IS Thurrock in London or Essex? A silly question you may think, but given the strengthening of Thurrock Council’s management arrangements with the authority in Barking and Dagenham, I think it is time to have a proper debate about the future of Thurrock. I

t is a question I find easy to answer. So far as I am concerned, Thurrock is the powerhouse of south Essex.

It is not London, and my regular scraps with Boris Johnson illustrates there is rather less community of interest with our neighbours to the west than there is with our neighbours to the east.

It is sensible for local authorities to share services to save money. You would have one revenue collection department to collect council tax, for example.

But creating one management structure across both boroughs is something else entirely. And why with Barking and Dagenham? It has been said to me there is synergy between the two boroughs. I don’t think so.

Barking is much poorer, has much higher unemployment and, while Thurrock is leading the way nationally with the rate at which its schools are converting to academies, Barking has yet to have a single secondary school convert.

Barking and Dagenham is an impoverished borough with different challenges to an improving and dynamic Thurrock.

Why aren’t we doing more with Southend? And what about Basildon? There is more synergy with Basildon than with any other local authority.

We could gain a lot from working with a borough that has been out on the front foot promoting itself overseas as a place to do business.

At this rate it will be Basildon, rather than Thurrock, that gets the hotels which will be needed to support DP World.

So I am not happy about the fusion with Barking and Dagen-ham. It is looking in the wrong direction and I worry about the impact on local democracy.

It will require councillors to up their game in holding officers to account for service delivery, as officers will be serving two masters with two competing agendas.

And cabinet members had better step up. They can’t just get away with being mouthpieces for officers.

They are going to have to give real challenge to make sure management is delivering.

The public is cynical enough about politics. I hope this is not giving them more reason to be.