Priti with Leader of Essex County Council Cllr Kevin Bentley
Priti backs Council’s call for more funding
Witham MP Priti Patel was one of more than 40 MPs to write to the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to press the Government to make more funding available to local councils. Councils providing social care services, including Essex County Council, have faced additional costs as a result of growing demands on services, more complex cases, increased salary and staffing costs, and the rising costs of providing services like home to school transport.
Priti has previously raised the issue of local government funding with the local government minister in the House of Commons and has worked closely with the local authorities that provide services in the Witham constituency to make representations on their behalf. This month Essex County Council has published its budget for 2024/25 and while the level of council tax remains among the lowest third of county councils in England, bills will need to rise 4.99% to support investment in services. Priti said:
“Our local councils provide vital frontline services to communities across Essex. From helping vulnerable children and adults to collecting waste and fixing potholes, they are operating in a challenging financial climate and I have been making representations on their behalf to the Government to call for more funding to be made available to them.”
Cllr Kevin Bentley, Leader of Essex County Council and Senior Vice Chairman of the Local Government Association, said:
“Here in Essex we have a strong record delivering high quality public services in an efficient way saving millions through innovating and being careful about how we spend taxpayers money. We are proud that at a time of unprecedented financial pressures, our children’s services have been rated outstanding by Ofsted and we are at the forefront of working more closely with health services to improve social care. Despite making millions of pounds of savings, we need to see more resources provided by the Government and I welcome the intervention from Priti and her parliamentary colleagues in supporting our call for more funding.”