Political opinion: Jonathan Brash MP: Labour is freezing Council Tax

Since becoming your MP, I've focused on making Council Tax fairer. It's one of the most unfair taxes in the UK, hitting towns like Hartlepool the hardest. That's why I set up the first-ever all-party group in Parliament to push for change. MPs from all main parties joined - except Reform, who declined the invitation.

I led the first Commons debate on this issue and recently questioned the Prime Minister directly. In his answer he agreed that councils need a fairer funding system.

The current system is broken. In Hartlepool, a Band D property pays around £2,400 a year. In Westminster, it's just over £1,000. Why the big difference? Because Council Tax is based on outdated property values from 1991. Over half of Hartlepool homes are in Band A, while only about 1% of Westminster homes are. This means wealthier areas can raise more money while charging residents less.

On top of that, Hartlepool Council spends 70% of its budget on social care for vulnerable children and adults. This leaves little room for other services and puts a heavy burden on local taxpayers.

Despite these challenges, our local Labour Council has made great progress. They inherited a £10 million deficit from the previous Conservative administration, members of which have started now defecting to Reform. In just 12 months, with support from the Labour Government, they've stabilised the finances and announced a Council Tax freeze.

We are going further with more street cleaning, more investment in our neighbourhoods, more police on our street, delivering £150 million of capital investment across our town, free breakfast clubs in our primary schools, new family hubs opening and ensuring that those in most need are protected.

My job is to keep fighting for fairer funding for Hartlepool. Our goal is to put more money back in your pocket so you can live a happy, healthy life. Times have been tough, and some decisions have been hard, but now that we've fixed the foundations, we can start rebuilding our town and our country - beginning with making you better off.