Your council

Essex: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Essex County Council: County (upper tier), England, East of England. GOV.UK lists it as a county council. ONS code E10000012.

Council website · Publication scheme

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Essex for 2026–27: £1,641.96. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Changes to schools recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 8 opened (4 new provision, 2 academy converter, 2 fresh start), 5 closed (2 academy converter, 2 fresh start, 1 closure)

Downham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 December 2025
Lift Columbus — closed; reason recorded: fresh start, 31 August 2026
Spring Meadow Primary School & School House Nursery (primary) — closed; reason recorded: academy converter, 31 October 2025
The Cornelius Vermuyden School (secondary) — closed; reason recorded: fresh start, 31 May 2026
Woodlands School — closed; reason recorded: closure, 9 July 2026
Downham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 January 2026
High Trees — open; reason recorded: new provision, 13 January 2026
Learn and Prosper School — open; reason recorded: new provision, 20 April 2026
Spring Meadow Primary School & Nursery (primary) — open; reason recorded: academy converter, 1 November 2025
The Bridge Columbus — open; reason recorded: fresh start, 1 September 2026
The Cornelius Vermuyden School (secondary) — open; reason recorded: fresh start, 1 June 2026
The Haefen Independent Special School — open; reason recorded: new provision, 1 September 2026
The Willows — open; reason recorded: new provision, 25 September 2026

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Essex reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Essex: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	£999.5 million
Highways and transport services	£97.0 million
Children's social care	£294.2 million
Adult social care	£768.1 million
Public health	£97.4 million
Housing services (general fund only)	£1.3 million
Cultural and related services	£28.7 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£98.4 million
Planning and development services	£9.3 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£34.2 million
Other services	none budgeted
Total service expenditure	£2,428.2 million

Net current expenditure: net of sales, fees and charges; spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is excluded.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Revenue Account Budget 2026 to 2027, individual local authority data (part 1), updated 11 June 2026 (Open Government Licence).

Essex in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population: 1,563,365 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 42 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £27,807 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £683 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 22.2% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count: 3.0% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £359,978 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 8.9 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Female healthy life expectancy: 62.4 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for females born in the given year
Male healthy life expectancy: 62.7 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for males born in the given year
Greenhouse gas emissions: 4.7 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 86.6% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers: 89.8 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses: 71,180 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

78 seats in 2026. Run by: Reform UK, with a majority. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Reform UK 53, Conservative and Unionist 13, Liberal Democrats 5, Independent / Other 2, Green Party (E&W) 1, Vacant 1, Labour Party 1, The People's Independent Party 1, Residents for Uttlesford 1.

Next scheduled council election: 3 May 2029.

All 78 councillors, by ward

Philip Turner (Conservative and Unionist) — Billericay North
Shaun Spalding (Reform UK) — Bocking
Paul Thorogood (Green Party (E&W)) — Braintree Eastern
Terry Longstaff (Reform UK) — Braintree Town
Russell Quirk (Reform UK) — Brentwood Hutton
Chris Hossack (Reform UK) — Brentwood North
Samuel Gascoyne (Reform UK) — Brentwood Rural
Paul Godfrey (Reform UK) — Brentwood South
Aimee Keteca (Reform UK) — Brightlingsea
Mike Steel (Conservative and Unionist) — Broomfield & Writtle
Wendy Stamp (Independent / Other) — Burnham & Southminster
Andrew Schrader (Conservative and Unionist) — Burstead
Keiron McGill (Reform UK) — Canvey Island East
Alan Tibbit (Reform UK) — Canvey Island West
Zoe Hockton (Reform UK) — Castledon & Crouch
Robert Jerome (Reform UK) — Chelmer
David Loxton (Liberal Democrats) — Chelmsford Central
Stephen Robinson (Liberal Democrats) — Chelmsford North
Vacancy (Vacant) — Chelmsford Springfield
Hazel Clark (Liberal Democrats) — Chelmsford West
Lee Scott (Conservative and Unionist) — Chigwell & Buckhurst Hill East
Peter Harris (Reform UK) — Clacton North
Mark Webster (Reform UK) — Clacton South
Brad Thompson (Reform UK) — Clacton West & St Osyth
Lee Scordis (Labour Party) — Colchester Abbey
Sue Lissimore (Conservative and Unionist) — Colchester Lexden
Max Maxwell (Reform UK) — Colchester Maypole
David King (Liberal Democrats) — Colchester North
Dean Dasley (Reform UK) — Colchester St Johns
Sara Naylor (Conservative and Unionist) — Constable
Paul Clark (Reform UK) — Danbury & The Hanningfields
Kevin Mordrick (Reform UK) — Dunmow
Annie O’Neill (Reform UK) — Epping & Theydon Bois
Melanie Moakson (Reform UK) — Frinton & Walton
Darren Gardner (Reform UK) — Gloucester Park
Kevin Bellamy (Reform UK) — Great Baddow & Galleywood
Allan Edwards (The People's Independent Party) — Hadleigh
Isi Rocha (Reform UK) — Halstead
Andrew Johnson (Conservative and Unionist) — Harlow Common & Church Langley
Nicky Purse (Conservative and Unionist) — Harlow Nettleswell
Michael Hardware (Conservative and Unionist) — Harlow Parndon & Toddbrook
Clive Souter (Conservative and Unionist) — Harlow South West
Linda McKenzie (Reform UK) — Harwich
Nathan Robins (Reform UK) — Hedingham
Krupa Kollabathula (Reform UK) — Laindon Town
Natalie Wilding-Barrett (Reform UK) — Loughton Central
Neil Carlsson (Reform UK) — Loughton South & Buckhurst Hill West
Stuart Clarke (Reform UK) — Maldon Rural North
Justin Jay (Reform UK) — Maldon Rural South
Sam Cousins (Reform UK) — Maldon Town & Heybridge
Chris Perera (Reform UK) — Mersea & Tiptree
Karen McIvor (Reform UK) — North Weald & Nazeing
Mike Garnett (Conservative and Unionist) — Old Harlow
Jaymey McIvor (Reform UK) — Ongar & Rural
Sue Truman (Reform UK) — Pitsea
Aditya Malviya (Reform UK) — Rayleigh South
Stuart Prior (Reform UK) — Rayleigh West
James Cottis (Reform UK) — Rochford East
Sophie Preston-Hall (Reform UK) — Rochford North
Tino Callaghan (Reform UK) — Rochford South
Paul Gadd (Residents for Uttlesford) — Saffron Walden
Niki Merison (Reform UK) — South Benfleet
Ray Gooding (Conservative and Unionist) — Stansted
Andrew Harding (Reform UK) — Stanway & Marks Tey
Geoff Bagnall (Reform UK) — Takeley
Jeff Bray (Reform UK) — Tendring Rural East
Pat Murray (Reform UK) — Tendring Rural West
Bo Davis (Reform UK) — Thaxted
Carl Johnson (Reform UK) — Three Fields & Great Notley
Karon Phipps (Reform UK) — Thundersley
Sam Journet (Reform UK) — Vange
James Abbott (Reform UK) — Waltham Abbey
Kerry Smith (Independent / Other) — Westley Heights
Steven Swaby (Reform UK) — Wickford East & Bowers Gifford
Ross Playle (Conservative and Unionist) — Witham Town
John Morris (Reform UK) — Witham West & Rural
Mark Cory (Liberal Democrats) — Wivenhoe St Andrew
Chris Benn (Reform UK) — Woodham Ferrers

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.