News

Thurrock Council has launched a new voice activated artificial intelligence assistant which will help make it easier than ever for residents to get the information and advice they need from the council.

The system, which has been called Aimee, has been trained to help answer calls about council tax and discounts - meaning that when residents call the council, they should get answers to some of the most common questions more quickly.

Residents will be able to ask Aimee what they want to know and it will provide a response, there and then on the phone.

Following news that the company Phi Capital Investments has gone into administration, Thurrock Council has issued the following statement.

Cllr Mark Hooper, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, including housing, said: “Like most councils, Thurrock has an eye-wateringly long list of local people waiting for a council home, with many more in desperate need of urgent help. It is my priority as cabinet member for housing to seize every opportunity to provide more homes for local residents.

Thurrock came together for Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday 27 January, with a special service taking place at Herbert E. Brooks Memorial Rest Garden, Grays. The service was a moment to remember the six million Jewish men, woman and children murdered during the Holocaust, other victims of the Nazis, and all those who suffered the horrors of subsequent genocides.

Thanks to pressure brought to bear by Thurrock Council, in cooperation with Historic England, work has begun to repair the roof of the State Cinema, making the building watertight and protecting historic internal features.

Cllr Lee Watson, Cabinet Member for Good Growth, said: “We are well aware of the historic importance of the State Cinema, which is why we have made it a priority to ensure that vital repairs take place to the roof to prevent even further damage to its interior.

A new strategy sets out a vision for art and culture in the borough which will see the council, communities and arts organisations working together to celebrate Thurrock’s culture and creativity to help create opportunities for the borough’s creative talents to shine.

Cllr John Kent, Leader of Thurrock Council, has issued a statement setting out his thoughts on what devolution and local government reorganisation could mean for Thurrock.

He says: “There is rightly a lot of interest in the government’s White Paper on devolution and local government reorganisation, and what it will mean for Thurrock.

Milton Road Surgery in Grays is engaging with registered patients to ask their views on the practice’s proposal to relocate the Milton Road Surgery to Oddfellows Hall Health Centre by 1 April 2025. This due to the building landlord serving notice on the practice that it must vacate by 31 March 2025.

Milton Road Surgery has identified an opportunity to relocate to nearby Oddfellows Hall Health Centre, which is 0.1 mile away on Dell Road, a 3-minute walk, where there is available space to accommodate all Milton Road Surgery staff and patient services.

On 8th January leaders from different faiths attended an event at the Civic Offices, Council Leader John Kent and Chief Executive Dave Smith invited the group to attend as part of the work to strengthen relationships with faith communities.

The Council recognise there is still much to do to reinforce their zero-tolerance approach to racism, reporting race hate crime and rebuilding confidence and cohesion locally. By partnering with the community in this way we open up opportunities to reach and support residents in different ways.

Thurrock Council is pleased to announce that it will be extending its garden waste collections to run all year round from next year, at no extra cost to subscribers.

The service is being expanded to continue collections for six extra weeks between 21 February and 8 April.

Thurrock Council, Essex County Council and Southend-on-Sea City Council have agreed to work together to seek momentous change in the way local government operates in Essex.

The councils have today (10 January) written to the government to confirm that they want to proceed with devolution and the reorganisation of local councils in the area.

The letter to the Minister for Local Government confirms that the councils want to be part of the Government’s devolution priority programme.