Anger over 3.9% council tax rise in Hartlepool

Councillors have blamed the Government for a planned council tax rise.

Hartlepool Borough Council voted 21 to 10 in favour of the council’s share of the tax going up by 3.9% from April.

This includes a new 2% social care levy to help pay towards the cost of care provided by the council.

Other parts of the country are also seeing the same increase, which has been blamed on a change in the government’s policy on funding for local councils and years of funding cuts.

The table below shows the total amount that households in town will pay, including for individual council services and also to the police and fire services.

Council leader Christopher Akers-Belcher said the budget will protect frontline services and jobs and allow the council to press on with its regeneration plans.

The majority of households in town, 72%, fall into the cheaper A and B bands and will pay an extra 83p a week.

But many people are not happy with increase.

On the Mail’s Facebook page, Debbie Chapman asks: “Why is it up more than inflation or average wage increase!!”. Tina Henderson commented: “Paying more but getting less.”

Katharine Anne Craggs asked: “How can they do this when at the same time they are cutting services?”

Mellanie Roberts Grant Kent said: “It’s an absolute squeeze paying council tax already that will be another debt to mount up for many of us x.”

Sophie Willingham And yet they get a pay rise for sitting on their backsides and making pathetic decisions like this... I wonder who is paying for their pay rises...”

But Colin Bartholomew said: “The Tories are to blame not the Council.”