Thurrock Council short of £3.9m to balance its budget

Thurrock Council says it will will not be able to balance its budget this financial year

A council which needs to plug a £34m gap over the next two years said it was £3.9m short in this year's budget.

Thurrock Council had sought to cut one in four jobs and sell assets including Thameside Theatre to save £34m by 2024.

The Conservative-run council in Essex said this policy would help it make £20m of these savings.

Changes to refuse collections, street and park maintenance have all been proposed as extra cost-cutting measures.

The council will also consider pay and display parking in the borough's country parks and some green spaces.

The proposed extra cuts will go before cabinet next month, reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A report to the corporate overview and scrutiny committee said despite the extra measures, the council was still struggling, and was not expecting things to ease in the coming months.

"The financial challenge faced by the council will be further challenged by the longer term impacts of Covid-19, which includes significant demand increases in children's and adults' social care; an issue growing across the entire local government sector," said Sean Clark, corporate director of resources and place delivery.

The council has said "every effort" will be made to reduce any impact on services and residents through transformational changes but adds there will "undoubtedly, be impacts on services".

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Officers say the council operates from a low financial base in terms of funding with the third lowest band D council tax compared with other unitary councils.

The average band D council tax in Essex in 2020-21 was £1,503 compared with the Thurrock's £1,332.

Some 70% of properties are in bands A to C, so raise significantly less than at band D level.

Revenue from Council Tax in 2020-21 was £69.2m compared to Southend's £84.8m.

Thurrock is expected to keep its annual council tax increase at 1.99% along with a further 1% specifically for social care.

Other councils had, in recent years, taken advantage of the maximum annual rise of 3.99%.

Cuts to services could lead to fortnightly bin collections, a council report said

In November 2020, Thurrock Council showed it had borrowed about £1bn for investments including £604m in solar energy.

Government imposed changes on borrowing to raise revenue meant the council could no longer continue investing in the way it had done previously.