Council asks for a fairer deal on Council Tax and funding

Published Friday, 6th August 2021

Hartlepool Borough Council has written to Robert Jenrick MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to express its concerns about the current Council Tax system and to ask for a fairer system which delivers on the Government’s levelling up agenda.

The letter has the backing of all 36 Councillors and is signed by the Leader of the Council Councillor Shane Moore, the Leader of the Conservative Group Councillor Mike Young and the Leader of the Labour Group Councillor Brenda Harrison.

The Council sets out clear concerns:

Council Tax is regressive - Basing Council Tax on 1991 property values has broken the system and has built unfairness into the amounts households pay. If regular revaluation had been undertaken, this would have resulted in a fairer allocation of grant funding to individual councils and fairer Council Tax for all households.

Council Tax is too high – A major factor in determining the level of Council Tax is the Council Tax base. This means that areas with a low Council Tax base have a high Band D Council Tax - although this is only paid by a small percentage of households in these areas. In Hartlepool only 7.7% of properties are in Band D, compared with a national average of 15.3%.

The Council also says that continued reliance on the Adult Social Care Precept is not sustainable and is not the appropriate way to fund these vital services, as the regime places an additional financial burden on local tax payers.  

The Grant Distribution Formula – reductions in grant funding prior to 2019/20 had a disproportionate impact on more deprived communities and have locked these funding cuts into current baseline funding.

To address these concerns, the Council urges the Minister to:

  • Undertake a full Council Tax revaluation as soon as possible to restore fairness.
  • Provide funding to freeze Council Tax for the next three years and provide additional recurring funding to remove the Adult Social Care precept.
  • Provide a fairer grant distribution.

Councillors Moore, Young and Harrison said: “Despite the significant financial challenges the Council faces, we do the very best for our community, providing good services. However, as our letter clearly sets out, the current Council Tax system and the way councils are funded is extremely unfair to councils like Hartlepool and is just not sustainable.

“Even the House of Commons’ own Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has warned that Council Tax is becoming “increasingly regressive” to the detriment of more deprived areas like ours.”

The Council's letter to the Minister can be read in full here.