£12 million funding boost for roads, pavements and potholes across Essex
Additional funding for Essex Highways was announced at Essex County Council’s Full Council meeting.
Extra funding for the county’s roads, pavements and potholes was announced today (Tuesday 13 February) as part of Essex County Council’s 2024/25 budget.
The council’s budget and annual plan were presented to councillors at its Full Council meeting, where it was approved.
The £12 million is to be allocated across different areas, including over £8 million for additional crews for each borough, city and district who will prioritise repairs raised by local councillors.
The funding will add resources to the council’s enforcement team, which can challenge landowners where overgrown vegetation creates danger for users of roads and footways.
Councillor Tom Cunningham, Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Sustainable Transport, said: “I know how much pride Essex residents take in where they live, so I’m pleased to announce this additional investment for our highways. Not only will the funding mean we can carry out more priority repairs and maintenance work, but it will also allow us to bring forward some of our surfacing and patching schemes.
“Nearly double the number of potholes were repaired across Essex last year compared to the previous year. This again was thanks to additional funding from the council and the hard work of our crews. I look forward to building on our strong track record with this new funding heading into the next financial year.”
Essential highways work is just one priority for the council as outlined in its annual plan, ‘Everyone’s Essex’.
The plan will be updated for 2024/25 and include how and where the council’s more than £2 billion budget will be spent on services across four priority areas. These are:
- the economy
- the environment
- children and families
- health, care and wellbeing for all ages
Councillor Kevin Bentley, Leader of the Council, said: “We will never stop doing our best for the people of Essex, it’s what they deserve. We have shown this as an administration time and again by protecting essential services and through our continued investment in areas such as the county’s infrastructure, our outstanding children’s services and our work to Level Up opportunities and reduce inequalities.
“I am immensely proud of the work that the council has done over the last three years to make good the promises we set out. And I am hugely optimistic about what we can achieve over the next twelve months to go even further in the pursuit of these ambitions.”
Councillor Chris Whitbread, Chancellor of Essex, said: “We are one of the highest performing councils in the country and continue to invest in new services where many other authorities are having to reduce their spending. I am proud that we have once again achieved a balanced budget. This hasn’t happened by chance and is testament to our strong track record in financial management and our desire to put people at the heart of our decision-making.
“Our latest budget is rooted in what residents have told us is most important to them. As a result, we have a budget that will enable us to continue to protect the most vulnerable, level up opportunities and deliver our ambitious capital programme.
“We must not be complacent, however, and due to the significant pressures facing local government, increasing Council Tax this year has unfortunately been unavoidable. We know there will be more difficult decisions to make in the future too. We must therefore continue to act responsibly on behalf of and for the people of Essex.”
Last month, the council confirmed it would be increasing council tax by 2.99% in 2024/25 due to the significant financial pressures facing local government. This is in addition to the 2% adult social care precept. Doing so has provided more financial certainty in the medium term and will offer greater stability in future years.
The increase will also help bridge the gap seen nationally in children’s services, adult social care and Home to School Transport, with rising costs, demand and complexity creating £80 million-worth of pressures for Essex in 2024/25.
Increased council tax will see £16 million invested into supporting older people and adults with disabilities, while £14 million will go towards protecting the most vulnerable children in the county.
£10 million would also partly offset rising costs for Home to School Transport, particularly for children with special educational needs and disabilities.