A SENIOR Thurrock councillor has warned that the increase in the council tax contribution for the police may not be enough.
Chadwell councillor Gerard Rice (Lab) sits on the Essex Police Authority committee and was present at the marathon session to decide upon the increased levy.
In the end, members rejected calls to freeze council tax contributions and agreed an average annual tax increase of £4.60 for Thurrock and Essex residents.
The chief constable Jim Barker-McCardle warned that without a tax increase, Essex Police would be forced to cut 20 police officers and around 100 PCSOs from neighbourhood policing teams.
Essex Police has already put in place plans to save £41m including cutting 388 police officers posts, 100 police community support officers and 500 backroom staff.
After the meeting, YT spoke to cllr Rice about the implications for Thurrock.
Perhaps if some councillors didnt claim huge amounts of expenses when they sat on the Police Authority then perhaps the Police would have a bit more cash in their coffers.