Hartlepool spending chiefs ended financial year in the black – despite hits by Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis

According to spending bosses at Hartlepool Borough Council, 2021/22 was bookended by the pandemic and the early stages of the cost of living crisis.

But the latest meeting of the Audit and Governance Committee heard the local authority was still able to report a £286,000 underspend for its final revenue outturn position, which will go back into the council’s budget support fund to aid finances for future years.

Chris Little, director of resources and development, told the panel it had been a “more challenging than normal year”.

He said: “I think the environment that everyone is operating in has changed so quickly, more quickly than I can ever remember in all the years I’ve done this role.

“The main drivers on the council’s performance, our finances, delivery of service in 2021/22, were Covid, and thankfully the worst of that is probably behind us.

“But now we’re dealing with huge economic shocks, they are affecting councils massively.”

He added reserves have been earmarked to support inflation pressures this year, including rising energy bills, to ensure the council is in “the best position possible to manage the challenges”.

However he noted more work is needed to calculate the full impact of such issues.

A report added: “Work has commenced to quantify the level and impact of inflationary pressures on the current year budget and this will be reported as part of the first quarterly review”.