Thurrock operates within a set financial framework and faces the same national pressures faced by most council's in England.
This means:
Demand for our services continues to grow. Most of our money is spent on supporting the most vulnerable members of our borough. Across all of England, the over-65s now outnumber people under the age of 16 for the first time in history.
The cost of delivering services continues to rise. Council's face many of the same pressures as businesses, as the cost of materials, labour, fuel and other commodities needed to do the job continue to rise.
Funding is limited and set through national systems. We have limited control over the amount of funding and grants we receive, and the value of these.
Some services must be prioritised because they are statutory and therefore required by law - irrespective of how much they cost us to deliver and what this means for our budget overall.
Thurrock’s financial position
The Council continues to work through significant historic financial challenges. Some of the background to this is explained below.
We have a high level of debt which requires ongoing repayment and incurs interest costs.
We receive Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) from Government, which helps us to set a balanced budget. This money must be repaid or managed over time.
The EFS we recieve does not cover the amount of money we need to spend each year. We still have to carefully manage our spending every day.
Our existing debt
As of May 2026, the council has around £851 million in loans, mainly from a Government lending body (the Public Works Loan Board). Around £210 million of this relates to council housing.
The Government has also announced £200 million of financial support, which is expected to reduce the council’s (our?) overall borrowing needs and lower the cost of managing that debt.
Overall, the council’s total borrowing requirement (sometimes called the Capital Financing Requirement - the total amount the council would need to borrow to pay for major projects and past investment) is just over £1.1 billion. This is expected to rise slightly in the coming years, largely due to ongoing financial pressures and investment in services and infrastructure.
The council is currently borrowing less than this level by using existing cash and reserves first. This is a normal approach, but it is not an unlimited pot, so we can only do this while we have cash available and reserves to draw from.
Our focus
Our focus is and always will be to use available resources responsibly and effectively to:
Deliver essential services for all residents
Support those vulnerable members of our comminutes who need us most
Maintain vital local infrastructure
Provide value for money to everyone in Thurrock.
We are committed to making balanced and sustainable decisions that support Thurrock now and in the future.
Our Improvement pages offer more detail on steps we have taken to recover and improve.