A Southend Confelicity Party project
Show Me the Money
Southend public spending

Show me the money

Your money. Your city. Your right to know.

Why this site exists

More people looking. Better value for Southend.

This site is here to start an open, honest conversation about how Southend Council spends public money. Anyone can join in, whoever you are. You don't need to be an accountant or a councillor to ask a good question.

The more of us who take an interest, the better the chance the money goes to the projects that need it most.

Look it up →Search every council payment over £500 this year, by company name or by what it was for. Ask about it →Post a question about something you've spotted, or answer someone else's.
Questions worth asking

Are your taxes being spent well? You should be able to check.

What the council tells us

The council publishes every payment over £500. Each one shows the date, who was paid, how much and a short label. Nothing about what was bought, where, or why it cost what it did.

That's the problem with every example below. The totals are public. The detail isn't. And often, the devil is in the detail.

A real council payment record
Date
02/01/2026
Paid to
Blake Contractors Limited
Amount
£768.00
What for
"Repairs and maintenance contracts"

What was repaired? Where? Why? Not recorded.

It may well have been a fair price for a good job. We just can't tell, and that's the point.

Apart from a reference number and the council department, that's all that is published. All 25,315 payments this year look the same.

Roads and streets

One contractor. Up to £15m a year.

Marlborough Highways holds the contract to look after Southend's roads, pavements, street lights and gritting. They were the only company to bid for it. And every payment made to them this year comes with one of just four labels:

  • "Main contractor"£7.5m
  • "Contractors general"£1.6m
  • "Private contractors"£0.9m
  • "Programmed works"£0.3m

So what do the things we drive past every day actually cost?

Like the big electronic signs at the Queensway roadworks, which have said the same thing for weeks. Their cost sits inside a bigger bill, so it's never shown on its own.

The council's announcement of the contract The council's FOI reply confirming one bid
Southchurch Library

Repair it, or move it?

The council plans to move the library into the nearby Adult Community College. Its own 2023 survey of the current building shows what fixing it would cost.

  • Repairs needed, per the survey£246,250
  • Of that, rated urgent£0
  • Set aside for the move, 2026/27£350,000

Which is the better use of the money? We should be able to see both sets of sums.

This is what detail looks like. The survey lists over 100 repair items one by one. It shows the council can do it.

The survey also calls the building in very poor condition and suggests a rebuild be considered. Repair figures are before VAT and fees. The £350,000 also covers new hair and beauty space at the college.

The council's 2023 survey of the building Council cabinet papers, Feb 2026
Agency staff

£5.3m on agency staff in eight months.

All paid to one recruitment agency, Hays Specialist Recruitment, and almost all of it marked as agency staff.

  • Marked "agency staff"£4.96m
  • Separate payments3,410
  • Roughly per week100

Is that the best value for money?

We can't tell how many people that pays for, which departments, or for how long.

Most councils use one main agency, so a single name is normal. The amount is what's worth asking about.

See these payments in the search
Price check: Southchurch Library

When the detail is published, anyone can check it.

Southchurch Library is a rare case where the council has published a job-by-job breakdown of costs, in its 2023 survey of the building. Here's what that makes possible.

Fire doors
  • The survey's cost to upgrade the fire doors£20,000
  • Fire doors in the building, counted on a visit4
  • That works out per door at£5,000
  • Typical market price per door, supplied and fitted£250 to £1,800
  • So for four doors, roughly£1,000 to £7,200

The low end is a door fitted into an existing frame. The high end is a new higher-rated door and frame. The survey's figure is from 2023 and leaves out VAT, while the market prices are 2026, so like for like the gap may be wider still. A public building may need extras like closers and glass panels.

The council's 2023 survey, item 88 Trade2Base fire door price guide, 2026 MyJobQuote fire door price guide, 2026
Paving around the building
  • The survey's cost to lift and relay the paving£30,000
  • Rough paved area, measured generously155 m²
  • That works out per square metre at£194
  • Typical market price per square metre, old slabs up and new laid£60 to £105
  • So for 155 m², roughly£9,300 to £16,300

A very rough estimate. Measured from a satellite view: a path about 1.8 metres wide (three slabs) around a building of roughly 20 by 17.5 metres, plus 20 m² for the bike rack area. We've been generous at every step. In places the path is only two slabs wide, which would make the gap bigger. The survey's figure may include extras such as edging or drainage.

The council's 2023 survey, item 26 Trade2Base paving price guide, 2026

Imagine this for everything

If the council published the detail behind every bill, we could build a simple price checker. Pick any job and see what the council paid next to what it typically costs on the open market.

That's what full transparency would make possible.

Where it all goes
£235.7m

paid to suppliers, January to August 2026.

We all want money spent on children and care. But a big total doesn't tell you whether it was spent wisely.

£86.7m on children and education could be teachers and school places. It could also be agency fees: much of the £5.3m paid to the recruitment agency sits inside that total. From the published records, you can't tell the difference.

Help us look

Nobody can check every payment. Together we can check a lot more.

An open forum for genuine questions about council money. If you know what something should cost, say so.

1

You ask

Something in the records, or something on your street.

2

Everyone can answer

Residents, tradespeople, the council and the supplier.

Latest questions

Loading questions…

Ask a question

We never publish your contact details. Abusive posts are removed.

Questions are sent by email to [email protected]. Good ones are posted here for everyone to answer.

Your rights

What the rules already say

We believe in full transparency: every payment published, with personal details removed.

Here's where the law stands today. The council has to publish every payment over £500. The government's own code recommends going further, down to £250. And nothing stops a council publishing everything. So how much Southend shows you is the council's choice.

When the £500 rule came in back in 2010, the stated aim was for residents to check council spending for themselves. This site is an attempt to make that easier.

£500

is the minimum, not the limit

The government's own code recommends £250. Nothing stops a council publishing everything.

Any £

card spending should already be public

Every council purchase card payment has to be published, even under £500.

30 days

a year to see the receipts

Each year anyone can inspect the council's invoices, receipts and contracts for 30 working days.

Want an official answer?

Anyone can send the council a freedom of information request, and it has 20 working days to reply. WhatDoTheyKnow.com makes it easy, and publishes the answer for everyone to see.

Send a request →