No alternative to Council Tax increase

It comes after Hartlepool Councillors met last night (Thursday 22 February) to set a budget for 2018/19 of £87 million.

This will mean a 4.9% increase in Council Tax made up of two components – a 2.9% general Council Tax rise, which includes 1% to ease pressure on Children’s Social Care, and a 2% increase specifically for Adult Social Care.

The overall increase is the equivalent of 97p a week for a Band A household which represent 55% of the properties in Hartlepool.

In 2017/18, national figures showed that 266 out of 326 local authority areas had a higher average Council Tax than Hartlepool. 

Hartlepool Borough Council was facing a budget deficit for 2018/19 of £7.3m and this has been addressed as follows:

Budget cuts	£2.5m
Use of reserves	£2.4m
Council Tax increase	£1.1m
Social Care precept	£0.7m
Housing growth	£0.6m
Adult Social Care Support Grant	£0.3m

Government Council Tax Referendum limits allow local authorities such as Hartlepool which fund social care to increase Council Tax by up to 6% next year.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, the Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council, said: “Since 2013, the Government has cut Hartlepool Council’s annual grant by £20.9 million and this has inevitably placed significant pressure on our budget.

“Between 2011/12 and 2015/16 the Government paid additional grants to councils freezing Council Tax and Hartlepool Borough Council was able to freeze Council Tax for this period.

“Unfortunately, these additional grants ended in 2016/17 when the Government introduced the new Social Care precept and revised Council Tax referendum limits.

“In essence, the Government is simply shifting the burden of paying for vital services, including Adult Social Care, from Central Government to local taxpayers. This is grossly unfair as other national taxes could have been increased to pay for these services."

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher added: “I believe the budget we have set for 2018/19 – including the Council Tax increase – is prudent and will enable us to protect the vast majority of frontline services.

“At the same time, we will be able to protect the most vulnerable people in our town, particularly the elderly and vulnerable children.

“When you consider the scale of the Government cuts, it does make it very challenging to achieve on our ambition for the town but we remain hugely positive and are working tirelessly to ensure Hartlepool continues to prosper.

“This is demonstrated by the work which is well underway on £8m of projects to regenerate key parts of our town. Construction has started on a scheme to revitalise the Church Street and Church Square area and construction is also underway on a scheme to revitalise the Seaton Carew seafront.”