Council budget delayed over 'fight' for funding

1 day ago

Nic MarkoLocal Democracy Reporting Service

Councillors agreed to defer the budget decision by majority vote

BBC Dozens of people are sat in the council meeting room at rows of desks. They are facing three people who are sitting at a head table at the back of the room. There are screens dotted around the chamber and a painting of a man in military wear on the right-hand side. — Councillors agreed to defer the budget decision by majority vote

Councillors have delayed making a decision on their budget and council tax rates to continue to "fight" for more government funding.

An authority-wide meeting of Hartlepool Borough Council on Thursday had been due to make a decision on the budget for 2026/27.

Labour council leader Pamela Hargreaves moved to defer the decision to allow councillors to "take our case once more to Whitehall" to "fight for our borough and our children".

"I am devastated because the Labour government we were promised would stand up for us has failed us," she told the meeting.

"I do not believe it is right that we respond to this injustice by raising core council tax."

The government is making changes to council funding which it said would increase North East councils' spending power by £4.2bn over three years, but that figure assumes all of them raise council tax by 4.99% annually.

Leading Labour representatives in Hartlepool previously said they were planning to freeze council tax.

However James Magog, director of finance, IT and digital, recommended the local authority "should seek the maximum council tax increase permissible".

Labour council leader Pamela Hargreaves said they felt betrayed by the government

Labour Party Pamela Hargreaves is looking straight at the camera and smiling brightly. She has long blonde hair and blue/ brown glasses. — Labour council leader Pamela Hargreaves said they felt betrayed by the government

Hargreaves highlighted how Hartlepool had one of the highest numbers of children in care in the country amid a "crisis in social care", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

She confirmed a meeting had been secured with Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Steve Reed to discuss the issue.

Hargreaves urged representatives from all parties to be united in lobbying government and councillors ultimately agreed to defer the budget decision by majority vote.

She said: "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."

Legal officers confirmed the council had to set its budget by 5 March.

The council faces an £8.012m deficit for 2026-27, which reduces to £3.74m if planned savings are implemented.

Speaking after the meeting on the prospect of Labour councillors resigning from the party, Hargreaves said they were "considering every option".

She added: "We do feel let down, we do feel betrayed, we are as a group battling with that."

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