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Social Care Solutions: Leading Essex’s Commission for Change

February 5, 2025  

Cllr Beverley Egan is a councillor for Thundersley in south-east Essex. In 2023, she was appointed to chair of Essex Council’s Caring Communities Commission, an ambitious two-year look at the future of health and social care, led by independent experts and elected members and informed by community experience.

Katy: How long have you been a councillor, and what inspired you to get involved in local politics?

Cllr Egan: I became a borough councillor in 2001 and stepped down earlier this year. I’ve been a county councillor since 2017, which is a very different experience. My father was a county councillor, so politics has always been in the blood. I also worked with the Salvation Army in social justice, which deepened my desire to make a difference. That’s how I ended up here. Where I represent is the area I grew up in—I went to school here and still have many friends in the community. It’s a place I know very well.

Katy: For those unfamiliar with Essex, could you describe the area you represent and what it’s like being a councillor here?

Cllr Egan: Essex is incredibly diverse. It has the longest coastline in the UK. There are specific challenges that are associated with that – a reliance on seasonal work, etc. We have areas of extreme deprivation alongside affluent ones. Many towns are commuter areas, which creates pressures like finding staff for the NHS and social services, as wages in London can be more attractive. There’s also an emerging group of people who appear wealthy on paper but are struggling due to the financial crisis.

 It’s a challenge to balance all these needs while delivering services. Right now, with devolution discussions and the recent NHS Darcy report, it’s a critical time to focus on how we can better serve residents. Our leader, Councillor Kevin Bentley, speaks about a goal to create “everyone’s Essex,” aiming to improve lives across the board.

Katy: Let’s talk about the commission you’re chairing. How did it start, and what are its aims?

Cllr Egan: After COVID, it was clear we faced enormous challenges, particularly in health and social care. There is still collective trauma, with public services under unsurmountable pressure.

We’ve been given two years to get under the skin of some of the issues in health and social care and try to come up with solutions. I’m very privileged to be able to chair it – we’ve been given time and resources that the NHS, the police, education or social services haven’t got to really examine what needs to change.

Some of this will be recognising as the council that we don’t have all the answers – we’re here to be enablers, to help our communities help themselves. A phrase I’ve heard recently stuck with me is: “It’s not hope that leads to action; it’s action that leads to hope.” Communities can often solve their own issues when supported effectively, that’s what we’re hearing.

Katy: Why the focus on health and social care?

Funding pressures are a significant part of what’s driving us. If we don’t adapt, the system could collapse under the strain. But it sometimes surprises me how little public attention there seems to be on social care. When I think about my post box – it’s about potholes. Very rarely is it about a neuro-diverse child. Very rarely is it about someone in crisis with an elderly parent. That social care aspect doesn’t always seem to be on people’s minds, and I think that has something to do with the way we communicate and talk to the public as a council. This needs to change, and in many ways the commission is part of that.

Katy: What does the commission look like in practice, and what have you learned so far?

Cllr Egan: The commission is very much knowledge-led. It’s made up of national experts and public service leaders. It’s cross-party politically. We’ve spoken to providers, voluntary organisations, and NHS and social service staff. We’ve gone out to visit things like memory cafes that support people with dementia, we’ve held resident roundtables, and public online consultations.

The feedback so far has highlighted common issues: funding, duplication of efforts, and a breakdown in trust within communities and between organisations. There’s also a collective sense of trauma from COVID that affects public services and residents alike. When you hear from people who are seeing poverty like they’ve never seen before, and you learn about some of the hardship there is, it spurs you on to try and find solutions.

The next step is to distil all this into themes to guide our work in the second year.

Katy: Do you think these challenges can be addressed without significant additional funding?

Cllr Egan: Funding is something that comes up again and again, which is understandable. But there’s a need to communicate more honestly with the public about the financial realities we face. Maybe, as politicians, we need to be a little bit more frank about finances.

The commission can’t just be about ‘fixing’ social services or the NHS with more money – it’s about bringing everyone together to avoid duplication and pool resources. For example, I’ve seen roles like community agents, social prescribers, and kindness coordinators all doing similar work but funded by different pots of money. We need to streamline and collaborate better, supporting communities to become more resilient and help themselves a bit more.

We also need to move towards more relational commissioning – focusing on relationships and collaboration rather than rigid processes. We need to take more risks and embrace failure when pilots or projects don’t work. Councils have got to be able to take more risks –  councils and the NHS are probably worse for being too risk-averse.

Katy: What’s next for the commission?

Cllr Egan: We’re currently reviewing the information we’ve gathered and working on initial recommendations. These will be published in March. Importantly, we want to go back to everyone who contributed, to show them the outcomes and maintain trust.

We’re also keen to influence the national conversation, especially around funding and devolution. Essex is well-positioned to lead on this, and I hope we can be a model for change.

Katy: Do you think the commission will offer new perspectives to the government?

Cllr Egan: I think it could. For example, we need to rethink how services are funded and delivered to avoid duplication and maximise resources. We also need to address systemic issues like the competition between voluntary organisations for limited funding. Our findings will likely echo existing concerns but also offer practical, local solutions.

When I was asked to be chair I was very clear that I wasn’t interested in a talking shop. This work has to lead to real outcomes. We need to be able to go back to all the professionals, all the voluntary sector, all the residents who took part and tell them exactly the difference that their contribution has made.  

New Local’s Chief Executive Jessica Studdert was delighted to give evidence to the commission.


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