County council plans 5% tax increase from April

A "spike in the requirements in children’s services" is one reason for the tax increase, the council said

Council tax in Essex is to rise by 5% from April, the county council has said.

The Conservative administration said it was doing so “reluctantly”, as it needed to make £32m savings, which would include changes to support for adults with disabilities.

Last year, it increased council tax by 3.5%, choosing not to increase it by the maximum allowed by the government.

Chancellor of Essex Chris Whitbread said there was "a lot of additional pressure” this year and “a spike in the requirements in children’s services”.

Mr Whitbread would not say how many jobs might go as part of a planned £5m saving from a staffing review

In October, Mr Whitbread said the council had “seen a significant and worrying increase in pressures” in children's services, with a projected overspend of £16.6m which had trebled in three months.

"A lot of that has come from having much more complex packages to deliver than we have had before," he said.

The 9.8% rise in the National Living Wage - from 1 April to £11.44 an hour - and social care inflation, will cost the council an extra £42m, the authority said.

Mr Whitbread said there would be no cuts to services like libraries and family centres.

The tax increase should raise an extra £40m a year from more than 500,000 households in Essex, but the council still needs to make £32m of savings.

Nearly half of those will be met in adult social care, including a programme supporting adults with learning difficulties and autism.

Lib Dem Mike Mackrory is calling on Essex County Council to provide details of increases in fees and charges

Lib Dem group leader Mike Mackrory is concerned about the funding gap in future years, which is due to rise to £120m by 2027-28.

He told BBC Essex: "It is a real concern what the impact will be on services and staffing levels."

Mr Mackrory also called for details on increased council fees and charges, which he says is forecast to raise an extra £18m, to be published.

Labour's Ivan Henderson accused the council of “trying to cover up the cause of these financial problems".

He said: "Millions of pounds have been taken away from local government.

"The government has let them down on the local finance settlement which is why people are having to pay more council tax."

Essex County Council hopes a planned £5m saving from a staffing review will be met in the coming year, but Mr Whitbread would not say how many full-time jobs would go. It was not achievied in 2023.

The road maintenance budget will fall from £46m to £39m in 2024-25, while footway maintenance funding will drop by 25% to £9m.

The streetlighting budget is £7m next year, half of what it was in 2023-24, because of switching to LED lights and the falling energy price.

Mr Whitbread said an additional £11m had been put into the capital programme for highways maintenance.