Essex County Council budget proposals meant 'tough decisions'

Essex County Council has previously estimated expenditure and losses of £120m because of the pandemic

Essex County Council is proposing a 3.5% rise in council tax as it proposes to spend £74.3m more on services next year due to inflation and the costs of social care.

The Tory-run authority has published its £1.2bn draft budget for 2023-24.

The Liberal Democrat opposition criticised a lack of funding for road maintenance.

The Conservatives said they were prioritising the most vulnerable and had had to make "tough decisions".

The government told local authorities in November they could increase their part of council tax bills by a maximum of 4.99%.

The county council had increased its share by 4.49% last year, and is increasing its element of the council tax bill by 3.5% this time around.

The proposed hike would mean the average Band D homeowner would pay £1,450 per year - up from £1,401 in 2022-23.

The cabinet member for finance, resources and corporate affairs, Chris Whitbread, said: "In the most challenging economic landscape since World War One, we have had to balance supporting vulnerable or hard-pressed people with the need to keep any council tax increase below inflation."

The budget included pledges to build a new link road between eastern Colchester (pictured) with the Tendring district

Mr Whitbread said some job vacancies would be closed to save money - but declined to say how many.

The draft budget set aside £36.7m for road maintenance, but Essex Highways has said it needed £77.7m each year.

"We have made some tough decisions as you would expect," Mr Whitbread told BBC Essex.

"You will never invest enough to cover the 5,200 miles of road in Essex."

Chris Whitbread declined to say how many job vacancies would be closed next year

Mike Mackrory, the Lib Dems opposition leader, said: "My group I'm sure will be looking at this in great detail to see if there are other ways some of the money, that is proposed for certain services, can be reprofiled into Essex Highways."

He said he wanted some of the council's climate change reserve to be brought forward and would like to to see more spent on youth services, which had been cut since 2010.

Construction of the Beaulieu Park railway station is expected to begin by the end of 2023

The proposals set out a £1.3bn four-year capital programme, including building the Beaulieu Park railway station in Chelmsford, the Chelmsford north-east bypass and the new Colchester to Tendring link road.

Three new primary schools and continued funding of school holiday camps with free meals were promised.

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The proposals, documented over 224 pages, need to be rubber-stamped at a full council meeting on 9 February.

Essex County Council serves a population of 1.51 million people - making it one of the largest UK local authorities per capita.