War of words over £1 billion Essex highways contract

A WAR of words has erupted over a proposed £1 billion contract extension by Essex County Council – with the leader of Basildon Council calling it a “gross overreach”.

The proposal, put forward at a county council cabinet meeting on October 16, recommends the procurement of a seven-year contract with the current agreement set to lapse in April 2027 in a “competitive” bidding process.

Gavin Callaghan, Labour leader of Basildon Council, objected, saying the proposed contract impinged on local democracy as it would extend beyond the expected existence of the county council.

The council is set to be reorganised under local government reorganisation set for 2028.

The Basildon Council leader outlined his concerns in a letter to Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with seven Basildon councillors signing a letter urging against the decision ahead of an urgent Basildon meeting called for today.

“This contract would tie new councils, including those merging with existing unitaries, into a long-term financial arrangement that will be hugely expensive to unravel and restrict the freedom of future authorities to design their own services.

“I’ve written formally to the Secretary of State to register Basildon Council’s strong objection and I’ve called an extraordinary full council meeting for Monday evening so this can be debated publicly.”

The county council maintained the procurement process would be balanced and that it would enable new councils to fulfil their own obligations from 2028 and represented “value for money”, saying councillor Callaghan’s questions were “understandable”.

Kevin Bentley, Conservative leader of Essex County Council, said: “We need to have a contract in place to fulfil our statutory obligations as a highways authority, and the proposed new contract will allow the unitary authorities to do the same from 1 April 2028.

“A contract of seven years will ensure value for money for residents and market certainty, while giving the new unitary authorities the time to design their own highways contract from 2034.”