Hartlepool borough councillors delay decision on council tax bills ahead of government talks
Councillors have delayed making a decision on whether or not to raise council tax bills as they continue the fight for more funding.
A full Hartlepool Borough Council meeting had been due to make a decision on its budget for 2026-27.
This included the level of council tax, which leading Labour representatives in Hartlepool previously stressed they were planning to freeze.
However James Magog, director of finance, IT and digital, has recommended the local authority “should seek the maximum council tax increase permissible” which is 4.99%.
This would be made up of a 2.99% rise for core council tax and 2% as an adult social care precept.
Council leader Councillor Pamela Hargreaves, speaking at the meeting, moved to defer making a decision to allow councillors to “take our case once more to Whitehall” to “fight for our borough and our children”.
She highlighted how Hartlepool has one of the highest numbers of children in care in the country amid a “crisis in social care” and confirmed a meeting had been secured with Steve Reed, the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, to discuss their plight.
Cllr Hargreaves said: “I am devastated because the Labour government we were promised would stand up for us has failed us.
“I do not believe it is right that we respond to this injustice by raising core council tax.
“So tonight we say no. We say no to being ignored, we say no to being treated as an afterthought and no to an unfair taxation system and a process that finds money elsewhere but not for our children.”
She urged representatives from all parties to be “united” in lobbying government and councillors ultimately agreed to defer the budget decision by a majority vote.
The meeting heard since the provisional settlement before Christmas that councillors and the borough’s MP Jonathan Brash have “fought the case” for more funding to reflect the council’s “level of need” without success.
Speaking after the meeting on the prospect of Labour councillors resigning from the party, Cllr Hargreaves said they are “considering every option”.
She added: “We do feel let down, we do feel betrayed, we are as a group battling with that.”
Legal officers confirmed the council has to set its budget by March 5.