THURROCK Council has been given the green light by the government to increase council tax by up to ten per cent - without having to go to residents for a referendum.

Councils are normally only allowed to raise tax by five per cent. Should they want any more, they are supposed to ask local people via a poll, but after Conservative councillors on the cash-strapped authority went cap-in-hand to the government seeking a dispensation, it has been given approval to add up to an extra five per cent without a vote.

At an extraordinary full council meeting last month leader Cllr Mark Coxshall told members of the plan to seek the right to scrap a referendum.

He justified the move because of financial collapse of the council, which owes hundreds of millions of pounds because of the Conservatives' failed 'borrow-to-invest' policy. Members were told Thurrock's council tax is benchmarked as the 53rd lowest out of 56 unitary authorities across the country - a statistic which is the outcome of previous decisions to keep local taxes down.

It was able to do that because it had adopted the investment strategy. However, those investments have gone sour and the council lost hundreds of millions as companies failed to repay bonds. To avoid defaulting on low interest loans it took out from other councils to finance the borrowing, the council has had to be bailed out by the government which agreed to lend it almost £900 million in short term loans. But the council will eventually have to go to the more expensive commercial market to bridge the gap.

A report stated that past administrations have chosen not to increase Thurrock's council tax at the same rate as comparable local authorities, which has led to a lower council tax revenue base and a consequent lower overall increase in council tax revenue. It added: "Historically, this deficit in council tax has been ameliorated by income generated from investments, but this is clearly no-longer a feasible strategy.

Thurrock Council's Labour opposition leader Cllr John Kent opposed the recommendation to increase council tax without a local referendum.

Opposing the application to government, he said it was wrong that the residents of the borough would have to pay for the mistakes of Conservative councillors, adding: "We are being asked to agree to raise council tax by more than the 5% referendum limit without holding that local referendum. I want to be very clear, the Labour group will not be supporting that recommendation."

However, despite additional opposition from independent members, the Conservatives had the majority to drive the vote through and the application was submitted.

Today(Monday, 6 February) it got its affirmative answer, though the political and administrative failure that led to Thurrock's financial collapse was recognised by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. It said it had agreed the request but added it had done so due to financial difficulties, attributed to "significant failures in local leadership and financial management."

Michael Gove:

Making the announcement, Levelling Up minister Michael Gove, said:  "The Government is of course conscious of the impact on local taxpayers, particularly those on low incomes, of having to foot part of the bill for their council's very significant failings. We have been clear that in implementing any additional increases, the council should take steps to mitigate the impact on those least able to pay."

Details of what the increase will be have yet to be agreed but will be discussed at the Conservative ruling cabinet on Wednesday, 15 February - before being taken to a meeting of the full council for approval a week later.

However much the tax does go up, it will be nowhere near enough to meet the shortfall. The council is planning a programme of cuts to local services, driving up local charges and proposes significant staff redundancies. It is also looking to sell off council-owned buildings and land plus other assets at its disposal.