How £2.5million funding boost is helping Hartlepool weather the storm

However, Hartlepool Borough Council bosses said they would be continuing to push for further funding to fully cover costs and income losses as they continue to support those in need.

The latest government cash has come from an emergency funding pot shared between councils and fire and rescue authorities to help them respond to Covid-19 pressures across all the services they deliver.

In March, the government announced an initial £1.6billion of additional funding to be shared among local authorities, which was followed up by a further £1.6billion in April.

The latest allocations of funding have now been revealed, with Hartlepool Borough Council receiving an additional £2,559,097, following the £3,404,116 from the first tranche of funding.

This takes the total received to date as part of the emergency funding to just under £6million.

Councillor Shane Moore, Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council, welcomed the funding, adding it is helping the council support care homes and vulnerable people.

However he noted they will continue to push for more funding to help fully cover the costs to the local authority from the coronavirus outbreak and ensure residents are not negatively impacted long term.

Coun Moore said: “Like all local authorities, we are playing a vital role in supporting the community and local economy during the Covid-19 pandemic and, inevitably, this involves incurring significant costs.

“In particular, we’ve set up the Hartlepool Support Hub to help anyone who is self-isolating or otherwise unable to leave their home.

“We are also losing income through the closure of facilities and we’ve suspended charges in all our pay and display public car parks until further notice.

“We welcome the additional £6million of funding provided by the Government – which will also help us to cover our costs in respect of providing financial support to care homes supporting vulnerable old people and buying personal protective equipment (PPE).

“[However] we will continue to press our case for more money to fully cover our costs and income losses arising from Covid-19 to ensure that local services and residents aren’t adversely affected in the longer-term.”

The Hartlepool Support Hub, set up by the council in March to support those unable to leave home due to the coronavirus pandemic, has since taken over 5,000 calls and distributed more than 1070 food parcels and 775 prescriptions.

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