THURROCK MP Jen Craft has made an impassioned plea to the government to come to the aid of cash-strapped Thurrock Council and borough residents by pumping more money into reduce its debt caused by catastrophic financial dealings by the council's Conservative administration – first revealed to the public in an exclusive Thurrock Nub News story in January 2020.

In the intervening five years and 11 months the council has seen its debt reach around 1.5 billion at times, government intervention to try and stabilise affairs and allegations of criminality – leading to an active investigation by the Serious Fraud Office.

A damning independent report on the council's performance demonised senior officers and political leaders.

Thurrock's damned council was led into financial catastrophe by Tory leader Cllr Rob Gledhill and much-criticised and controversial CEO Lyn Carpenter.

The net outcome remains a debt that is still more than a billion pounds. It is costing more than £70 million a year just to service the interest and the weight of debt has led to sell-offs of assets and crippling cuts to services that have had a deep impact on residents.

Though the government has given previous 'exceptional financial support' to Thurrock, Mrs Craft says the time has come for the government to dig deeper into its pockets.

Today (Tuesday, 16 December) she has written to Steve Reed, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government asking for more help ahead of a 'Fair Funding Review' of local governance in Essex

She writes: "Ahead of a final decision on both the model of local government reorganisation in Essex and the findings of the Fair Funding Review, I am writing to make the case for exceptional financial support for Thurrock Council.

"This Government's commitment to devolution presents a once in a generation opportunity: to unlock regional economic growth in Essex and drive prosperity for local communities in Thurrock. Like you, I firmly believe the success of this agenda will be predicated on resilient and effective councils.

"With a decision pending on the new unitary model for Essex, this is a critical moment in creating strong foundations in local government. However, Thurrock's outstanding and unsupported debt will undermine the opportunity to build financial stability and resilience.

"The new unitary authority for our area will be forced to accommodate an unsustainable deficit in its budget, which I fear will again cut my constituents in Thurrock a raw deal.

"I recognise that many local authorities are under pressure, but Thurrock's situation is unique.

Lyn Carpenter: Led authority to the largest budget deficit in local government history.

"We are victim to a series of catastrophic failures by the previous Conservative administration, who amassed the largest budget deficit in local government history."

Recently the government bailed out cash-strapped Woking Borough Council with a £500 million settlement to relieve the authority of its unsupported debt.

And Mrs Craft believes it needs an even bigger gesture to give Thurrock a chance to bounce back and spare residents more cuts to vital local services.

The 'potentially criminal and fraudulent behaviour in Thurrock' described by Jen Craft has led to a Serious Fraud Office probe into the activities of rogue and flamboyant businessman Liam Kavanagh and the council's disgraced finance chief Sean Clark.

She adds: "I believe the evidence of potentially criminal and fraudulent behaviour in Thurrock does warrant special consideration.

"These failings are not the fault of my constituents, yet they are forced to pay the price. We have seen our council tax rise dramatically without democratic consent, services for the vulnerable slashed, and much-loved community assets put under threat of closure.

"This situation is unsustainable. We cannot pass on crippling levels of debt and an unmanageable  deficit to our new unitary authority; it will compromise the administration's ability to establish and  maintain high-level public services.

"As such, I ask that you consider reducing or forgiving the money currently owed, alongside an uplift through the Fair Funding Review, to ensure local government reorganisation creates a strong, stable authority for Thurrock residents."