Middlesbrough Council: local authority assessment

How we assess local authorities

Assessment published: 21 February 2025

About Middlesbrough Council

Demographics

Middlesbrough is a town on the south side of the River Tees in Northeast England. It has a population of 148,285. Middlesbrough has a slightly less older persons population than the rest of England, with those aged 65 years and over making up 16.76% of the population, compared to 18.61% in the rest of England.

The 2021 Census identified the usual resident population as being 143,924 which was a 4% increase above the 2011 Census. Deprivation and poverty are present in Middlesbrough, with a significant proportion of the population living in areas of low income and unemployment. Middlesbrough was ranked the 14th most deprived area in England. In 2021, 10.48% of the population of Middlesbrough identified as Black, Asian and minority ethnic which was slightly more than the England average of 9.61%.

Middlesbrough is a partner of the Northeast and North Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS). They are 1 of 13 local authorities who make up the largest ICS in England.

Middlesbrough is part of the Tees Valley combined authority which covers 5 council areas Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees. The borough of Middlesbrough is the smallest of the five areas.

Since 1996 Middlesbrough has been a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. The council is led by the directly elected Mayor of Middlesbrough. Labour has control of Middlesbrough Council with the mayor leading 22 party councillors. The mayor is also the Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health. Executive members are councillors who have responsibility for one of the council's departments. They are responsible for sharing information, working closely with staff, and looking at how to deal with problems.

Financial facts

The financial facts for Middlesbrough are:

• The Local Authority estimated that in 2023/2024 its total budget would be £256,608,000. Its actual spend for that year was £275,558,000, which was £18,950,000 more than estimated.
• The Local Authority estimated that it would spend £64,062,000 of its total budget on adult social care in 2023/2024. Its actual spend was £67,891,000, which was £3,829,000 more than estimated.
• In 2023/24, 24.64% of the budget was spent on adult social care.
• The Local Authority has raised the full adult social care precept for 2023/24, with a value of 2%. Please note that the amount raised through ASC precept varies from local authority to local authority.
• In 2022/23 approximately 3590 people were accessing long-term adult social care support, and approximately 395 people were accessing short-term adult social care support. Local Authorities spend money on a range of adult social care services, including supporting individuals. No two care packages are the same and vary significantly in their intensity, duration, and cost.

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only.