Essex County Council Announces Budget Plans
20 January 2015, 07:41 | Updated: 20 January 2015, 07:55
Council tax is going to be frozen and there is going to be more money for roads and school places in Essex but some jobs may go.
The council says it is investing £131 million into roads, including money going towards the design and consultation on improvements to the A120 and the Chelmsford North East bypass..
£79 million is going on 3,000 extra school places for 2015/16, while money will also be spent on flood defences, rolling out superfast broadband and helping vulnerable people live independently.
Deputy Leader of Essex County Council, Cllr Kevin Bentley, said: "We have developed a budget that, despite the challenges we are facing, will deliver major investment in Essex benefiting families and business alike.
"We are investing in the issues people are most concerned about. This includes creating more places in our schools, improving our road network and providing increased protection from the weather for our coastal communities.
"We are also looking after the most vulnerable in our communities and boosting economic growth through supporting businesses."
The council is facing a £49 million cut in its Government grant though and has to save £72 million next year.
Councillor John Spence, Cabinet Member for Finance, said some jobs are likely to go: "We can avoid recruiting people rather than making them redundant, we can redploy people to other roles. So if I say to you we probably expect to start 2016/17 with fewer people than this year, we will be aiming to that so we minimise the chance of anyone leaving."
Councillor Spence insists there will be no impact to front line services: "We look all the time at how we do things. We have transformation programmes about the use of IT and the systems we have, investments that we have that can bring everyone from multiple systems onto one system so they can talk to each other better, taking management out where we can see they're no longer required in the layers that might have historically existed.
"When you're managing your household budget you sometimes find ways to make savings - perhaps about what you buy in the shops and where you buy it. That's not about cuts, it's about good housekeeping and that's what we're aiming to do."
The county council says other investments include £32 million for transport services inlcuding local bus routes, community transport services and concessonary bus passes for the elderly and disabled; and £5.1 million extra to support Adult Social Care Services to enable people to live as independently as possible.
Councillor John Spence, added: "We have produced a budget supporting our communities, businesses and our ambitions for Essex. It is a budget that invests in long- term solutions for our county rather than simply applying quick-fix sticking plasters.
"However, there are still challenging times ahead with austerity set to continue until at least 2020. We cannot and will not shirk from the difficult decisions ahead of us and will maintain our financial disciplines to ensure we provide the support this county and its communities need."