COUNCILLORS in Basildon have confirmed their support for plans to work closely with Thurrock Council to explore future governance arrangements for the two boroughs. It's an arrangement that has come to be known colloquially as 'BasRock'.

At a meeting of at a meeting of Basildon's local government reorganisation and transition committee its members agreed to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Thurrock that sets out how the two councils will work together over matters related to future local government reform.

The proposal has been led and championed by Thurrock Council's leader Rob Gledhill.

A statement from Basildon Council says: "The memorandum does not indicate a fixed view on the geography of local government reform in South West Essex but sets out the intention to assess a range of potential options and consult positively with our other local authorities to seek their input to the process.

Committee chair Cllr Adele Brown, said: "This Memorandum of Understanding is an important step for Basildon. It commits us to joint working with our neighbours in Thurrock to make sure we are in a position to propose the best possible solutions for residents in Thurrock and Basildon and take control of the decisions made about the two boroughs, and develop a robust proposal for the area.

"We already understand that Basildon and Thurrock share a meaningful geography. Many local families live and work across the borough borders. This agreement will help us determine whether or not this is a once in a generation opportunity to put the decisions and issues that affect local people back into the hands of local people."

The Government, which is currently consulting on proposals for local government reform in other areas of the country, is expected to release its Devolution and Local Recovery White Paper later this year, which is expected to outline its approach to the future structure of local government and specifically the abolition of two tier local government, replaced by new unitary authorities for the area, one which provides all of the local government services for residents, something Thurrock has enjoyed since 1998.