A PROPOSAL to increase council tax by 3.97 per cent will be recommended to Thurrock councillors later this month.

Council house rents will rise by an average of 3.71%, if agreed by councillors. The council tax increase is considerably less than the Government's capping target of five per cent, despite what Leader of the Council councillor Anne Cheale described as a "less-than-generous" grant settlement from Whitehall.

"We have received a grant settlement increase of just £1.7 million this year and the Government has also clawed back £454,000 in grants from previous years. Yet we have managed to keep Thurrock's council tax down to a modest increase, while maintaining and improving the services that are important to our residents.

"This is a tribute to the efforts we have made to run efficient, value-for-money services."

The council's provisional budget for 2006/7 is £98.398 million.

The proposals will go to a meeting of the Cabinet next Wednesday before going before the full council.

Coun Cheale said: "We have based our spending priorities on what residents have told us they wanted."