EXCLUSIVE: Council’s Own Leaked Email Admits Court Costs Are Arbitrary and Negotiable....

James Magog, finance official at Hartlepool Borough Council.

Leaked email exposes Hartlepool Borough Council's Council Tax court fees as penalties, & are not genuine valid expenses incurred...

16th September 2025

A leaked email from Hartlepool Borough Council’s Director of Finance, has blown apart the council’s claims about the “true costs” of chasing unpaid council tax, sparking renewed calls for the local council to be investigated over its clearly excessive charges pilled on the towns most vulnerable.

The email, uncovered during our Exclusive investigation, shows that the £126 charge slapped onto residents for falling behind with their council tax payments is not fixed in stone, but an arbitrary split between a £50 summons fee and an extra £75 if a liability order is granted....

Costs Have been 'Invented' to “Promote Earlier Action”

James Magog, Director of Hartlepool Borough Councils finance department in a leaked email handed to the Teesside & Durham Post admits outright that the reduced £50 summons charge was designed “to promote earlier action” – in other words, it’s not about covering genuine costs at all, but about using charges as a stick to force residents into line. This is a far cry from the council’s official line that the £126 reflects actual administrative expenditure.

A Quiet Climbdown

The email also reveals that from the 2025/26 financial year, when Labour had officially taken control of Hartlepool Borough Council, its claimed the Council will (in most cases) quietly waiver the £75 liability order fee where residents pay the amount in full, set up a direct debit, or have deductions from their welfare benefits put in place, capping costs at £50.

The reasoning? Mr Magog writes:

“…so as not to penalise further those on benefits.”

But if Hartlepool Borough Council truly believed its £126 figure reflected “real costs,” why can £75 of it be suddenly written off without any problem? The answer is obvious: the figure was never about costs in the first place.

Two-Tier System of Justice

The councils use of arbitrary costs has raised the claim of Two Tier Justice Once More

What this policy creates is yet another two-tier system, where some local residents will still have to stump up the full £125 penalty, whilst others will escape with £50 if the threats from the local council prove to be effective. The deciding factor seemingly is not the council’s outlay, but the individual’s circumstances — proof that the charges are in fact a financial deterrent, not an honest reflection of expenses.

Caught with their pants down !

This email confirms what many have long suspected: Hartlepool Borough Council has been misleading the public and the courts. If costs can be reduced, split, or waived depending on what suits the council where & when they feel like it, then they are not genuine costs at all. They are arbitrary financial penalties imposed on some of the poorest households in the town.

They're lying to the public, Lying to the courts & getting away with whats clearly the offence of Contempt of Court !

The question now is how many years have local residents been paying inflated charges dressed up as “costs”?

How much extra money has Hartlepool Borough Council pocketed by misleading both the public and the magistrates’ courts?

And how many vulnerable families have been pushed further into debt by what is now exposed as a deliberate & criminal racket?

Until these questions are answered, Hartlepool Borough Council’s credibility on council tax enforcement lies in tatters.