COUNCIL jobs will not be replaced when staff leave in an effort to balance the books, it has been revealed.

Hartlepool Borough Council set a budget for the forthcoming year of 3.9 per cent, inline with most other councils in the region, the first time the authority has increased the tax in five years.

That will raise an extra £1.3m, but that still left a serious shortfall in the budget following a cut of £4.5m in its Government grant, a reduction of nearly 18 per cent, on top of the lost £3.8m from Hartlepool Power Station who won a reduction in its business rates tax last year.

The gap in the budget will be filled by using reserves, taking advantage of underspends in various budgets from last year and not filling job vacancies when people leave.

The 3.9 per cent increase includes a two per cent rise will must only be spent on caring for vulnerable adults. The tax increase means that the 72 per cent of Hartlepool households who live in Band A and Band B properties face an increase of 83p a week. Hartlepool has a much higher proportion of people living in lower priced houses than the national average. The vast majority of those who receive the Local Council Tax Support tax break will only have to pay an extra 10p a week.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, the Labour Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council, said: “There’s no doubt that the recent grant settlement was savage and extremely harsh on the people of Hartlepool, but we’ll continue to remain positive and work tirelessly for the betterment of the town and local people.”

By 2019/20, Hartlepool Council will have seen its Government funding cut by two-thirds (£38m) from 2011/12 when the austerity cuts were first introduced.