Opening soon, the Bank of Essex

Monday, December 01, 2008

Fed up with having to rely on the private sector to support local industry, Essex County Council is looking to form its own bank which itself will be funded by the council, the area's health and police authorities, the European Investment Bank and the European Union's regional development agency.

Shadow transport minister Lord Hanningfield is council leader and he wants to raise £50m to set up the bank. "Essex has been much more affected than other parts of the UK by the financial downturn. The situation… for the next year does not look good. We can't take any risks with people's money, but lots of viable businesses are being starved of funds. If the banks won't help our local businesses, someone has to," he said.

The 'Bank of Essex' is not the council's first radical idea. It recently announced handing out annual contracts worth millions of pounds to local businesses only, giving council tax rebates to thousands of pensioners (and maybe single mothers and families of Colchester-based soldiers in the future), and giving financial support to companies who take on apprentices.

Essex also made the news recently for its intention to take over post offices that were planned to be closed down. The council said it would spend around £1.5m over three years to save 15 branches.

Stephen Castle, cabinet member for economic development, said: "We've already seen a lot of post offices close in Essex, and we decided it was time to draw a line in the sand."