From Spin to Speculation: Labours Council Tax Freeze Proposals Already 'Falling Apart' According to Council Documents...
- teessidetoday
- Jun 16
- 4 min read
Council documents set to go before the councils Finance Committee reveal Labour’s promised Council Tax freeze 'is far from confirmed' and ultimately depends on 'uncertain' government funding....
16th June 2025
Hartlepool Borough Council’s finance bosses have dropped a huge bombshell—one that exposes Labour’s so-called “Council Tax freeze” as a mirage built on spin, not substance.
Despite public boasts from Labour MP Jonathan Brash and Cllr Brenda Harrison last month that they'd “instructed officers to prepare a budget based on a Council Tax freeze”, the official Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) report getting set to be presented to the Councils Finance & Policy Committee next week tells a very different story.
HBC Exposed has seen the official documents set to go before the council committee next week where buried in section 8.13 of the finance report, the uncomfortable truth for Labour is laid bare:
"The Leader of the Council has provided a strong desire that a budget is prepared that confirms a Council Tax freeze for 2026/27. To achieve this, additional funding will be required from central government via the fair funding review, or increased transformation and other savings achieved."
In other words, there's no council tax freeze whatsoever, only a “desire” for one—which is entirely dependant on extra government money or yet-to-be-found council savings.
So, when Brash and Harrison famously claimed just weeks ago that they'd “instructed officers” to deliver a freeze, they either deliberately misled the public or fundamentally misunderstood how council budgets actually work.
Referendum Limits & the “5% Elephant in the Room”
The Medium Term Financial Statement (MTFS) set to go before councillors next week makes no assumptions about council tax increases in coming years—because the Government hasn’t officially set the referendum cap for 2026/27. But: the figures are already prepared for what could happen if Labours forced to embarrassingly backtrack on its plans, with a poised 5% increase reportedly raking in over £12 million pounds worth of additional revenues by 2029/30.
Its also claimed that the next meaningful update on any potential Council Tax freeze won’t actually arrive until November 2025 at the earliest (five months away at the very least)—with much uncertainty still in the economy, with global conflicts, interest rates & inflation all to play a part in the councils financial assessments for the next fiscal quarter.
Unsustainable Use of Reserves: A Dangerous Game
The report also delivers a stark warning about the unsustainable use of council financial reserves to plug budget gaps, where, Again, in the councils own words:
“Using one-off reserves to balance the ongoing revenue budget is not a sustainable approach... It presents a danger that the Council simply utilises one-off money on delaying decisions.”
And yet, this is exactly what Hartlepool Labour continues to do—shoving the problem down the road whilst putting the town’s financial future at risk. This isn’t good governance from a Labour council seemingly just a year into being back control of the local council from the Conservatives & Independents—it’s merely kicking the financial can down the road once more.
Reserves have already reportedly fallen across the last financial year, and whilst Treasury Management is claimed to have helped slow the bleeding, the reality remains: the councils papering over a growing financial chasm.
Children’s Services Overspend – £6.5 Million Black Hole
Children’s Services reportedly continues to haemorrhage money according to the council report, overspending in the council department is expected to hit £6.5 million pounds due to external placements and social work staffing crises. That’s after they already knew the system was supposedly 'stretched' last year, with critics claiming the Labour administration hasn’t addressed this properly—they’ve just watched the overspend climb and hoped nobody noticed.
What This Means for Hartlepool
Labour’s council tax “freeze” is therefore shaping up to be one of the biggest political cons in recent memory, one that could even outstrip the misleading statements that seen both former Council Leader Mike Young & another then Conservative Councillor found guilty by a standards committee of 'misleading members of the public & the local council'...
The council report delivered some harsh realities for Labour, & conformation of Labours desperation to gain votes from locals in the town :
There is no formal freeze policy—just a political “desire” buried in caveats.
No new government funding has been secured to make a freeze possible.
Reserves are dwindling, and the budget remains unsustainable.
Critical services like Children’s Services are out of control financially.
Once again, Labour's local leadership seems more interested in making headlines rather than hard truths. They’ve misled the public, concealed the real financial state of the council, and tried to take credit for a freeze that doesn't exist—yet have the audacity to accuse others of fearmongering.
The documents set to go before the councils finance committee next week shows the prospects of a council tax freeze (at least at this moment) look to be slim to nil.... that therefore leaves Labour with a very serious problem,
If they cant deliver on their Council Tax freeze because of the councils alleged fiscal complaints....
How are they going to 'spin' their way out of this ?
