IT'S official, Thurrock Council has gone bust!

The news is not unexpected as the government stepped in to evaluate the cash-strapped authority's financial situation in September when the full extent of its catastrophic borrow to invest strategy began to unravel.

Today (Monday, 19 December) the council's Acting Director of Finance and Section 151 Officer interim finance director Jonathan Wilson issued a "Section 114 Notice" to the government which indicates that the authority will not be able to deliver a balanced budget from within existing resources this year and into next.  

A Section 114 Notice means the council has to stop all but the essential spending needed to provide vital services to residents, pay staff and meet its legal duties.

A special meeting of the full council will take place on Monday, 9 January to discuss the notice, the council's response and the proposed plan to meet the financial challenge it faces.

Cllr Graham Snell, the finance portfolio holder, said: "The issuing of the S114 notice by our most senior financial officer has our full backing and is the next important procedural step in our journey to financial recovery.

 "Among other things it will help pave the way for a formal request for additional bespoke financial assistance from the Government."  

Council leader Cllr Mark Coxshall, whose resignation has been demanded by opposition councillors, tried to put a positive spin on the unfolding events, saying: "Residents and staff should feel safe knowing that our streetlights are still shining, our roads are continuing to be gritted during bad weather, and our most vulnerable friends and family are being looked after.

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"They can also be reassured that under my leadership we have started to grip our situation and have a clear sight of what needs to be done. The section 114 notice is a clear indication we are on the road to recovery.

"I have already made it clear as the incoming leader that I have been shocked by the position the council is in and we do not take lightly the seriousness of the step we are being asked to take today

"I am proud to say that Thurrock is my home, and I will fight hard to do the right thing for local people and build a future for this council, however difficult that will be."

A spokesperson for the commissioners installed by the government to look into the council's position and lead it out of the financial mire, said: "The issuing of a Section 114 notice is a necessary next step for Thurrock Council to take to address its overall financial position, alongside seeking further financial support from the Government.

"The Section 114 notice will limit non-essential spending, which is an important element contributing to the stabilising of the Council's finances. Our work with Thurrock to address wider structural budget issues continues in tandem with work on their day-to-day spending."

Opposition leader Cllr John Kent reiterated his call for the Tory leadership of the council to resign.

The said: "The formal issuing of Thurrock Council's Section 114 notice - the local government equivalent of bankruptcy was, sadly, inevitable.

"For years, we have been warning about the possible consequences of the Conservative's disastrous financial mismanagement, but time and again we were laughed at, fobbed off and misled.

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"The suggestion that a Section 114 notice is somehow good news - "a clear indication that we are on the road to recovery" or merely a procedural step - is frankly insulting to the many council staff who will be fearing for their jobs, to vulnerable people fearing for the services they rely on and to all of us who will be paying the price for the Conservative's disastrous financial mismanagement of Thurrock Council for decades to come.

"The Leader of the Council claims he was "shocked" to learn of the scale of the financial catastrophe. That is just ridiculous. He has sat in the Cabinet for all of the last six and a half years - just what have he and his cronies been doing for all that time?

"This disaster has been made and delivered by Thurrock Conservatives and it's high time they accept responsibility for their actions and resign."