Essex County Council £170m budget cuts: what we know

Essex County Council is planning for a £170m budget gap next year and expects to cut jobs, according to the BBC. If you live in Essex, the Essex County Council £170m budget cuts could eventually touch services you use, but the council has not yet said which ones.

That uncertainty matters. None of the sources for this story names any specific service. What follows sets out what is confirmed, what is not, and what you can do while you wait.

Essex council services cuts: what has and has not been said

The BBC reports that the council, led by Reform UK, is forecasting a budget gap of £170m for 2027-28, when its budget is expected to be £1.4bn. Council leader Peter Harris said the budget was “likely to include a reduction in job posts and regrettably, where necessary, redundancies” among the authority’s 9,000 employees. He also said “significant re-organisation and rationalisation will be necessary”.

The BBC adds that Reform has given no figure for how many jobs might go or how services could be changed. The council also said it would “re-examine” its work-from-home programme, which has different arrangements depending on a staff member’s role.

So the question of which Essex council services are affected cannot yet be answered. Social care, highways and waste are all things the council runs, but nothing published so far says any of them will be cut. For context, the council’s 2025/26 budget, approved in February 2025, included an extra £12.3m for highways, including £8.5m for the Members’ Highways Initiative. Whether that level of spending continues is not stated.

Essex County Council budget deficit: the numbers

The gap has grown since the start of the year. In January, the BBC says, a gap of £110m was forecast for 2027-28. It is now £170m, a rise of £60m. By our arithmetic, £170m is about 12.1% of the £1.4bn budget expected for that year, or roughly one pound in every eight.

The BBC links the widening to demand for children’s services, which has caused a £20m overspend in 2026-27. In January the then Conservative administration budgeted £239m for children’s and early years services, and the council now forecasts a £61m increase for 2027-28. On those figures, the bill would reach £300m, a rise of about 25.5%.

The other half of the dispute is government funding. Mr Harris said he had written to the Labour government about a £50m cut in grant funding under a new “fair funding” formula, which directs more money to councils with higher deprivation and less to more rural areas. The government and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government had been contacted for a response.

Essex council tax increase: what is known

The sources do not say how much council tax will rise in 2026-27 or 2027-28, so any figure you see quoted elsewhere should be checked against the council’s own announcement. The last confirmed rise is for 2025/26, when the council approved an increase of 3.75%. That was made up of a 1.75% general increase and a 2% adult social care precept, according to the council.

The council said that meant an extra £1.09 a week on the county council element of a Band D bill. Over a year, that is £56.68 (£1.09 multiplied by 52 weeks). That is the county council share only.

A budget gap does not automatically mean a higher council tax, and the BBC does not report that one is planned. Council tax is one option among several, alongside job reductions, service changes and the government funding dispute. Until the council publishes its proposals, the amount you pay next year remains unknown.

What happens next, and what to do now

The timetable in the BBC report is short. Mr Harris said: “The budget review is happening right now, so by mid to the end of November we will know what financial situation we’re in and where we need to go with this.” That points to firmer figures, and possibly the first signs of which services are affected, before the end of November. The 2025/26 budget was approved at a full council meeting on 13 February 2025.

There are practical steps you can take now. Check the Essex County Council website for any budget consultation, because last year’s, for 2026/27, closed on 15 December 2025 and this year’s dates have not been announced in the sources we have. If you or a relative rely on a council service such as social care or support from children’s services, ask your caseworker whether any review is planned. You can also write to your county councillor. Finally, keep your most recent council tax bill to hand so you can compare it with the one that arrives next spring.

Politicians have already taken positions. Conservative councillor Lee Scott said: “The deficit is rising, and it has risen even more because of the unfair funding from central government.” Liberal Democrat David King called the coming budget “an enormous challenge” and said he supported Reform in challenging the government over funding. Former local government minister Alison McGovern said in February that the formula was “reconnecting funding with need” and that the most deprived places would receive 45% more funding per head than the least deprived in 2028-29.

Your questions answered

What is happening to Essex County Council?

The council is forecasting a £170m gap for 2027-28 and expects to cut jobs, according to the BBC. It is reviewing its budget and says it will know its position by mid to end November. It has not said how many posts will go or which services will change.

How much will the Essex council tax increase in 2026?

The sources do not give a figure for 2026. The last rise confirmed in them is 3.75% for 2025/26, which the council said added £1.09 a week to the county council part of a Band D bill. The council’s own budget announcements will carry the next figure.

Will council tax change in 2026?

The amount for Essex is not in the sources. The BBC does not report that a rise is planned to close the £170m gap. The 2027-28 budget, which is where the gap sits, will be decided after the November review.