Southend tax rise will fund services, says council

Southend-on-Sea City Council has proposed increasing its tax on residents by 4.99% in April.

Labour leader Daniel Cowan said the move would increase the local authority's annual spending by £200m and explained that "we want to make sure people feel the benefit".

Opposition parties are reading through the proposed budget for 2026-27, which was published on Thursday.

Meanwhile, car parking fees would be frozen and the garden waste collection service charge would be reduced by £3.50.

Although, council fees and charges overall would increase by 2.5% on average.

"For many years people have felt their council bills have gone up but their services have been cut," said Cowan.

"We want to make sure people feel the benefit."

A council tax rise of 4.99% - for local authorities that look after social care - is the maximum increase permitted by central government.

While Southend-on-Sea City Council is not planning to dip into its reserves in 2026-27, it may have to use its savings to cover a £6.3m overspend in social care for this year.

Children's and adult social care remain the largest cost pressure for the authority.

The council's budget document says 2,433 education, health and care plans for children with special educational needs and disabilities were issued over the last year – a 24% increase on the previous 12 months.

This is "simply financially unsustainable" and it "outstripped" the funding received from central government, the budget document explains.

The Labour-led administration, which is run with support from Liberal Democrats and independents, has pledged to spend at least £10m improving pavements and roads for a second year.

Meanwhile, new bulky waste charges are coming; a £15 charge to pick up one item, £40 for three items, and £60 for five.

Cowan told the BBC that the grass cutting service had been "completely decimated" when he and colleagues formed the administration.

But he said staff were now cutting once every 29 days, "ensuring the local area is kept clean and tidy".

He said the streets were being cleaned more regularly and the library service would continue to be open six days a week.

The Labour-led coalition took control of the city council from the Conservatives in May 2024.

The opposition parties said they would respond after reading through the documents. All councillors will need to vote on the proposed package in February.

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