Hartlepool council tax rise confirmed from April, a year after Covid bills freeze

Overall, the 91.5% of households in Hartlepool who do not pay extra charges to a parish council will see a 4.64% increase in their council tax bills from April.

This reflects the increases approved by the council, the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner and Cleveland Fire Authority.

Hartlepool Borough Council approved a core council tax rise of 1.9%, along with a 3% increase in the Adult Social Care Precept, for 2022/23.

Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner increased its own council tax precept for Band D properties by £10, equating to a £6.67 rise for Band A homes.

Cleveland Fire Authority increased its council tax precept by 1.9% - a £1.53 annual rise for Band D properties, or £1.02 for Band A homes.

This set to leave Band A properties hit with a £64.89 increase in annual council tax bills, rising from £1,398.04 to £1,462.93, before any separate charges levied by parish councils are applied.

This will see £1,224.54 from each bill go to the council, £183.82 to the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and £54.57 to Cleveland Fire Authority.

The calculations were approved by majority vote at Thursday’s full council meeting at Mill House Leisure Centre.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Shane Moore, the leader of the borough council, stressed government funding policy still puts pressure on local authorities to raise council tax.

He said: “National increases in spending power are still reliant on increasing council tax and the adult social care precept, this makes up 40% of the increase in spending power.

“The remaining 60% comes from government grants.

“The budget for 2022/23 was balanced from a combination of increasing council tax, the adult social care precept, approved saving proposals and the increase in Government funding.”

He added Hartlepool’s spending power split is 36% from council tax and 64% from government sources, partly due to the impact of the adult social care precept equalisation grant.

Last year, councillors approved a freeze in council tax for 2021/22 to help residents deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, bills rose slightly due to increases in precepts charged by the Police and Crime Commissioner and Cleveland Fire Authority.

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