IN the wake of Thurrock Council's statement on its financial planning for 2021-22, which includes a significant council tax increase, the leader of the Labour opposition group on the council has said it plans to hold mismanagement of council services to account.

Following yesterday's (Tuesday, 5 January) statement leader of Thurrock Council's Labour group Cllr John Kent, said: "Thurrock Conservatives are caught in a double whammy.

"It is clear that government promises to fully fund the costs of responding to the Covid crisis haven't been honoured and the controversial Tory investment strategy isn't delivering the returns they promised.

"As a result Thurrock Council is facing a funding black hole of more than £40 million - and it looks like it will be council workers and residents that will pay the price as they look to jack up council tax by five per cent and cut services like weekly bin collections, while axing jobs and cutting the pay and conditions of front line workers.

"An average increase in council tax of more than hundred pounds will come as a bombshell for many Thurrock folk who are suffering real financial hardship as a result of the pandemic and, while the details of the Tory budget are sketchy, Thurrock Labour will not support proposals that damage services, penalise front line workers and ask Thurrock residents to pay the price of Tory failures."