A HARDSHIP fund intended to help the most vulnerable Thurrock residents through the current financial crisis is to be slashed to keep council tax below 10 per cent under latest plans revealed by the Conservative-run administration.

The council's forthcoming budget was discussed at an extraordinary meeting of its corporate overview and scrutiny meeting on Wednesday (14 February) - St Valentine's Day - when non committee m,embers were also invited to have their say on new plans to meet an overall funding shortfall of £18.2 million in next year's budget.

The council's cabinet says it has resisted calls to raise council tax by 9.99 per cent for the next municipal year and the meeting was called to highlight how further savings of £1.7 million could be made.

The cabinet proposes to save £616,000 from its hardship fund, £200,000 from its resources and capacity plan and £53,000 from the parks and open spaces budget. The cuts will also involve savings from the home to school transport service.

Speaking at the meeting, Labour opposition member Cllr Sara Muldowney asked: "What's underlying this decision to make this last change? What's the justification for having to bring forward these additional £1.7million in cuts with weeks to go before budget meeting?"

Cllr Graham Snell, the portfolio holder for finance, human resources and payroll, who is stepping down from the council at the end of April, said: "Ultimately we made the decision to not charge residents in Thurrock the full 9.99 per cent council tax. That generated a deficit which we need to recover. That's a choice we had to make. We could either charge the 9.99 per cent which was budgeted for but we chose not to go down that route. We decided to try and save the residents of Thurrock some extra money."

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr John Kent, leader of the Labour Group, said: "This year, Thurrock Council will spend the equivalent of 138 per cent of its total budget on servicing its debt, council tax will go up by twice the rate of inflation – and the council will still need a government bailout of more than £68 million to set next year's budget.

"In a desperate attempt to balance the budget, the Tories are looking to cut home to school transport, to re- introduce charges for pendant alarms and to slash £600k from the council's hardship fund – all of which will hit the most vulnerable the hardest.

Cllr Kent added: "And, with less than two weeks until the council has to set its budget for next year, there is still a gap of £1 million in their plans."