About Us

The Castle Point Borough Council district is situated in South East Essex and has an area of 17 square miles and a population of around 87,000.

It is surrounded by the Unitary Councils of Thurrock and Southend and the District Councils of Rochford and Basildon and was formed in 1974 out of two Urban District Councils, Benfleet and Canvey Island. Much of the area was developed during the latter part of the twentieth century.

Only 20 minutes from the M25, it has the benefits of good links to London and Southend via the A13 and the A127, and from the frequent train services on London's Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness line.

OUR VISION
A Borough that is a community where everyone can prosper, be safe and live in a high quality environment.

THE COUNCIL'S PRIORITIES – 2007/12
The Council has identified the following key priorities.

Environment – civic pride: "We want clean streets, high quality maintenance of "green" areas, more recycling, improved children's' play areas and equipment and effective planning policies".
Regeneration and homes: "We want more local employment, affordable and life time liveable housing and the creation of business opportunities".
Improving the Council: (Our key internal priority) "We want to continually improve our services and build on success. We want to engage the community in local decision making, we want to focus on the needs of our customers and become a more efficient and effective Council."
Community safety: "We want reduced levels of crime, working with the police and our partners to tackle crime and the fear of crime".

THE COUNCIL'S PERFORMANCE
Castle Point has been assessed as 'Good' under the CPA process and is currently the best performing council in Essex according to recent statistics.

THE COUNCIL
The Council comprises 41 Councillors elected in 14 Borough wards. The current political composition of the Council is 25 Conservative Party Councillors and 15 Canvey Island Independent Party Councillors and 1 Labour Councillor. Full meetings of the Council are held every 8 weeks.

The Council employs approximately 366 staff (301 FTEs) and has an estimated General Fund net revenue expenditure for 2008/2009 of £13.1 million and an estimated Housing Revenue Account net revenue expenditure of £0.4 million.

It has an estimated capital expenditure for 2008/2009 of £0.9 million (General Fund) and £1.1 million (Housing Revenue Account).

The Council operates (from 1 January 2008) a Cabinet system of decision-making. The Cabinet, comprising of seven councillors each of whom has responsibility for specific services, meets monthly to take decisions collectively.

Decisions taken by the Cabinet can be challenged by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee which is chaired by the Leader of the Opposition.

The Council appoints three Policy Development Groups to initiate policy discussion within the budget and policy framework of the Council in relation to 1) Environment, 2) Community and 3) Policy and Improvement.

COUNCIL MANAGEMENT
The Councils management structure is:

Chief Executive
Strategic Director (Improving the Borough)
Strategic Director (Improving the Council)
Assistant Chief Executive
Cabinet & Chief Executive's Office
Head of Environmental & Community Services
Head of Regeneration & Homes
Head of Resources
Head of Customer Services

COUNCIL SERVICES include the following:

Building Cleaning
Building Control
Building Maintenance
Community Partnership
Democratic Services
Development Control
Environmental Services
Facilities Management (Architectural, Asset Management & Procurement)
Financial Services
Housing Services
Internal Audit
IT Services
Land Charges
Legal Services
Licensing
Open Spaces
Parking Management
Human Resources Services
Planning Policy
Policy and Performance
Refuse Collection and RecyclingvRevenues & Benefits
Street Scene
Vehicle Maintenance

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