Council Leaders Message

By Coun Tony Cox, leader of Southend City Council – The importance of stability in times of challenge.

I’M sure many people were interested to hear the Chancellor’s announcement of the autumn statement on Wednesday and it was heartening to hear him talk about progress of devolution deals in other parts of England.

This helps underline the importance of devolution to local authorities and local communities and economies.

Southend City Council has been working hard with the County Council and Thurrock Council on a deal for Greater Essex and we hope in the coming days that the Government will confirm that deal is ready to go and be consulted on with our communities.

In Greater Essex, a devolution deal would mean better transport, better skills and better jobs – all helping to drive economic growth across Greater Essex through placing the power to decide how and where funding is spent in local hands.

It was also a positive statement for business and the self-employed, with additional government support to help smaller individual businesses survive. With this in mind, I must mention the Best Festive Business competition, in which local independent businesses have the opportunity of winning some fantastic prizes for getting into the festive spirit and decorate shop windows.

Not only does this competition highlight the businesses available in our City, but it helps brighten up the streets and reminds all of us to shop local. Something made easier by the fact there is a free festive parking on Sundays again in council-owned car parks this December, including Elm Road in Leigh and Hamlet Court Road in Westcliff.

On Monday November 20, the council formally approved the appointment of our new permanent chief executive. Rightly, it has been a detailed process to get to this stage and find the right person for the job.

We all know as residents that Southend is a unique, vibrant, exciting, culturally diverse place to live, and we need a permanent chief executive who will understand this character and cultivate it to the City’s advantage, with the leadership capability to steer the organisation and generate enough belief to join residents, staff and councillors together in a shared vision that fulfils the City’s potential.

I believe that is the person we have secured for Southend City Council. Colin Ansell, is currently at Newham Council and I think it’s fair to say that everyone is looking forward to his starting with us in the New Year.

We have also launched a public consultation into our election cycle. We would like your views on whether to vote for councillors in thirds or whether all councillors should be elected at the same time every four years, known as all-out elections.

If you go to the survey (yoursay.southend.gov.uk/election-cycle-survey-2023) there are arguments for both systems and I would really like to encourage you to have your say. The election cycle is an important part of our local democracy and we want to know what our residents think before making a decision.

Looking ahead to next week, on Monday (20 November) the council’s cabinet will discuss the period six budget report for 2023/24. This sets out where we are at the halfway point of this financial year.

I am pleased to say that the report shows how the council’s predicted overspend has reduced from £14m down to £10.7m.

This is good news, but we still have a long way to go, and work continues to dive deep into budgets to see where costs can be further reduced or services delivered differently to make them more cost-efficient wherever possible.

We always said everything was on the table and there are some tough decisions ahead. We’re still very much at the beginning of that journey, but it’s good to know we’re heading in the right direction.

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