Presenting the report was Councillor Hebb, who introduced the report by saying that heads and investments had turned toward Thurrock since the Conservatives had come into administration. Investments did not happen in places with no hope, instead, this went to perceived and anticipated winners and Thurrock was racing ahead in that race. He went on to say what the Capital Plan included:

• The start of the long awaited improvement programme of Stanford/Orsett/Chadwell A13 road improvements;
• Regeneration programmes in Purfleet, Grays and Tilbury which included a new infrastructure, homes and an underpass in Grays as announced by Cabinet at the end of the last year;
• The long neglected ward of Aveley would be benefitting from a new hub-like facility filled with learning and play;
• The Cabinet had put in circa £67 million investment into building new school facilities for primary, secondary and special needs;
• A new bin collections fleet to replace the current dying fleet which would improve bin collections; and
• A significant upgrade to the Linford Waste Facility which would improve access to the site, reduce manual handling and improve general site safety.

Councillor Hebb added that between 2017/18 and 2020/21, Thurrock would have circa a quarter of a billion pounds spent on it which would make Thurrock the best place to work and play, and live and stay. He was confident in what the Borough could achieve as the Cabinet moved into the next phase of their capital spending agenda.

This year, the Cabinet was apportioning money to allocations which related to their aspirational programme e.g. service reviews, property investments etc. Some of the new schemes proposed directly linked to flagship schemes as well as:

• New bins and receptacles across the Borough;
• New tools and equipment to help the Council clean better and quicker including currently ignored areas;
• Improve war memorials;
• A commitment that Thurrock would join the 21^st century with the installation of card and cash ticketing machines for car parking;
• A brand new residential care facility for the elderly and those in need of regular social provision;
• New IMCs;
• Investment in technology in the Civic Offices to enable better services, better inter-departmental working and improved working systems to enable Thurrock to serve better.

Councillor Halden said the Capital Plan was important in that it was spent and used. It was working well as more children in Thurrock had got their first choice of school than ever before and working with a group of schools, he had enabled the sign off for three school bids. His department was also looking at a circa of £90 million to be spent on school infrastructures in the next few years and was excited about the expansion of the civic amenity site.

Adding to this, Councillor Coxshall said that more investors were coming into Thurrock and one of them was C2C who were keen to improve in Grays. He went on to say that Grays needed a new look and the Council needed to do their part in this now as the town needed to move forward and in line with the Lower Thames Crossing.

Councillor Watkins said that great things were happening in the Environment department and highlighted the pilot of big belly bins. Referring to the Linford Waste Facility, he agreed that improvements would be coming forward which would benefit the residents. Plans were also going forward to ensure war memorials were at an acceptable standard.

The Leader commented that the only problems with Capital Programme Proposals were concerns from residents and opposition Parties on the amount of money to be spent. Although announcements were made now, these proposals would not start until two, three or four years’ time with completion dates further into the future. These are split out in the proposals but aspirations were needed within the Borough as it grew with more investments coming in so plans were needed which was why the Capital Programme Proposals were put forward. There was a lot of money not yet spent as they were waiting to collect critical masses or to start projects to enable successful deliveries of the proposals. Projects took time but things were on route.

RESOLVED:

1)    That Members considered the approach of general allocations as set out in section 4;

2)    That Members commented on the specific proposals set out within Appendix 3 of this report; and

3)    That Members recommended these proposals to Full Council.

Reason for decision - as stated in the report.

This decision is subject to call in.