Labour has proposed a further rise in council tax to help Essex address what the party calls “the real issues".

The move comes as the Conservative-led county council passed its budget this week, which included a 3 per cent levy to boost its £524 million social care budget by a further £17 million.

Labour’s extra 1.99 per cent council tax rise- equivalent to an extra 44p a week on a Band D property- would let the council “make a real difference on the issues that affect people’s lives”.

Some £7.4 million of planned savings to parts of the Adult Social Care budget would be reversed with a further £934,000 found for community equipment in Adult Social Care.

Labour said it would also find £1.474 million to switch street lighting on from 1am to 5pm.

The party also promised £20,000 to fund a “complete review” of the council’s policy on fixing potholes to “readdress the pot hole and foot path crisis in Essex”.

Harlow-based Labour group deputy leader Mike Danvers said “the crisis in Adult Social Care is crippling the NHS and so affects every resident in Essex.”

“It is wrong that the Tory government has shunted the responsibility for dealing with this to Essex County Council but it is equally wrong that the Tories running the council are burying their heads in the sane instead of taking action.”

Harwich-based Labour Group leader Ivan Henderson, a former MP, said: “We have a Conservative government that is creating the problems in Essex and a Conservative administration in County Hall that has no idea to deal with the issues.”

Labour has eight of the 75 seats on Essex County Council, compared with 44 for the ruling Conservatives, nine for the Lib-Dems and 6 for UKIP.