Jobs for the boys

Most of the Council Tax paid by Essex residents is spent by Essex County Council, which is led by a 50-strong group of Conservative councillors. Those 50 councillors all receive a substantial basic allowance for the work that they do.

But 35 of the 50 also receive "special responsibility allowances". Before the Conservatives ran the Council, only 15 or so of the busiest councillors had this extra allowance.

The gravy train does not end there. County councillors get free lunches and free breakfasts prepared by their very own publicly-funded chef. It's all paid for by you through the Council Tax.

And what are Essex taxpayers getting in return for all this generosity?

Increasingly the answer is: very little. Youth clubs are closing. The elderly and disabled are not getting the care they

need. Until very recently, pavements and roads were crumbling. To cap it all, Essex's child protection services have been rated as "inadequate" by government inspectors. Only seven other local authorities in the country scored as low as Essex and one of those was Haringey. Haringey Council's children's services failed to prevent the tragic death of Baby P.

The "Essex Works" slogan dreamt up by the County Council's £4.8 million a year spin doctors may well ring true for Conservative County Councillors, but for many others it will sound like a very sick joke indeed.