A COUNCIL leader is warning that services are seriously under threat as it faces losing almost £4m in business rates each year.

Christopher Akers-Belcher said the Government is not prepared to intervene to help after a ruling - which the council cannot appeal - that Hartlepool's Power Station can pay less in business rates.

It follows a decision in May 2015 by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) to review the rateable value they had set for the Power Station in 2010.

As a result of the VOA decision, the rateable value of the Power Station has been reduced by 48 per cent - resulting in an annual reduction of Business Rates received by Hartlepool Council of £3.9m.

The Power Station's previous rates made up a quarter of the total business rates received by the council.

The news comes at a time when the Council is already facing further major cuts in Government grants and anticipates it will have to make savings of £14m over the next three years to balance the books.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher said: “This is a massive hammer blow and it will undoubtedly be a major threat to our ability to provide some key frontline services in the future.

“Over the last five years, the Government has reduced our main grant by almost 40 per cent.

"We’ve worked really hard to manage this and limit the impact on frontline services.

“I was really hoping that the Government would have listened sympathetically to our plea on this occasion."

Councillor Akers-Belcher also attacked the Government for its unfairness as other Power Station appeals show that Hartlepool Council fared much worse than other areas as the table below shows.

“There just isn’t any logic in the decision to reduce the rateable value of Hartlepool Power Station by 48 per cent and Hinkley Point, Heysham 2 and Sizewell B by 28 per cent, 21 per cent and eight per cent respectively. It’s not a level playing field and this is not right.”

Council finance chiefs say that replacing the £3.9m loss in Business Rates from the Power Station would require the creation of 2,740 small businesses - a 48 per cent increase on current levels or the creation of 2,700 averaged size new homes.

Councillor Akers-Belcher added: “We will not give up the fight and will continue to press the Government for a fair deal."

The Department for Communities and Local Government had not provided a comment at the time of going to press.