Hartlepool

Introduction

Hartlepool Borough Council is in the Tees Valley in the south of the North East region and lies on the coast north of Stockton-on-Tees. It has been responsible for all local authority services since April 1996, when it became a unitary council when the two-tier system of the borough council and Cleveland County Council was replaced with the current unitary authority status. Hartlepool has a directly-elected mayor.

The town developed around the port that grew in significance during the latter half of 19th century with steel making, shipbuilding and engineering flourishing. Following the decline of these traditional industries service sector businesses such have call centres have emerged many sited around the re-developed port area and its marina.

Recent visits

Friday 27 February: Kitty Ussher MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions visited Chatham House Children's Centre, in the Dyke House area of Hartlepool. The minister praised the centre's efforts in getting unemployed parents working in a bid to tackle child poverty.

Demographics for Hartlepool

Mid-2007 Population Estimates

Children and learners

• School Capital Funding allocations for the next three years were announced in November 2007. As a result Hartlepool LA received £4.9 million in 2008-09 (including £1 million for modernisation and £2 milllion for devolved formula funding), £7.6 million in 2009-10 (including £3 million from the Primary Capital Programme) and £9.9 million in 2010-11 (including £5.4 million from the Primary Capital Programme), although 2009-11 figures are only indicative at this stage.
• Hartlepool recently joined wave 5 of the Building Schools for the Future programme. Based on the current timetable the first schools in this project should be rebuilt or renewed by September 2012 and the last by April 2013. The £2 billion a year National Capital Investment Programme is aiming to rebuild or refurbish every secondary school in England so that every child is taught in well designed, efficient 21st century buildings.

Health and well being

• Sandwell Park, a brand new mental health hospital opened in December 2006. The hospital will provide mental health services for adults and older people. It was funded from the £8.4 million mental health building project given to Tees and North East Yorkshire NHS Trust from County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority (now North East Strategic Health Authority).
• Work has begun on a new £19 million health centre in Hartlepool. The centre will provide a range of services including denistry, out-patients and some surgery which is normally only available in hospitals. The centre is scheduled to open in May 2010.

Crime

• During 2008-11 the partnership will receive a Home Office contribution to their Area Based Grant of £546,000. This equates to £182,000 per year. Their funding is to be used to support the delivery of the agreed local area agreement priorities.
• Over £84,000 has also been allocated under the Home Office Basic Command Unit fund for 2009-10 to help police play a full and active role in delivery of crime and disorder reduction partnership strategies and policing plans and contribute towards achievement of public service agreements and local targets. Funding will be used on a wide range of interventions and targeted police operations to tackle crime and disorder, anti-social behaviour, drugs misuse and building partnership capacity. All activity has been identified by taking intelligence led and problem solving approaches.

Transport

• £5.5 million was allocated to Hartlepool from the integrated transport and maintenance block for 2008-09 to 2010-11. This will be used to support a number of initiatives/schemes including access for all, cycling, public transport, safety and security, demand management and environmental improvements.
• A £2.5 million scheme to build a modern transport interchange next to Hartlepool railway station is being progressed by the local council to make public transport journeys more accessible, less time consuming and more attractive. A contractor has been selected and all of the legal documents for the interchange have now been agreed and only remain to be signed. The local council are very hopeful of getting onto the site in the near future. Some improvements to Hartlepool Railway Station have already been completed to improve accessibility. Additional works are due to be started by Network Rail. These include removing the existing roof structure and replace it with a new one, to be followed in summer/autumn 2009 by further improvements to facilities such as a glass waiting area similar to the one at Durham Railway Station. Major works are expected to commence in spring/summer 2009 and to be completed in 2010. The new interchange is to be funded entirely through their local transport plan.

Social inclusion and regeneration

• £4.5 million through Working Neighbourhoods Fund for 2008-09, £5.37 million for 2009-10 and £5.58 million for 201-11 has been allocated to tackle areas of the highest concentrations of worklessness and lowest levels of skills and enterprise, faced by the most disadvantaged communities. In addition, at least £1.6 million over four years from the Neighbourhood element of the Safer and Stronger Communities Fund.
• £3.98 million has been allocated for 2008-09 under the Supporting People programme which offers vulnerable people the opportunity to improve their quality of life by delivering high quality and strategically planned housing-related services which complement existing care services.
• West Central Hartlepool was allocated £53.794 million New Deal for Communities funding over a 10 year period to help regenerate the area. The resident-led partnership is now in its eighth year of operation and progress has been made with key achievements in safer and cleaner environments, community sports facilities, improved education, employment and training opportunities.

European funding

• £72,000 has been allocated to the Hartlepool Art Studio Project to help purchase a former town centre shop, creating a community access arts facility. The project will assist the members of the community in gaining employment in a number of occupations including graphic arts, community arts, youth arts and desktop publishing.
• A new £1.9 million Headland Sports Hall was officially opened in June 2006 at Hartlepool. The centre features a large sports hall, a state-of-the-art fitness suite, and a crèche. The building was paid for by the Sport England and Big Lottery Fund Active England programme.

Source: Office for National Statistics. Last updated 23 June 2009

Internet links

• Neighbourhood Statistics
• Regional Snapshot