Report by Local Democracy Reporting Service correspondent Steve Shaw and Nub News editor Neil Speight

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IN the latest twist as councils and councillors jockey for position as they bid to reshape the region's democratic structure, Essex County Council has put forward a scheme to merge all the county's council's into a giant a "Greater Essex Mayoral Combined Authority" with four sub divisions.

Earlier today Thurrock Nub news reported on the £1.2 million spent on secretive plane to create a south Essex mayoral authority.

It seems Essex Council Council has been spending its own cash on a counter scheme.

This evening (Tuesday, 4 August) we can reveal Essex Council Council has come up with a proposal of its own and it would like to see Thurrock Council abolished.

The county council has been working up a plan that could see all district and county councils removed and replaced with up to four unitary authorities that oversee the whole of Essex.

The plan is outlined in an email seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service and sent to Southend party leaders by the borough's chief executive Alison Griffin.

It explains Essex County Council leader David Finch along with the council's chief executive Gavin Jones want to "explore" the creation of a "Greater Essex Mayoral Combined Authority" which would operate above the newly formed councils.

It would be led by an elected mayor who could have oversight of budgets, county-wide development schemes, the police and fire services and planning.

The mayor's powers would need to be confirmed through negotiations with central government.

The email goes on to note the county council will not be seeking to become its own unitary, leaving it unclear whether it would join one of the other larger authorities.

The plan, which is in very early stages, has already been endorsed by Simon Clarke, secretary of state for regional growth and local government, who wrote in a letter addressed to Mr Finch that he "warmly" welcomes the plans and he looks forward to discussions in the autumn.

The response is a stark contrast to Mr Clarke's response to the separate and significantly smaller plan from council leaders in the south of the county who have proposed the creation of a South Essex Combined Authority.

Mr Clarke is against it – as are regional MPS who have mocked the plan.

Mr Clarke told council bosses "it is not clear to me on first sight that South Essex would be the right geography for such an arrangement".

"County plan is simply a rebrand"

Details of the county council plan are likely to inflame political tensions across Essex.

Leading Conservative councillors in Thurrock have reportedly been backing the south Essex combined authority plan, though little discussion has taken place in public.

Council leader Rob Gledhill, who is chair of the south Essex partnership behind the plan promised they are "not looking at taking powers away from any of the six local authorities and local sovereignty will be maintained".

He continued: "Instead we are looking at the best way we can work together to ensure that we can have a significant positive impact on residents' lives in the future and that some powers are devolved from Westminster to South Essex."

And he has taken a swipe at his Essex county counterparts saying: "It is clear from discussions with all the leaders in South Essex that a whole Essex solution is recreating the current issues and our concerns are that this is just a rebrand of Essex County Council.

"This will be too remote, have no real connection with the south of Essex and we will not see the infrastructure deficit we have had for decades being fully addressed.

"South Essex, with a population of 800,000, is a significant natural economic corridor encompassing three international ports, an international airport and currently contributing £17.9bn to the UK economy supporting national and international growth. It is connected well to its residents and businesses with a clear focus in a well-developed growth prospectus that ensures localism is delivered."

Though their proposal has now been made public Essex County Council declined to comment.