A WAR of words has broken out over claims Essex County Council is “sitting on a pot of more than £140million” that could be used to improve roads and schools.

Gavin Callaghan, leader of Basildon Council, hit out at Essex County Council for “sitting on a fortune” of unspent infrastructure funding that could be used to improve vital services.

Essex County Council has denied the claims and insisted infrastructure funding has been used for a series of Basildon projects, including the new Chapel Hill Primary School.

It comes as Mr Callaghan ramps up his campaign for the borough to become a unitary authority, making it separate from Essex County Council.

He called Essex County Council’s failure to spend the money “a betrayal of our borough.”

Mr Callaghan said: “We need to have more housing that’s affordable, diverse, and available, alongside schools, roads, and public spaces that serve their residents.

“That is the only way we are going to deliver a bigger, fairer local economy, with businesses thriving because they can attract employees who actually live nearby.

“Basildon faces an urgent need for more affordable homes and those holding up our housing plans and infrastructure are pricing our children out of the borough, pushing essential workers to commute from miles away, and ignoring the reality that families are struggling right now.

“Those who oppose housing growth on the grounds of ‘preserving character’ are choosing stagnation over compassion, exclusivity over opportunity, and fear over vision.”

The figures, originally published by the Home Builders Federation, show Essex County Council holds the 5th most unspent infrastructure funding in the country, including £35million for roads and £101million for schools.

In response, a spokesman for Essex County Council said: “It is important that we help the Basildon Council leader understand the facts.

“The £140 million he is referring to is not unused. The funding is allocated and committed to a number of projects and schemes across Essex.

“These allocations range from highways initiatives to improving our libraries to building new schools.

“For Basildon schools in particular, the funding has supported the secondary school expansion at Beauchamps and the new Chapel Hill Primary School. We are more than happy to explain to Basildon Council how the allocation of this kind of funding works."