Essex County Council could save 'tens of millions of pounds'

Councillor Harris, who became leader of Essex County Council earlier this month, believes the savings can be reallocated to areas such as road repairs without cutting frontline services.

Speaking to the BBC in the council chamber, he said: “I can’t go into detail on that, but we have already highlighted tens of millions of pounds potentially that we can save and that we can reallocate to our priorities.

“We've only been here, we've been here less than three weeks and we will be absolutely thorough in going through the accounts.”

Leader - Essex County Council leader Peter Harris said the council could save 'tens of millions of pounds' after a thorough spending review (Image: Claudia Bradley, Newsquest)

He explained that other Reform UK-led councils across the council have found “hundreds of millions of pounds of savings” through similar exercises, and Essex hopes to follow suit by learning from their approach.

While roads are expected to be a major beneficiary of the redirected funds, Cllr Harris said other services will also receive investment.

During the interview, he also criticised the government’s plans for local government reorganisation (LGR), saying it would cost Essex an estimated £105million, with potential for costs to rise significantly higher.

He said: "It could be £150million, £200million, who really knows?

"But we're expected to spend somewhere in the region of £20million on LGR before Christmas.

"I would rather see that money spent on our public services."

Cllr Harris argued the funds could be better used not just for roads but for areas like SEND assessments, which he described as "an absolute priority."

He revealed that Essex County Council has sent the government a pre-action protocol and obtained legal advice from a King's Counsel as part of a possible judicial review against LGR, though he declined to reveal the projected legal costs, funded by the taxpayer.

“It certainly won't be £105million or anywhere near that,” he said.