Essex County Council facing budget gap of over £100m by 2026

Essex County Council says the rise is needed after inflation added £32m to its bill for services

A council facing a budget deficit of more than £100m within three years says it has a "renewed focus" to transform.

The news comes after Essex County Council announced it is raising its share of council tax by an average of £60 a year in 2022-23.

It has already delivered all of its planned existing saving measures and is now looking for more, the council said.

The authority said it would look at a range of options to save money and plug the funding gap.

Figures indicate the difference between expected expenditure and income to be £24m in 2023-24, increasing to £59m the year after and then to £119m in 2025-26.

The county council has said it expects to identify ways to drive "further savings", including through use of technology and digitisation and to continue to explore the "redesign of services and different ways of working with its partners".

The funding gap was raised as a concern at cabinet on Tuesday by several councillors who asked how the gaps would be filled, the Local Democracy Reporting Service heard.

Chris Whitbread, cabinet member for finance, pointed to a report which he said detailed the plans for the future including digitisation.

He said: "We're very much about building those firm foundations for the future so that we hand the council over in better condition than it was ten years ago to the next council."