THURROCK Council's cabinet will meet this evening (Wednesday, 14 December) to consider its latest response and comment on the financial crisis that threatens to lay waste to many local services and have an impact on generations in the borough.

As has been widely reported, the council has, over the last six years, been involved in a series of flawed investments which have failed, leaving the council hundreds of millions of pounds in debt.

The government intervened in September, commissioners have been sent in to unravel the mess and probe into exactly what has happed.

So far there has been little detail about the people involved, though the council's CEO, Lyn Carpnter, and its senior finance officer, Sean Clark, have been suspended.

Thurrock Nub news understands there have already been protracted legal negotiations between Ms Carpenter and the council about the terms of her leaving the council.

But nothing has been decided as each of recent weeks has shed more light on the state of the council's finances.

Last week it was announced that the council will be submitting a section 114 order to the government - effectively a concession of bankruptcy.

While recently appointed council leader Cllr Mark Coxshall has been frank about the parlous situation, some members of the ruling Conservative group have appeared less concerned and have almost bruished off the consequences.

The full state and gravity of the situation is encapsulated in a report to be considered tonight.

Thurrock is not the only council to have hit the financial rocks recently. Slough and Croydon in particular have hit the headlines for their failures - and there are several other councils that have acknowledged they may be on the brink of collapse too.

Senior Conservatives repeatedly played down concerns from the media and opposition.

But it is the scale of the billion plus debt mountain and the way it has been accrued that has been most shocking. Thurrock's situation has been described as 'the worst in UK local government history'.

And as the implications unravel, just what might be in store for Thurrock residents in terms of loss or services - as well as a potential council tax increase well in excess of five per cent, a comparison can be drawn with Croydon.

The Labour administration there has drawn up its latest plan for survival. The south London borough has approached the government for a £134m loan to keep it afloat while it develops a three-year plan to "live within its means". The cuts programme was the price of retaining local control of the council and warding off a government takeover, the council said.

The bulk of the cuts will fall on the council's so-called "non-core" services, resulting in the likely closure of some of its 13 libraries and nine children's centres. Leisure centres, and waste and recycling facilities will also face the axe, while 35 council-owned buildings will be shut or sold.

Despite its commitment to focus on its most vulnerable residents, the council admitted in its own cuts impact assessment that closures to children's centres would hold back child development in the poorest families. It also plans to cut its welfare benefits advice team – despite a 300% increase in demand in recent months.

There is likely to be another wave of staff job losses – 400 posts were axed earlier this year – as services are pared down. Non-essential spending will be prohibited, and there will be a block on recruitment and hiring agency staff.

All of the above - and possibly worse - is likely to be replicated in Thurrock. 500 jobs have already been earmarked to go.

Ironically, the Conservative group in Thurock has previously mocked Croydon and Slough and poked fun at its councillors, saying they couldn't run a 'whelk stall'.

Many of those Tories who were so critical and arrogant of their condemnation for Croydon Council may well regret their caustic criticism.

Labour in Thurock is, not unexpectedly, steaming with anger about the financial debacle and the way Thurrock conservative played a web of deception, decipt and denial to keep it under wraps.

The extent of the crisis was exposed by the continued pressure of the media, led in many instances by Thurrock Nub News, and pressure from the Labour front benches who went so far as to boycott meetings in protest at the levels of secrecy.

Labour leader Cllr John Kent says: "We now know that Thurrock Conservatives have delivered the greatest ever financial loss of any council.

"The figures are shocking, over one and a half billion pounds of debt, a shortfall of £470 million in this year's budget and losses of, at least, £275 million, and leave the council with no option but to declare bankruptcy and go cap in hand to government for a bailout to try and get through this crisis.

"Any bailout is likely to be in the form of permission to count the losses as a loan and add it to the Tory debt mountain, to be paid off for decades to come.

"The Conservatives will ask their cronies in government to let them increase next year's council tax by more than the 5% limit, asking for a 10 or even 15% increase.

"The council won't be able to make any new spending commitments and there will be a spending panel imposed to make sure money is restricted to those services that councils are legally obliged to deliver.

"We can expect cuts to services such as bin collections, to our libraries and to our parks and open spaces while, at the same time, increased charges for things like residents' parking permits.

"There will be a fire sale of council land and buildings with much loved facilities such as the Thameside likely to go.

"For years, we have been warning about the possible consequences of the Conservative's disastrous financial mismanagement, but we were stonewalled, ignored, falsely reassured, lied to fobbed off and misled.

"It is time for those who have been running the council for the last six and a half years to accept responsibility for their actions and resign."