How do North East councils spend your money?

1 May 2022

Voters go to the polls on 5 May for a number of North East council elections.

One third of the seats are up for grabs at Gateshead, Hartlepool, Newcastle, Sunderland and North and South Tyneside councils.

All authorities are funded by a variety of sources, including council tax, government grants and other income, such as parking charges.

This is how £100 of your money is spent by each on services such as social care, education and waste collection:

Gateshead Council

The metropolitan borough council is run by Labour who hold 52 of the 66 seats, with 13 Liberal Democrat and one Independent.

One seat is being contested in 22 of its wards.

It serves a population of about 202,000, and said its net revenue budget for 2022/23 is £254m.

No party has control of the unitary authority, which is currently being led by a coalition between Independent and Conservative councillors.

Ballots will be cast for 13 of it 36 seats, with one ward electing two councillors.

The authority is Labour controlled, with the party holding 52 of the 78 seats, and the Independents 20.

Ballots will be cast for 27 councillors, one for each of 25 wards, and two for another.

The city has a population of 300,820 - the largest in the North East - and its net revenue budget for 2022/23 is £241.7m.

The borough council has a Labour majority and polling is taking place for 20 of its 60 seats.

It serves a population of about 208,000 and the estimated net budget is £163m.

The Labour-run council has 19 of 54 seats up for election, with one ward electing two councillors.

It has a population of just under 150,000 and the total budget requirement for 2022/23 is £136m.

Twenty five of the 75 seats are up for grabs at the Labour-run council.

However, it is likely to be a tightly-fought election as the party only has to lose six councillors to see its majority wiped out.

The authority, which has a population of almost 278,000, said the allocated revenue for 2022/23 was £764.9m.