A PRESSURE group has claimed Essex County Council spent £4.3million on promoting itself in the past year.

According to the figures from the TaxPayers' Alliance, Essex spends the fourth highest amount on publicity out of 34 county councils in England.

But council bosses have hit back at the pressure group, claiming it has got its facts wrong and the money spent on publicity was vital.

The alliance has issued figures showing the total amounts councils spend in three areas: publicity, middle management and pensions. It claimed this was "non priority" expenditure.

It claims if councils cut spending by just 10 per cent in these areas, it would significantly reduce householders' council tax bills.

Leader of Essex County Council, Lord Hanningfield, accused the TaxPayers' Alliance of not getting its facts right.

He said: "We wouldn't spend £4.3million on publicity. I think the total for last year was something more like £2million.

"They don't have a clue how we operate. The real money to be saved is by cutting down all the forms staff have to use in the processing of our services."

The publicity costs were worked out based on how councils promote themselves to residents, through press offices, notices, leaflets and publications.

Lord Hanningfield said councils were legally obliged by the Government to issue a certain amount of publicity to inform residents and staff and what was going on.

He added he was aiming to save about £200 million from the council's annual budget, which is £2.1billion.

Because Essex is a county council, it employs more staff and provides services for far more residents than the smaller district councils.

Of the 12 district councils in Essex, Basildon Council spends the highest amounts in the three "non-priority" areas.

But in terms of publicity, it spends only the fourth-highest amount.

Council leader Malcolm Buckley said: "We are the fourth-biggest district council in the country so we would expect to spend more in those areas than the other Essex districts.

"I don't think the TaxPayers' Alliance do their research properly and come up with misleading ideas."

Southend and Thurrock are both unitary authorities, which means they are responsible for all the services in their areas. Southend spends £798,000 on publicity, more than double the amount in Thurrock.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Council tax has doubled in the last decade and is now so high that it tips many families and pensioners over the edge.

"But it doesn't have to be that way. Local authorities of all parties could make meaningful council tax reductions if they saved a modest 10 per cent in these three non-priority areas."

The alliance recommended councils could save money on publicity by cutting down on "glossy leaflets", which it claims were not widely read.

It also claimed councils need to streamline management structures and reduce the number of middle managers.

In terms of pensions it argued bosses should move from a final salary pension scheme to a money purchase scheme.