Hartlepool Labour candidate writes to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to demand investment in key town amenities

Cllr Brash is calling on the government for more funding for the University Hospital of Hartlepool among other town amenities. Picture by FRANK REID

Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Hartlepool, councillor Jonathan Brash, has written to the Chancellor ahead of the upcoming Autumn Statement to demand investment for the town.

In his letter to Jeremy Hunt MP, Cllr Brash has highlighted five key areas for funding which he believes will benefit Hartlepool and its people.

These include investment in Hartlepool’s hospital by way of a Centre of Excellence in orthopaedic care and funding for Hartlepool Borough Council to allow a reduction in council tax.

Other demands include new Advanced Modular Reactor technology at Hartlepool Power Station, a “fully operational” police station and magistrates’ court and “a proper windfall tax” on energy companies to cut bills for households and businesses.

Cllr Brash, deputy leader of the Labour group on the council, said many of the key assets and infrastructure in the town have been “stripped away” over the last 13 years.

In his letter, he said: “People are struggling to make ends meet, our communities are suffering, we need change. This is the investment our town needs.”

Cllr Brash stressed he will “continue to take the fight to the Conservatives and demand the investment needed".

He added: “We need investment in our hospital to make it a regional leader for orthopaedic care as a first step to getting services back.

“Taxes are at their highest levels since the Second World War and our broken council tax system means that Hartlepool people are being hammered in the middle of a cost of living crisis. As we come into winter, energy bills remain far too high forcing people into the choice of eating or sleeping, while energy companies profit.”

He added for a town such as Hartlepool to not have a functioning magistrates’ court “is a disgrace” and he “firmly supports new nuclear now” for the borough.

Hartlepool’s MP, Conservative Jill Mortimer, also previously voiced support for an Advanced Modular Reactor (AMR) at Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station, along with a reform of the council tax system.

Meanwhile earlier this year, councillors unanimously backed plans to create a Centre of Excellence at the University Hospital of Hartlepool.

The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement takes place on Wednesday, November 22.