Councils £82,914 to Childcare Provider Headed by a Former Councillor Convicted of Assault ...
- teessidetoday
- Aug 24
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 2
Concerns grow over 'substantial' payments made to a company linked to a now former Councillor convicted of Assault, after a Teesside & Durham Post investigation reveals his company benefited from payments worth over £80k from the local tax payer...
24th August 2025
Hartlepool Borough Council's facing criticism over its payments to businesses linked to former elected officials, after a Teesside & Durham Post Investigation reveals the disgraced public institution paid out £82,914 to a childcare provider linked to a former town councillor who recently resigned from his role after being convicted of a criminal offence .
Ready Steady Grow, a childcare company linked to former Labour Councillor Steve Wallace, was paid the substantial sums by Hartlepool Borough Council despite his criminal conviction and ongoing controversies. The payments, made between April and June 2025, have raised serious questions about the council’s oversight, transparency, and commitment to protecting taxpayer funds, especially towards corporations headed by those with criminal convictions.
Steve Wallace resigned as a councillor for Hartlepool’s Throston ward in May 2025, after being convicted of assault by beating in January 2025 at York Crown Court.
The charge stemmed from an incident said to have occurred back in 2023, initially alleged to be sexual assault, although the prosecution then later accepted a guilty plea from Wallace to the lesser charge of common assault. Wallace, who's been a managing director of 'Ready Steady Grow, the childcare provider since 2011, was fined £200 and ordered to pay £500 in compensation to the victim. Despite the conviction, he initially resisted calls to resign, citing intentions to serve out his term, before stepping down just months later.
The controversy then deepened, when it emerged that Ready Steady Grow, based in Eldon Grove, Hartlepool, had come under investigation by Ofsted, the government’s regulator for childcare services. The probe said to have been triggered by allegations that the company failed to notify regulators of Wallace’s criminal charge, a serious breach of safeguarding protocols. Ofsted warned that further violations could lead to regulatory intervention, casting a shadow over the company’s operations. Yet, despite these red flags, its claimed Hartlepool Borough Council continued to funnel significant sums to Ready Steady Grow, with payments totalling £82,914 made in just three months this year.
The revelations, uncovered by the Teesside & Durham Post, are likely to spark concerns over Hartlepool Borough Council's affiliation with organisations headed by those with criminal pasts, with critics arguing the council’s decision to continue funding a company tied to a convicted former councillor raises serious ethical concerns.
Wallace’s fall from political grace was swift following a lengthy political career spanning nearly two decades. Having previously served as a town councillor in the early 2000s, he was elected again as a Labour councillor back in May 2023.
Wallace then resigned from the Labour party just two months later, claiming a “falling out with a certain section” of the group. However, reports suggest his departure was directly linked to the emerging sexual assault allegations, which surfaced shortly after his election. His subsequent conviction and the Ofsted investigation into Ready Steady Grow only fuelled public distrust.
The council’s decision to pay the child day nursery headed by the former councillor considerable sums of public money is highly contentious, given the councils well-documented budget struggles. In January 2025, Hartlepool Borough Council reported a £16.5 million pound shortfall for the 2025/26 financial year, driven by rising costs in children’s social care and other services. With some external placements for looked-after children reportedly costing the local council with no public confidence over £12,000 per week, with critics likely to question why the council has prioritised payments to a company under such scrutiny.
“At a time when Hartlepool is supposedly scraping to balance its books, how is this kind of spending defensible?” asked a local campaigner.
Hartlepool Borough Council has yet to publicly address the specific payments to Ready Steady Grow, however the Teesside & Durham post found the sums paid out on the councils regular expenditure sheets. A spokesperson previously stated that Wallace’s conviction did not legally disqualify him from serving as a councillor, as it did not result in a prison sentence of three months or more. However, this defence has done little to quell public anger over the council’s financial ties to his company.
The saga has also reignited broader concerns about procurement procedures & accountability within Hartlepool Borough Council. Posts on social media platforms such as X seemingly reflect growing frustration with local governance at the local council which in 2023 was declared an authority with no public confidence, with some users accusing the council of blatant mismanagement and an almost complete lack of transparency.
As the council prepares to set its budget in February 2026, the controversy surrounding these payments is likely to intensify calls for reform, with questions as to why Ready Steady Grow has been awarded such substantial money from the public purse despite its director’s legal troubles likely to be top of the list
For now, the £82,914 payment to Ready Steady Grow stands as a stark reminder of the challenges facing Hartlepool Borough Council. As the Teesside & Durham Post continues to investigate, one thing is clear: the people of Hartlepool aren't getting the transparency & accountability locals need to restore public trust in an institution that seemingly appears to be operating like a gravy train for its former elected members to ride for everything they can get.
