Hartlepool’s Cash Drain: The External Bodies Taking the Biggest Slice of Council Spending...

Millions of Pounds worth of Council Tax Payers Money Leaving Hartlepool? The Bodies Taking the Lion’s Share of Council Funds

12th December 2025

Information published recently by Hartlepool Borough Council regarding its Quarter 2 financial expenditure data has finally revealed the true picture of where large sums of public money are actually going — and, crucially, how much of it is leaving Hartlepool altogether.

An examination of the figures highlights five standout payments and a pattern of substantial transfers to other local authorities, raising fresh questions about accountability, value for money, and who's truly benefiting from local Council Tax Payers money.

The Five Highest Single Payments..

Based on the council’s own data, The Teesside & Durham Post has found the largest individual payments recorded in Quarter 2 financial year were as follows:

1. £117,600 — Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Category: Adult Education – Grants & Donations

Purpose: Inter-authority funding transfer

This is the largest single outgoing payment in the quarter. A six-figure sum of Hartlepool taxpayers’ money was transferred directly to Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, with limited public explanation attached beyond a generic service label.

2. £104,000 — Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council

Category: Adult Education – Grants & Donations

Another significant transfer outside the borough & to a local council which has just announced its intentions to raise Council Taxes by almost 5% in April 2026, with Hartlepool Borough Council continuing a recurring pattern of large payments to neighbouring councils under the banner of partnership working begging the questions as to why we simply dont merge Teesside councils into one 'Super Authority' ?

3. £94,200 — Darlington Borough Council

Category: Adult Education – Grants & Donations

Darlington features prominently in Hartlepool’s expenditure data, with multiple payments recorded.

This single transaction alone was found to cost local's Just over £94k

4. £70,800 — Middlesbrough Council

Category: Adult Education – Grants & Donations

Middlesbrough Council received a substantial lump-sum payment, again raising questions as to why Hartlepool is funding services delivered — or administered — elsewhere.

5. £47,900.64 — Thirteen Housing Group Ltd

Category: Adult Housing Related Support

Despite Hartlepool Borough Council reopening its housing revenue account a decade ago to manage its own housing stock following a disastrous decision to sell off its entire housing stock back in 2003. Thirteen Housing Group continues to receive large, recurring payments for housing-related services, despite ongoing concerns locally about housing allocation, standards, and oversight.

Money Leaving Hartlepool: Payments to Other Councils

One of the most striking features of the Quarter 2 data seen by the Teesside & Durham Post is just how much Hartlepool Borough Council pays to other local councils whilst pleading poverty to the local tax payer every year.

In addition to the top five payments, the dataset shows multiple further transactions to:

• Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council — including additional payments of £42,352.99 and £31,800

  
  

• Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council — further payments exceeding £38,000

  
  

• Middlesbrough Council — multiple grants totalling well into six figures across the quarter

• Durham County Council — £10,000 listed under 'subscriptions'...

  
  

Collectively, these transfers amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds in just three months & millions of pounds across the entire financial year...

While councils often attempt to justify such arrangements as “shared services” or “regional collaboration,” the lack of clear, itemised public explanations leaves residents asking a basic question:

Why is Hartlepool paying other councils so much money while its own services remain under pressure?

Other Controversial and Noteworthy Payments

Several other entries in the Financial data may also raise eyebrows to local taxpayers such as:

• Consultancy fees running into tens of thousands of pounds, including a £20,269 payment to Civica UK Ltd

  
  

• Repeated payments to the same suppliers within short timeframes, suggesting rolling contracts rather than one-off costs

  
  

• Large grants to third-sector organisations with limited visibility of outcomes or performance metrics

  
  

None of these payments are illegal — but legality is not the same as good governance.

Transparency Without Accountability?

Hartlepool Borough Council will point to the publication of this data as evidence of transparency. However, dumping spreadsheets online is not the same as meaningful accountability.

What residents are not told is:

• Why specific sums are agreed

• What deliverables are expected

• What happens if outcomes are not achieved

• Whether in-house delivery would be cheaper or more effective

  
  

Until those questions are answered, many will reasonably conclude that Hartlepool is acting as a regional cash machine, rather than a council seemingly focused on its own residents first.

League Table of Recipients of Hartlepool Tax Payer Funds...

Rank	External Body	Minimum Amount Received (£)	Primary Purpose	Location
1	Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council	£191,752.99	Adult Education grants, Third Party Payments	Outside Hartlepool
2	Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council	£180,566.89	Adult Education grants	Outside Hartlepool
3	Middlesbrough Council	£136,079.56	Adult Education grants	Outside Hartlepool
4	Darlington Borough Council	£124,357.99	Adult Education grants	Outside Hartlepool
5	Thirteen Housing Group Ltd	£139,152.00+	Adult housing-related support	Regional / External
6	PPP Taking Care Ltd	£120,823.84	Aids & equipment contracts	External contractor
7	Hartlepool Carers	£94,466.32	Third sector grants & support	Hartlepool-based
8	National Museum of the Royal Navy Trading Co	£56,099.84	Cultural services & room hire	External
9	Joseph Rowntree Foundation / Trust entities	£80,000+	Housing-related support & rents	External
10	Civica UK Ltd	£49,825.45	ICT & consultancy services	External contractor

The Key Observations...

1. Four of the top five recipients are other councils

Stockton, Redcar & Cleveland, Middlesbrough, and Darlington alone account for well over half a million pounds worth of payments in just one single financial quarter. That is Hartlepool money being routed directly into other local authority budgets.

2. Stockton-on-Tees tops the table

With at least £191,752.99, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council is the single biggest beneficiary of Hartlepool Borough Council spending..

3. Housing providers dominate the non-council spend

Thirteen Housing Group and PPP Taking Care together absorb over £250,000, raising familiar questions about, value for money, oversight, & the benefit to Hartlepool residents

4. Cultural and consultancy spend remains significant

Payments to organisations such as the National Museum of the Royal Navy Trading Company and Civica UK Ltd show that non-frontline services still attract substantial funding, even during periods of claimed financial pressure.

The conclusion is a Council 'Pleading Poverty', but

'Spending Money Like Its Going Out of Fashion'..

The Large payments shelled out to other Teesside Councils is creating the perception that Hartlepool BC is 'squandering tax payer money' into places where locals cannot reasonable see where its being spent

The Quarter 2 spending data paints a familiar picture: large payments, limited explanation, and significant sums flowing out of Hartlepool. At a time when residents are told budgets are tight, these figures deserve far more scrutiny than they currently receive, with Hartlepool taxpayers entitled to ask not just where the money goes — but why.

What do you think ?

Should there be greater Scrutiny over payments being made directly to other local councils ?

• YES
• NO