Balancing Hartlepool’s Budget 2026-2027

Every year we set a budget to show how we will spend our money. Our money comes from Council Tax, Business Rates and money from government.

The Council delivers lots of different services. Some we do ourselves. Some we do together with others. Some we pay other people to do for us. These services include:

- support for children and families

- providing help to adults who need support

- looking after roads and pavements

- providing leisure centres, a museum, theatre and art gallery

- helping businesses in the town

There are some services that we have to do by law. There are others that we choose to offer our residents.

We have over 350 children in our care. We try to keep them with local foster carers or in our own children’s homes. A private children's home can cost over £7,000 a week. The most expensive placements cost us nearly £12 million a year. This is for only 25 children. Like many areas, we are spending more money on supporting children in care. In total £20 million more is spent on children social care services than four years ago. Council Tax would have to go up by 40% just to cover this increase.

The government provided an extra £10 million of funding for this year. They have also committed to fairer funding for councils in 2026/27. This is good for Hartlepool as we should get more money from the government. We have also got £20 million from the governments Pride In Place fund. We will spend this over the next 10 years. We have started spending straight away to clean up our town.

This will still not be enough to meet the needs of the town. Costs are increasing quicker than our income. There is a gap of £9 million for 2026/27. Over the next four years this increases to nearly £21 million. We will keep speaking to the government for more money. But for now, the law says we must set a balanced budget.

We are not alone. Many other Councils are struggling to balance their budgets. In the region of 20% of Councils that look after children have been unable to balance their budgets in recent years. These council have not been given more money. They have been able to borrow money to be paid back over the next 20 years. We do not want to be in a similar position.

Some key questions

Where do we get our money from?

Council Tax does not fund all of your council services. In fact Council Tax only makes up 16% of all the money we spend. We get some money through business rates and charging for services. We also get a large amount of money from the government through grants.

Where do we spend our money?

How has the 2026/27 budget gap arisen?

Our costs are going to be higher for:

Wage costs and inflation: £7 million
Looking after Children £6 million
We have £1 million of new costs
We need £2 million to replace money we used last year

We expect more income from:

Government Grant and Business Rate Increases (£6 million)
Council Tax Base increases (housing growth) (£1 million)

That means we expect the gap to be £9 million

How we plan to bridge the gap

We have savings plans for over £4 million. We still need to find an extra £4 million. This can be achieved by:

changing our services to make them more streamlined and efficient
making additional cuts to services
increased government funding
increasing Council Tax as a last resort

Further details can be found in this Committee Report

Are we able to raise Council Tax?

Yes. We expect the government to confirm that councils should raise it by 5%. Some councils may be allowed to raise Council Tax more. This will include those struggling to balance their budgets.

Will we need to raise Council Tax?

Hartlepool Labour Councillors have pledged to freeze Council Tax in 2026/27. This is to support residents with their cost of living pressures. A freeze will affect the Council’s budget. For every 1% Council Tax rise the council would get over half a million pounds more. A freeze will mean nearly £3 million less to spend on services. The Council has a legal duty to balance its budget.

If we do not raise Council Tax we might need to cut services further.

Isn’t Council Tax already high in Hartlepool?

Council Tax is certainly higher than we would like.

In 2025/26:

Band A Council Tax is only £10 a year higher than the regional average
Residents living in Northumberland, Gateshead, Newcastle and County Durham with parish councils pay more. Band A Council Tax in Horden would be £227 a year higher than the average Band A in Hartlepool
There are many other places with higher Council Tax than Hartlepool

What Support is there for those struggling to pay?

We have a Local Council Tax Support scheme to help those struggling to pay. You can find out more on the Council's website.

The future of Council Tax

Council Tax was introduced in 1992 by the Government. It is unpopular and considered by many to be unfair. We have no choice but to charge our residents.

We and our local MP are speaking to government to press for a change in the system. Without major reform of how councils are funded, Council Tax will stay high in deprived areas. We welcome the fairer funding system being introduced by the government for 2026/27. More funding is needed to support local councils.

Budget Consultation

The report to Finance and Corporate Affairs Committee shows the financial challenges we face. It also shows our proposed savings:

PROPOSED SAVINGS
Adult Social Care.
We will review how we assess our clients for financial support. This will include introducing digital assessments and improving our debt recovery process. We will use new technology to: learn about peoples needs see how effective the support we give is reduce the amount of in-person visits that people have. We will do this by using digital prompts, remote engagement and continuous monitoring. This will only be done where it is safe to do	Savings of £250,000 for 2026/27 Savings of £250,000 for 2026/27 (and further savings of £150,000 for 2027/28).
Children's Social Care
We will review how we support Children in our Care. We will aim to reduce the number of children entering care. We will support children to return home where it is safe to do so	Saving of £3,000,000 for 2026/27
Recycling
We will deliver improved marketing campaigns and action to raise the level of recycling.	Saving of £100,000 for 2026/27
Back office digital improvements
We will review and change our systems. We will automate invoice payment. We will reduce duplication through digital improvements. We will also look to secure discounts for early payment of invoices	Saving of £140,000 for 2026/27.
Council Wide review of fees and charges
We will find new income earning opportunities. We will review what we already charge. We will make our charges similar to what others charge and to cover our costs	Savings of £377,000 for 2026/27 (and further savings of £125,000 for 2027/28).
Council Tax Support payments
We will review our council tax support payments. We will make sure that the right support is provided to those who should have it. We also want to reduce error and fraud within the system.	Savings of £383,000 for 2026/27

Now it’s your chance to share your views on these proposals by filling in this short survey below. The survey will close on 4th January 2026. If you have any questions about the survey please contact yoursay@hartlepool.gov.uk.