28 August 2023

  • Complex Supported Living Cost of Care

    As part of the review by Essex County Council into the cost of care of supported living services, we are looking to engage directly with providers delivering care to adults with complex needs. We are currently consulting the wider market in respect of the rates for non-complex care, and this...

    Closed 25 August 2023

  • Community Safety Survey 2023

    This survey is aimed at helping the Community Safety Partnerships working across Southend, Essex and Thurrock to identify the impacts of crime and anti-social behaviour in the county. You can complete the survey about any area in Essex, whether you live, work or study there. You...

    Closed 20 August 2023

We Asked, You Said, We Did

Here are some of the issues we have consulted on and their outcomes. See all outcomes

We asked

We asked about our proposal for a redesigned Carers Offer which includes:

  • Enhancing the Essex Wellbeing Service as a first point of contact for carers
  • More community based opportunities and support for carers
  • Specialised support for carers
  • Access to relevant training for carers

You said

There was broad agreement from respondents for the proposed Carers Offer.  The full report can be viewed here

We did

Insight from the online engagement was used to finalise the proposed Carers Offer Model.  It will help to ensure that these offers of support come together to ensure effective support for carers in Essex.

We asked

The purpose of this survey, led by Essex Youth Service and Essex Public Health, was to gather the views of young people on a range of topics relating to relationships and sexual health, understanding what further information and support they would like and their preferred ways in which to access it. 

Following on from our first Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) survey in 2021 gathering the views of 16-25 year olds, this year we continued our work with young people to co-design survey questions for 11-25 year olds. Age appropriate questions were developed for young people in Years 7-9, young people in Years 10-11 and young people aged 17-25.  

You said

3,676 young people responded to the survey.

Headline findings:

  • Young people in Years 7-9 and Years 10-11 look to friends/family and school for information on most RSE related topics. For young people aged 17-25, a slightly higher proportion tended to look online for information or access services.
     
  • Young people in Years 7-9 and Years 10-11 would most like to know more about healthy and respectful relationships and consent and the law. For young people aged 17-25, they would most like to know more about steps to take after unprotected sex, and information on choices around pregnancy.

  • Around 60% of those in Years 7-9 are aware of the Essex Sexual Health Service and Essex Youth Services website, compared to just under 50% of those in Years 10-11 and those aged 17-25. This response may be skewed by significantly larger proportions of Years 7-9 completing the survey in areas where schools are more proactively promoting these services.

  • A significant proportion of young people had felt intimidated, worried or uncomfortable while on the internet, and this increases with each age group. Younger age groups were more likely to have told someone if they felt this way, and also more likely to know where to go for help, with most saying they would turn to friends/family/someone they trust.

  • Condoms are the contraceptive method which young people are most aware of how to access, with Intrauterine System (IUS) and Coil or Intrauterine Device (IUD) being the least known methods.

  • The pharmacy is where young people felt most comfortable accessing contraception, followed by shops/ supermarket. Young people felt least comfortable accessing contraception from a youth centre or School Nurse.

  • Most 17-25 year olds (64%) said they felt fairly or very confident in how to access emergency contraception, compared to 44% of those in Years 10-11.

Reports available below:

Please note district level reports have been produced only for those districts where response rates were higher, and any district level differences should be viewed as indicative only.

We did

We have produced 'we asked, you said, we did' one page summaries for each age group, outlining how insights have been used:

We asked

Essex County Council is looking at how best to support residents with cost of living concerns. We launched a survey aimed at understanding what practical things we could do to help over the coming months, and to test out some ideas with residents.

You said

The survey received a total of 883 responses.

Respondents suggested that more practical/immediate types of help and support were most important. This includes items to help stay warm this winter, home energy saving packs, and emergency food packages.

Of the types of support that respondents said they would use, the top responses were a home energy saving pack, items to help stay warm, and tried and tested top tips for making your money go further.

Suggestions for help and support from residents included help to make homes more energy efficient, reduced council tax/council tax breaks, and community initiatives (such as via libraries, cafes and churches to offer meals, food banks, activities, warm spaces, and welfare check schemes).

The full survey report can be downloaded here.

We did

Essex County Council has now launched a £50m package of support, which is outlined in the Cost of Living Support for Households and Communities Plan. More information about the plan is available here.

The insights from this survey will continue to inform help and support for residents in Essex.