Council costs continue to rise as Council Budget is prepared for 2025/26

In a meeting of the Council’s Finance and Policy Committee earlier this week, councillors were provided with an update on how the Council is proposing to balance its budget.

The £16.5m gap in the finances comes as the Council continues to face increased costs for delivering children’s social care, with some external placements for looked-after-children now exceeding £12,000 a week.

Other rising costs include the impact of inflation, increased costs for the disposal of waste and continued increase in adult social care costs.

A large proportion of the gap in funding is being met through an improved 2025/26 Provisional Financial Settlement from the Government – the amount of funding that the Government provides the Council. This has seen an uplift in funding of just under £10m for the next financial year.

Council tax will increase by 4.99% which would see a weekly increase of £1.27 for a Band A property – the majority of homes in Hartlepool. This will generate a further £2.6m.

The Council is proposing to fill the remaining gap in the budget by delivering £2.9m of savings and the use of £1m of reserves.

Councillor Brenda Harrison, Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council, said: “The settlement we got from the new Government has been very positive but it doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels and we aren’t out of the woods yet.

“There is still a budget gap we need to close and that is why we are proposing to increase council tax alongside a number of other measures detailed above. Historically, the only realistic tool available for local authorities for raising additional income to meet the increasing demand for council services is by raising Council Tax.

“As a council we are working with Hartlepool’s MP Jonathan Brash to increase awareness of the financial pressures facing our Council with the Government and to push for future reform of the Council Tax System.

“Our Council has suffered for many years through funding reductions since 2010. We cannot address all of the challenges that has resulted from that in just one budget, but we are now hopeful through working with the new Government to deliver a brighter future for our Council and the people of Hartlepool that we serve.”

The improved settlement has, however, enabled the new administration to revisit a number of proposed savings and to fund additional investment in key services.

These include retaining three civic Christmas trees across the borough, reducing a proposed allotment fee increase, town centre car parking promotions, reintroducing the night-time closure of public parks to tackle anti-social behaviour and investing in a new mechanical street cleaner and crew.

Councillor Harrison added: “We are delivering on our pledge to improve the cleanliness of our streets by investing and rebuilding our street cleaning fleet – this includes the purchase of a new mechanical street cleaner and additional staff.”

The budget will be formally set at a meeting of Full Council on Thursday 20th February.