Budget Engagement 2026-2027

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Have your say on what Thurrock Council should prioritise as it plans how it will spend public money in 2026/27

The council has published its draft budget for 2026/27. This consultation seeks your views on the plans, before the final budget is agreed by all councillors at the Full Council meeting on Wednesday 25 February 2026.

Context

Like many councils across the UK, Thurrock is facing some difficult financial decisions. Each year, there is more demand for adult and children’s social care services, and growing requests for temporary accommodation as well as more permanent places for people to call home. Even without Thurrock’s debt – a decade or more of real-terms cuts to local government funding means we would be facing very difficult decisions.

Many of our decisions about local services are set or controlled nationally, to make sure that the most vulnerable in society are protected and not subject to local discretion. The majority of our budget is spent on social care for older people and for children, as well as on ‘universal services’ that we provide for all residents such as fortnightly bin collections, which are dictated by the Government.

With other council services, we have more discretion, for example how we spend our public health grant; how we run services in the community; what technology we use to support our customer services; how much we charge people for things like parking or leisure; and how much we fund civic and cultural activities.

Every council makes these decisions and many more, based on local needs and preferences. That’s why it’s important you tell us your views so that we can make sure our future budgets reflect what you want to see happening in Thurrock, and how the council works.

What we do

We deliver a wide range of essential services for our 176,000 residents including education, housing, waste collection, street cleaning and maintenance, libraries, social care, planning, licensing and many more.

Thurrock Council’s running costs for 2025/26 are £240.7million. This means the council spends £1,367 for every single person in the borough, adult or child.

Not everyone accesses services worth £1,367. The cost of services that residents receive tend to be much higher at the early and later stages of life. You will have heard about the high costs of adult social care for example - the council spends a large proportion of its budget supporting older people whose needs tend to be more complex and expensive.

Many of our decisions about local services are set or controlled nationally to make sure that the most vulnerable in our society are protected. The majority of our budget is spent on social care for older people (19%) and for children (21%), as well as on ‘universal services’ that we provide for all our residents such as fortnightly bin collections.

However, the single largest item is the debt cost associated with the Capitalisation direction. At £64 million this equates to 27% of our net budget.

The financial challenge we face

We have already delivered savings of £46.4 million over the last three years but we still have a long way to go.

We’ve committed to the Government that we will make savings each year. We must save £41 million in the next three financial years, to protect vital services and help bring our debt down. In 2026/27, savings proposals totalling £13.9 million are identified against a target of £13.65 million.

We are continuing to face pressures in both demand and cost across all our services including children and adult social care. The decisions we make affect every household, organisation and business in Thurrock. Sharing your views will help ensure we are making these decisions based on community priorities, the challenges you face, and the outcomes that matter most to you. We will always try to reduce any negative impact these decisions may have and make changes in a way that is fair and balanced.

Our budget for 2026/27

Thurrock Council has a net revenue budget of £243.6 million for 2026/27. Council Tax currently generates around £97m of our income. We collect some income through fees and charges, such as licensing fees and service charges. The additional income comes from business rates, government grants, and exceptional financial support from central government (approximately £72.1m this year to balance the budget)

Our budget proposals for 2026/27 include the following:

Proposals to deliver £13.9m of savings, while continuing to prioritise essential services and investment in key areas. Savings cover a range of services and wherever possible avoid any negative impact on residents. Examples include:

  • Increasing the amount of waste we recycle as it costs less to recycle waste than send it to landfill
  • Using more technology to improve council systems and modernise and streamline the way we work and increase efficiencies
  • Reducing spend on contractors
  • Reduce the amount the council pays into staff pensions, without negatively impacting on those pensions
  • Getting more value out of contracts with external partners

Alongside the savings proposals, the draft budget includes more than £10 million of additional investment in 2026/27 to respond to growing demand and protect essential services. This includes funding to support residents at risk of homelessness, protect adult social care for older and vulnerable residents, improve support for children with special educational needs, and ensure waste and environmental services keep pace with a growing borough.

Taking part in the survey

Complete our survey linked below and share your views. Your responses will help councillors make informed decisions about spending priorities when they set the budget in February 2026. Paper copies are available in Thurrock libraries and community hubs.

Have your say on what Thurrock Council should prioritise as it plans how it will spend public money in 2026/27

The council has published its draft budget for 2026/27. This consultation seeks your views on the plans, before the final budget is agreed by all councillors at the Full Council meeting on Wednesday 25 February 2026.

Context

Like many councils across the UK, Thurrock is facing some difficult financial decisions. Each year, there is more demand for adult and children’s social care services, and growing requests for temporary accommodation as well as more permanent places for people to call home. Even without Thurrock’s debt – a decade or more of real-terms cuts to local government funding means we would be facing very difficult decisions.

Many of our decisions about local services are set or controlled nationally, to make sure that the most vulnerable in society are protected and not subject to local discretion. The majority of our budget is spent on social care for older people and for children, as well as on ‘universal services’ that we provide for all residents such as fortnightly bin collections, which are dictated by the Government.

With other council services, we have more discretion, for example how we spend our public health grant; how we run services in the community; what technology we use to support our customer services; how much we charge people for things like parking or leisure; and how much we fund civic and cultural activities.

Every council makes these decisions and many more, based on local needs and preferences. That’s why it’s important you tell us your views so that we can make sure our future budgets reflect what you want to see happening in Thurrock, and how the council works.

What we do

We deliver a wide range of essential services for our 176,000 residents including education, housing, waste collection, street cleaning and maintenance, libraries, social care, planning, licensing and many more.

Thurrock Council’s running costs for 2025/26 are £240.7million. This means the council spends £1,367 for every single person in the borough, adult or child.

Not everyone accesses services worth £1,367. The cost of services that residents receive tend to be much higher at the early and later stages of life. You will have heard about the high costs of adult social care for example - the council spends a large proportion of its budget supporting older people whose needs tend to be more complex and expensive.

Many of our decisions about local services are set or controlled nationally to make sure that the most vulnerable in our society are protected. The majority of our budget is spent on social care for older people (19%) and for children (21%), as well as on ‘universal services’ that we provide for all our residents such as fortnightly bin collections.

However, the single largest item is the debt cost associated with the Capitalisation direction. At £64 million this equates to 27% of our net budget.

The financial challenge we face

We have already delivered savings of £46.4 million over the last three years but we still have a long way to go.

We’ve committed to the Government that we will make savings each year. We must save £41 million in the next three financial years, to protect vital services and help bring our debt down. In 2026/27, savings proposals totalling £13.9 million are identified against a target of £13.65 million.

We are continuing to face pressures in both demand and cost across all our services including children and adult social care. The decisions we make affect every household, organisation and business in Thurrock. Sharing your views will help ensure we are making these decisions based on community priorities, the challenges you face, and the outcomes that matter most to you. We will always try to reduce any negative impact these decisions may have and make changes in a way that is fair and balanced.

Our budget for 2026/27

Thurrock Council has a net revenue budget of £243.6 million for 2026/27. Council Tax currently generates around £97m of our income. We collect some income through fees and charges, such as licensing fees and service charges. The additional income comes from business rates, government grants, and exceptional financial support from central government (approximately £72.1m this year to balance the budget)

Our budget proposals for 2026/27 include the following:

Proposals to deliver £13.9m of savings, while continuing to prioritise essential services and investment in key areas. Savings cover a range of services and wherever possible avoid any negative impact on residents. Examples include:

  • Increasing the amount of waste we recycle as it costs less to recycle waste than send it to landfill
  • Using more technology to improve council systems and modernise and streamline the way we work and increase efficiencies
  • Reducing spend on contractors
  • Reduce the amount the council pays into staff pensions, without negatively impacting on those pensions
  • Getting more value out of contracts with external partners

Alongside the savings proposals, the draft budget includes more than £10 million of additional investment in 2026/27 to respond to growing demand and protect essential services. This includes funding to support residents at risk of homelessness, protect adult social care for older and vulnerable residents, improve support for children with special educational needs, and ensure waste and environmental services keep pace with a growing borough.

Taking part in the survey

Complete our survey linked below and share your views. Your responses will help councillors make informed decisions about spending priorities when they set the budget in February 2026. Paper copies are available in Thurrock libraries and community hubs.

  • Have your say on what Thurrock Council should prioritise as it plans how it will spend public money in 2026/27

    Take Survey
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Page last updated: 19 Dec 2025, 06:50 PM