Durham County Council

Durham County Council
Type
Type	Unitary authority
Leadership
Chair	Joan Nicholson, Derwentside Independents since 29 March 2023 [1] [2]
Leader	Amanda Hopgood, Liberal Democrat since 26 May 2021 [3]
Chief Executive	John Hewitt since December 2020 [4]
Structure
Seats	126 councillors [5]
Political groups	Administration (66)   Conservative (21)   Independent (21)   Liberal Democrats (17)   Derwentside Ind. (4)   North East Party (2)   Green (1) Other parties (60)   Labour (56)   Independent (4)
Joint committees	North East Combined Authority
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	6 May 2021
Next election	1 May 2025
Meeting place
County Hall, Aykley Heads, Durham, DH1 5UL
Website
www.durham.gov.uk

Durham County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of County Durham in North East England. The council is a unitary authority, being a non-metropolitan county council which also performs the functions of a non-metropolitan district council. It has its headquarters at County Hall in Durham.

The council has been under no overall control since the 2021 election, being run by a coalition of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Derwentside Independents, Green Party, and most of the independents, led by Liberal Democrat councillor Amanda Hopgood. It had previously been under the control of the Labour Party continuously since 1925. The council is a member of the North East Combined Authority.

The identically-named ceremonial county of Durham is larger than the non-metropolitan county, and includes Darlington, Hartlepool, and the parts of Stockton-on-Tees north of the River Tees.

History

Elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over administrative functions previously carried out by unelected magistrates at the quarter sessions. The boroughs of Gateshead, South Shields and Sunderland were considered large enough to provide their own county-level services and so they were made county boroughs, independent from Durham County Council. The county council was elected by and provided services to the rest of the county, which area was termed the administrative county. ^[6]

Additional county boroughs were later created at West Hartlepool in 1902 and Darlington in 1915. In 1967 West Hartlepool merged with the neighbouring borough of Hartlepool (which had just covered the old town), with the enlarged county borough thereafter being called Hartlepool. Stockton-on-Tees, Billingham and surrounding areas were removed from the administrative county in 1968 to become part of the County Borough of Teesside.

Durham Crown Court, formerly Shire Hall: Council's first meeting place 1889–1898

The first elections took place in January 1889 and the county council formally came into being on 1 April 1889. On that day its first official meeting was held at the old Shire Hall on Old Elvet in Durham, the courthouse (built 1811) which had served as the meeting place of the quarter sessions which preceded the county council. ^[7] The first chairman of the council was John Lloyd Wharton, who was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Ripon (in Yorkshire); he had also been chairman of the Durham Quarter Sessions since 1871. ^[8]

Durham was the first county council to be controlled by the Labour Party, which won the most seats in 1919. ^[9]

In 1974, the county was redesignated as a non-metropolitan county under the Local Government Act 1972. As part of those reforms the county ceded territory in the north-east to the new county of Tyne and Wear and in the south-east to the new county of Cleveland, but gained the former Startforth Rural District covering the part of Teesdale south of the River Tees from the North Riding of Yorkshire, and Darlington was brought back under the county council's control. ^[10]

Until 1974, the lower tier of local government comprised numerous boroughs, urban districts and rural districts. The districts were also reorganised in 1974 into eight non-metropolitan districts: Chester-le-Street, Darlington, Derwentside, Durham, Easington, Sedgefield, Teesdale, and Wear Valley. ^{[11] [12]}

In 1997, Darlington became a unitary authority, removing it from county council control. ^[13] Durham County Council itself became a unitary authority on 1 April 2009, when the seven remaining non-metropolitan districts of the county were abolished and the county council absorbed their functions. ^[14] The legislation which made the county council a unitary authority allowed the council to omit the word 'County' from its name to become 'Durham Council', but in the event the name 'Durham County Council' was kept. ^{[15] [a]}

In 2024 a combined authority was established covering Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle upon Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland, called the North East Mayoral Combined Authority. It is chaired by the directly elected Mayor of the North East and oversees the delivery of certain strategic functions across the area. ^[16]

Governance

Since 2009, Durham County Council has provided both county-level and district-level services. Much of the county is also covered by civil parishes, which form a lower tier of local government for their areas. ^[17]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since the 2021 election. Labour is the largest party, but a coalition of all the other parties and most of the independent councillors formed to take control of the council, led by Liberal Democrat councillor Amanda Hopgood.

Durham was the first county council to be controlled by Labour, who took power in 1919. Between 1922 and 1925, the council was under no overall control with a Labour minority administration. From 1925 until 2021, Labour held a majority. Political control since 1919 has been as follows: ^{[18] [9] [19]}

Administrative county

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1919–1922
	No overall control	1922–1925
	Labour	1925–1974

Two-tier non-metropolitan county

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1974–2009

Unitary authority

Party in control		Years
	Labour	2009–2021
	No overall control	2021–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 2001 have been: ^[20]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Ken Manton [21]		Labour	2001	10 May 2006
Albert Nugent		Labour	10 May 2006	23 May 2008
Simon Henig		Labour	23 May 2008	26 May 2021
Amanda Hopgood		Liberal Democrats	26 May 2021

Composition

Following the 2021 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2024, the composition of the council was: ^[22]

Party		Councillors
	Labour	56
	Independent	25
	Conservative	21
	Liberal Democrats	17
	Derwentside Independents	4
	North East	2
	Green	1
Total		126

Of the independent councillors, six sit with the Derwentside Independents, North East Party and the Green councillor as the "Durham Group", nine form the "Durham County Council Independent Group", three form the "Spennymoor and Tudhoe Independent Group" and three form the "County Durham Independents". Each of these groups form part of the council's administration. Of the other four independents, three sit as the "Unaligned Group" which is not part of the administration and the other does not belong to a group. ^[23] The next election is due in 2025.

Elections

See also: Durham County Council elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2013 the council has comprised 126 councillors representing 63 electoral divisions, with each division electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. ^[24] New division boundaries have been drawn up to take effect from the 2025 election, reducing the number of councillors to 98. ^[25]

Premises

Shire Hall, Old Elvet: Council's headquarters 1898–1963

The council is based at County Hall at Aykley Heads in the northern suburbs of the city of Durham. The building was purpose-built for the council and was completed in 1963. ^[26]

When first created the council met at the courthouse on Old Elvet, which at the time was known as Shire Hall. A few years after its creation the council decided to build its own headquarters on a site nearby, also on Old Elvet, which was also given the name Shire Hall. The new building was completed in 1898, after which the old Shire Hall became known as the Assizes Court, and since 1971 as Durham Crown Court. ^[27]

The council has announced plans to move to the Rivergreen building, also in the Aykley Heads area of Durham, in 2025, with the intention that County Hall would then be redeveloped. ^{[28] [29]}

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Durham County Council ^[30]

Granted May 10, 1974 Coronet A mural crown Or Escutcheon Azure, a Cross Or square pierced of the field between four Lions rampant Argent each ducally crowned Or and grasping in the dexter claw a Sword in bend sinister proper pommel and hilt also Or as many Lozenges Sable in the fess point a Rose Argent barbed and seeded proper Banner the banner of arms of the council

References

1. Like most unitary authorities, the way County Durham was legally made a unitary authority was by creating both a county and a district which cover the same area and then directing that only one of them should have a council, which performs both district and county functions. Unusually, the county and district have different names in this case: the non-metropolitan county (which had been created and named in the Local Government Act 1972) is called 'Durham', the non-metropolitan district created in the 2009 reforms is called 'County Durham'. The district does not have its own council, but the county council has been given district-level functions in addition to the county-level functions it already had.

1. "Council minutes, 29 March 2023". Durham County Council. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
2. Edgar, Bill (24 May 2024). "Durham Council leader responds to Labour criticism". Darlington and Stockton Times. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
3. "Cross party alliance to run Durham County Council as 100-year Labour rule officially ends". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
4. Engelbrecht, Gavin (30 July 2021). "Durham County Council set to appoint John Hewitt as chief executive". Northern Echo. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
5. Durham County Council, webadmin@durham gov uk. "Local MPs and MEPs - information and advice". Durham County Council. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
6. "Local Government Act 1888", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1888 c. 41, retrieved 4 March 2024
7. Historic England. "Crown Court (Grade II*) (1322878)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 5 March 2024.
8. "Durham County Council". The Shields Daily Gazette. South Shields. 2 April 1889. p. 3. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
9. Bloom, Dan (9 May 2021). "Labour lose control of Durham Council heartland for first time in a century". mirror. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
10. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 5 March 2024
11. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 31 May 2023
12. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 31 May 2023
13. "The Durham (Borough of Darlington) (Structural Change) Order 1995", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1995/1772, retrieved 3 March 2024
14. "The County Durham (Structural Change) Order 2008", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2008/493, retrieved 6 March 2024
15. "The Local Government (Structural Changes) (Miscellaneous Amendments and Other Provision) Order 2009: Article 7", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2009/837 (art. 7), retrieved 6 March 2024
16. "The North East Mayoral Combined County Authority (Establishment and Functions) Order 2024", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2024/402, retrieved 6 May 2024
17. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
18. Bulmer, Martin (2015). Mining and Social Change (Routledge Revivals): Durham County in the Twentieth Century. Routledge. p. 129. ISBN   9781317448488.
19. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
20. "Council minutes". Durham County Council. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
21. "Leader's vote of confidence". Chronicle Live. 12 May 2005. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
22. "Durham". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
23. "Your councillors by political grouping". Durham County Council. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
24. "The Durham (Electoral Changes) Order 2012", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2012/1394, retrieved 6 March 2024
25. "The County Durham (Electoral Changes) Order 2024", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2024/279, retrieved 6 March 2024
26. "Durham County Hall proposed for listed building protection". Northern Echo. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
27. Historic England. "Old Shire Hall (University Office), Old Elvet (1310562)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 20 September 2019.
28. Tague, Neil (18 October 2023). "Council buys Rivergreen for £11m". Place North East. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
29. Edgar, Bill (8 September 2023). "Durham County Council to demolish County Hall in relocation". Northern Echo. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
30. "Durham". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 20 September 2024.

External links

• Official website

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Greenwich London Borough Council	LGC Council of the Year 2014	Succeeded by Glasgow City Council