About the Council
The council is made up of an elected assembly of 126 councillors accountable to nearly 530,100 people in County Durham. We are responsible for providing a wide range of public services to the people of the county.
We also represent and promote the interests of County Durham when dealing with regional, national and international affairs. Through effective local government, we allow local people to look after their own affairs and to decide how and where money is best spent in their area.
Our powers and responsibilities are determined by Parliament with county council elections held every four years. The most recent election was held in May 2021.
Constitution and structure
We are a ‘unitary’ council. This means that we provide the majority of council services in County Durham. We work with a range of partners to provide our services in the best possible way.
Our decision making structure:
A Cabinet of ten councillors meets on a monthly basis to make decisions to implement the council’s policies and budgets. Cabinet is also required to set out its programme of work prior to taking a key decision and before making a decision in private. A notice of key decisions is produced and published on our website each month. A Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board and its Committees, which can monitor Cabinet’s decisions and the Management Board, can ‘call-in’ a decision of the Cabinet (Executive) that has been made but not yet implemented.
The full Council of 126 councillors is a forum for general debate and also celebrates achievements or recognises outstanding service.
Regulatory committees are responsible for our regulatory functions, sometimes referred to as quasi-judicial, and includes planning, highways, licensing and standards. Their business is often governed by law or regulations.
Our Area Action Partnerships involve our partners, local people and organisations in the council’s work, to allow various public, voluntary and community organisations as well as individuals to have a say in how local services are provided to their area.
Our senior management team is:
- John Hewitt – Chief Executive
- Jane Robinson – Corporate Director of Adult and Health Services
- John Pearce – Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services
- Alan Patrickson – Corporate Director of Neighbourhoods and Climate Change
- Amy Harhoff – Corporate Director of Regeneration, Economy and Growth
- Paul Darby – Corporate Director of Resources
Facts and figures:
- 16,029 people work for Durham County Council (ONS Quarterly Public Sector Survey, quarter 3, 2019/20)
- County Durham households generate 226,000 tonnes of waste a year. (2018/9)
- There are 266 state-funded schools in the county (2020)
- There are 39 local libraries (2020)
- We run one museum (2020)
- We have 126 County Councillors (2020)
Political Make-up
Following the elections held on 6 May 2021, the current political make-up of the council is:
- 50 Labour councillors
- 17 Liberal Democrat councillors
- 21 Independent councillors
- 24 Conservative councillors
- 5 Derwentside Independent councillors
- 4 The North East Party councillors
- 3 Labour and Co-operative councillor
- 1 Green Party councillor
- 1 other councillor
The Leader of the Council is Cllr Amanda Hopgood of the Liberal Democrats.
For more information about the Cabinet please see: https://democracy.durham.gov.uk/mgCommitteeDetails.aspx?ID=154
Durham as a place
Durham is an amazing county with a historic city at its heart, breathtaking dales to the west, a dramatic coastline to the east and a vale packed with amazing experiences.
Placed at the heart of North East England, it offers stunning countryside, first class shopping and entertainment, cultural icons, and world renown educational establishments. The County has a large and skilled labour pool, easy access to ports, mainline rail and national road networks, as well as exceptional value housing and business locations.
Throughout history, County Durham has been strategically important to settlers ranging from the Romans to the Angles, Saxons and Normans. Northumbria became the leading centre of the Christian church in Britain with the foundation of Durham Cathedral in 1093 acting as a lasting reminder of the County’s legacy to Christian worship in Britain.
Following the Norman Conquests, William the Conqueror invested the Bishops of Durham with combined secular and spiritual powers to control the modern counties of Cleveland, Durham and Tyne and Wear. The Prince Bishops levied taxes, raised armies, minted money, controlled the courts and were effectively ‘kings’ of North East England until their powers were dramatically diminished by Henry VIII in 1536.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, County Durham became a world leader in the Industrial Revolution, with the county’s development based upon coal and iron production. The area’s influence on the world was demonstrated by the development of the world’s first passenger steam railway at Stockton and Darlington in 1825.
Durham Castle and Cathedral is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other attractions in the County include; Auckland Castle, North of England Lead Mining Museum and Beamish Museum.
For more information about the county please see: https://www.thisisdurham.com/
Children and Young People’s Services
Children and Young People’s Services bring together a number of functions to help support children, young people and families in County Durham. The Corporate Director of Children and Young People’s Services is John Pearce. There are two service areas within Children and Young People’s Services: Education and Children’s Services. There is also a service within Adult and Health Services that provides commissioning services for Children and Young People’s Services.
Our vision is that County Durham will be a great place for children and young people to grow up in and for Durham to be a place where all children are healthy, happy, safe and achieving their potential. To achieve this, we have developed four key aims:
- All children and young people have a safe childhood
- Children and Young People enjoy the best start in life, good health and emotional wellbeing
- Young people gain the education, skills and experience to succeed in adulthood
- Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) achieve the best possible outcomes
Children’s Services hold the lead responsibility for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children. Our key aim is to provide early help for children and families whilst protecting those that need it. We take the lead role in working with partners to implement safeguarding and child protection procedures as agreed by the Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership, which can offer advice on what to do if you are concerned about a child being abused. Only a very small percentage of children nationally, in County Durham (around 1%), require the support or intervention from Children’s Services. Most people access any support required through mainstream services that are available to all children.
For more information about the directorate please see: https://www.durham.gov.uk/article/9898/Children-and-Young-People-s-Services
