Preparations are well underway for Thursday's Coronation Celebrations . . . Why the slow, slow death of our local newspaper is nothing to celebrate ... and how the Round Table talks had one party leader seeing blue flashing lights....
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Allowances Set To Rise
It looks like the basic and special allowances paid to Hartlepool Councillors are set to rise after the town's Labour Group threw their weight behind an increase. Councillors are claiming that the reduction in the number of Councillors and the larger wards which resulted from the boundary changes warrant an increase.
Support for the increase appears to be at odds with the views of the recently appointed new leader of the town's 
Labour Group. Speaking to the Hartlepool Mail, Cllr Christopher Akers-Belcher said:
"“I believe we need to address some of the basic inequalities in Hartlepool and change lives across our town. Now more than ever Hartlepool Labour Group requires decisive leadership following the recent local elections. We recognise the difficult times ahead, our responsibilities and the fact our workload is increasing. In the next year the council will take over responsibility for public health and the Government’s planned changes to the welfare system will mean that more households than ever before will rely on council services.. The local authority has had to adapt, cutting its cloth to match diminished resources while making sure Hartlepool prospers and continues to grow.
We are working under a new, unfair, national Government grant regime that has no regard for need and the high levels of unemployment and deprivation within our borough”.
Allowances are culmulative with all Councillors currently receiving a basic allowance of £5,767 per annum. Any Special Allowances for responsibilities as a Cabinet Member or being a Chair of a Committee are paid on top of the basic allowance.
Councillors can also earn additional amounts by being appointed to other bodies such as the Police or Fire Authorities.
The current Mayoral Allowance is set at £63,300
Hartlepool Council
Police Authority
Fire Authority
Drummond Calls The Bluff
Amidst talk that the town's Labour Group plans to refuse any cabinet positions offered by Mayor, Stuart Drummond, the elected Mayor has pre-empted any refusals by writing to all Councillors asking if they would be interested if offered a Cabinet position.
This removes any prospect of a public rebuffal by the Labour Group because if no Labour Councillors declare an interest then presumably no offer will be made.
The letter is shown below with the Mayor waiting until the end of the...
. . . and it's Goodbye to you too
On May 3rd, the new Fens and Rossmere Ward returned a clean sweep of Councillors belonging to the town's newest political party, Putting Hartlepool First and it seems the now ex-Councillor, Ann Marshall, is not at all suited.
In an e-mail circulated to all council staff, Ms Marshall thanks the staff for their efforts; tells everyone about the new company she has formed, Health and Well-Being, and then makes it clear who she blames for...