‘Betrayed’: 21 Hartlepool councillors threaten to quit Labour over care budget | County Durham

Keir Starmer is facing a mass resignation from Labor councilors over the “betrayal” of funding for children in care in one of England’s poorest areas.

Works councilors in Hartlepool, County Durham, said they were caught “between despair and open rebellion” over an “unfair” cash deal that would leave the accounts unable to balance.

Hartlepool council leader Pamela Hargreaves told the Guardian that her group of 21 councillors, who have overall control of the 36-member council, were considering quitting Labor this week in protest.

“We feel betrayed. We feel let down,” he said. “We worked really hard to get a Labor government and it promised so much and we expected so much more. How much longer do you feel we can keep the faith?”

Starmer is facing intense criticism over his decision to abandon plans to cancel local elections in 30 regions of England covering 4.5 million people on Monday.

The Prime Minister has been accused of overseeing another costly U-turn that will leave councils in disarray and expose Labor to even more damaging consequences on election day in May.

Hargreaves said Hartlepool needed an extra £3 million to fund its burgeoning social care bill but the government had refused. Town owned third highest Number of children in need of care per capita in England.

Local government secretary Steve Reed told the House of Commons last week that ministers were “realigning” funding so poorer areas get a fairer share.

But local government leaders said a “significant” increase in funding was needed to prevent more local authorities from going bankrupt after major rises in costs and cuts under the Conservative government.

Hartlepool is England’s sixth poorest council and is expected to increase council tax by 4.99% for 2026-27, the maximum amount allowed without a local referendum, according to official figures.

The mandate was won back by Labor from a Conservative-independent coalition two years ago but Nigel Farage’s Reform UK hopes to make significant gains when a third of council seats come up for re-election in May. Its predecessor, the Brexit party, briefly led the authority in coalition with the Conservatives in 2019-20.

Jonathan Brash, Labor MP for Hartlepool, said the government had proposed a £3m cash increase but this was “equivalent to funding around six children in care”.

He told MPs last week that the government’s funding deal left Labor councilors “distraught, despairing and deeply concerned” and that services such as libraries, youth services and community centers would be under threat.

Hargreaves said he and Labor councilors would consider resigning at the end of this week unless the government agreed to help fund a £6 million overspend on the children’s social care budget; this had increased partly as a result of other local authorities “abandoning” families in Hartlepool.

He said: “All I wanted was £3m and we could balance the books this year and what happened? [the government] He says the hard-working people of Hartlepool, who already pay too much council tax, should shoulder this.

“This is not the fairer funding we were promised “And this is not the government my group of Labor councilors are fighting to bring to power.”

Hargreaves said it was particularly frustrating for Labor members who helped win back Hartlepool in 2024 after a damaging 2021 by-election in which Starmer lost to the Conservatives in a defeat that caused him to consider resigning as party leader.

“We took to the streets, handed out all the leaflets, carried the Labor message, went to the people and asked them to trust us and believe in Labor again,” he said.

“And now we’re at the 11th hour again, where we don’t have enough money to solve problems that are beyond our control.”

When asked whether mass resignations were on the cards, Hargreaves said: “If it comes to that, it’s definitely something to consider because we’re lost. Where are we going? No one seems to be listening.”

The Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.