A NEW report from Essex County Council has cast a big shadow over local government reorganisation plans - which currently include a proposed merger between Thurrock and Basildon councils.

Today (Thursday, 18 June), Reform-controlled Essex County Council, which has previously stated it is not happy with local proposals, went public and released details of advice from senior government officials.

The report says the strongest financial option for new unitary councils across Essex was rejected by Labour's Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

In a pre-action letter of response from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to a proposed judicial review by Essex County Council of the decision on re-organising Essex's councils, it has emerged that advice from senior officials on the relative financial robustness of four competing proposals was disregarded by the Secretary of State.

Instead, the Government favoured the option to create the largest number of new authorities, five new councils. Among those planned new councils is the creation of the proposed South West Essex authority, linking Thurrock and Basildon.

The leader of Thurrock's recently elected Reform administration, Cllr Richard Binbgley, recently put forward his view that the union between Thurrock and Basildon should be scrapped.

Cllr Peter Harris, leader of Essex County Council, described the revelations from the letter as a major embarrassment for the Government and questioned whether the ongoing process of reorganisation should continue.

He said: "The fact that a Secretary of State was prepared to ignore the advice of highly paid, experienced officials not just from his own department but across Whitehall on a decision affecting 1.7 million Essex residents is beyond staggering and a major embarrassment.

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"It is as clear as day that Ministers chose to ignore their officials in pursuit of what were clearly political goals, heaping millions of pounds in costs on to taxpayers in the process.

"He clearly made his mind up that regardless of the advice and regardless of the published criteria, small councils were to be the favoured option – even if financially unviable, because he chose that option not only in Essex but in Norfolk, Suffolk and Hampshire.

"To choose the worst financial option meant effectively jeopardising the future of services to our most vulnerable adults and children.

"The credibility of this whole process is in tatters. I have already written to the Government asking them to withdraw their proposals. Unless they do, we will have no choice but the launch a judicial review of their decision in the coming days."

Thurrock Council was asked to comment by Nub News, but so far has not responded.