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57-543: 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

114-505: A Mayor of London and 25-member London Assembly . The first mayoral and assembly elections took place in 2000. The former Leader of the Greater London Council , Ken Livingstone , served as the inaugural Mayor, until he was defeated by future Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2008 . The incumbent, Sadiq Khan , was first elected in 2016 . The Mayor's functions include chairing Transport for London , holding

171-419: A municipal borough in 1853 and formed a county borough , exempt from county council control, from 1889. Richmond and Scarborough had been incorporated as municipal boroughs in 1835, with Thornaby-on-Tees added in 1892. The urban districts in 1894 were Eston , Guisborough, Hinderwell, Kirkleatham, Kirklington cum Upsland , Loftus, Malton, Masham, Northallerton, Pickering, Redcar, Saltburn and Marske by

228-468: A non-metropolitan county council and two or more non-metropolitan district councils share responsibility for these services. In single-tier areas a unitary authority , London borough , or metropolitan borough provides all services. The City of London and Isles of Scilly have unique local authorities. The London boroughs, metropolitan boroughs, and some unitary authorities collaborate through regional authorities. The Greater London Authority (GLA)

285-610: 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

342-483: A county council and a district council, which would share local authority functions. In May 2022, 21 non-metropolitan county councils and 164 non-metropolitan district councils remain. These are better known as simply county councils and district councils. The Local Government Act 1985 also abolished metropolitan county councils, but there are still 36 metropolitan district councils as of May 2022. There are also (as of April 2023) 62 unitary authorities. These carry out

399-547: A devolution deal, which are usually reserved to combined authorities for additional functions and funding. And, like some combined authorities and parish councils, local authorities do have a general power of competence . Separate to combined authorities, two or more local authorities can also work together through joint boards (for legally-required services: fire, public transport and waste disposal), joint committees (voluntarily) or through contracting out and agency arrangements. The Greater London Authority Act 1999 established

456-515: A local authority. Ten currently exist, with more planned. Parish councils form the lowest tier of local government and govern civil parishes . They may also be called a 'community council', 'neighbourhood council', 'village council', 'town council' or (if the parish holds city status) 'city council', but these names are stylistic and do not change their responsibilities. As of December 2021 there are 10,475 parishes in England, but they do not cover

513-633: A parish council must meet certain conditions of quality. Civil parishes developed in the nineteenth century and were based on the Church of England's parishes , which until then had both ecclesiastical and local government functions; parish councils were created by the Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73). The ecclesiastical parishes continue to exist, but neither they nor their parochial church councils have any local government role. There are 317 local authorities covering

570-713: 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 . 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. Local government in England Civil parishes are

627-412: 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. 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. In 2024 a combined authority

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684-561: A whole has limited revenue-raising powers compared to other G7 countries. In the 20th century, local authorities found that the costs of providing services exceeded the revenues raised from local taxes and so grants from the UK Government (specifically the Treasury ) gradually increased. However, UK Government grants were cut by 40% in real terms between the financial years 2009/10 and 2019/20, although grant income did grow due to

741-481: Is a public interest in disclosing information about local government investments which will generally outweigh any concerns about whether disclosure could affect an investment's performance or be protected by confidentiality requirements. Local authorities cannot borrow money to finance day-to-day spending and so must rely on yearly income or reserves for this type of expenditure, although they can borrow to fund capital expenditure. Local government in England as

798-517: Is clear both practically and democratically that the overly centralised arrangements of government in England are problematic" and that reform was also needed of funding structures. As of May 2024, the various combined authorities, county, district, and sui generis councils formed an administrative hierarchy as shown in the table below. Unitary authorities are legally either district councils which also perform county functions or county councils which also perform district functions; they therefore straddle

855-462: Is the regional authority for Greater London , with responsibility for transport, policing, fire and rescue, development and strategic planning. Combined authorities are statutory bodies which allow two or more local authorities to voluntarily pool responsibilities and negotiate a devolution deal with the UK Government for the area they cover, giving it powers beyond those typically held by

912-563: The COVID-19 pandemic . Local government receives two types of grants: the Revenue Support Grant, which can be spent on any service according to the wishes of the local government body in question, and specific grants, which are usually 'ring fenced' to specifically defined service areas. Council tax was introduced in 1993 to replace the ' poll tax '. It is a domestic property tax, based on eight bands (A to H) depending on

969-717: The Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and London Fire Commissioner to account and keeping strategies up to date, including the London Plan . Meanwhile, it is the Assembly's role to regularly hold the Mayor and their key advisers to account and it can also amend the budget or a strategy by a two-thirds majority, though this has not ever happened as of March 2022. Combined authorities can be created at

1026-591: The East Riding and West Riding . The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at 2,585 ft (788 m). From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area , having been previously part of the Yorkshire lieutenancy . Each riding was treated as a county for many purposes, such as quarter sessions . An administrative county, based on the riding, was created with a county council in 1889 under

1083-467: The Local Government Act 1888 . In 1974 both the administrative county and the North Riding of Yorkshire lieutenancy were abolished, replaced in most of the riding by the non-metropolitan county and lieutenancy of North Yorkshire , and in the north-west by County Durham . Archives from 1808 record that the " north-riding of York-shire " had once consisted of "fifty-one lordships" owned by Robert

1140-541: 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. Until 1974,

1197-548: The Localism Act 2011 . In every area, one local authority acts as the billing authority (the district council in two-tier areas), which prepares and collects council tax bills. Other parts of local government (like county councils in two-tier areas, police and crime commissioners, fire authorities, parish councils and combined authorities) act as precepting authorities, which notify the relevant billing authority of their decision on council tax and later receive this money from

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1254-615: The River Tees historically in Durham. The area was associated with the North Riding for lieutenancy and other purposes. The main towns of the riding (before its authority was abolished) were Middlesbrough , Redcar , Whitby , Scarborough and Northallerton . In 1974 the North Riding authorities were abolished. The majority of its former area became North Yorkshire , with the addition of northern West Riding and north-western pre-1974 East Riding . The former Teesside county borough and areas around it became part of Cleveland county while

1311-636: The sui generis City of London Corporation . The other sui generis local authorities are the Council of the Isles of Scilly , Middle Temple and Inner Temple . Outside Greater London and the Isles of Scilly , the Local Government Act 1972 divided England into metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties, which would have one county council and multiple district councils each. That meant that each area would be covered by two tiers of local authorities - both

1368-433: The 2025 election, reducing the number of councillors to 98. 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. 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

1425-551: The Bruce . During the English Civil War , the North Riding predominantly supported the royalist cause, while other areas of Yorkshire tended to support the parliamentarians . The County of York, North Riding administrative county was formed in 1889. In 1894 it was divided into municipal boroughs, urban districts and rural districts under the Local Government Act 1894 . Middlesbrough had already been incorporated as

1482-573: The Electoral Commission has recommended that all authorities use whole council elections every 4 years. Local authorities have a choice of executive arrangements under the Local Government Act 2000 : mayor and cabinet executive, leader and cabinet executive, a committee system or bespoke arrangements approved by the Secretary of State. As of April 2023, just 15 local authorities have directly-elected mayors . Some functions are just

1539-527: The Labour Party as of 2024 except for Tees Valley . Each combined authority's executive consists of a representative from each of its constituent local authorities, plus (if applicable) the mayor. Functions can be devolved directly to the mayor, to the combined authority as a whole, or have a different decision-making requirement. The budget and functions of each combined authority can be vastly different, but possible functions include responsibility for

1596-462: The Sea , Scalby, Skelton and Brotton and Whitby . In 1922 Redcar was incorporated as a borough. The rural districts in 1894 were Aysgarth, Bedale , Croft , Easingwold, Flaxton , Guisborough, Helmsley, Kirkby Moorside, Leyburn, Malton, Masham, Middlesbrough , Northallerton, Pickering, Reeth, Richmond, Scarborough, Startforth , Stokesley , Thirsk, Wath and Whitby . County Review Orders reduced

1653-637: The Secretary of State the power to provide for a directly-elected combined authority mayor . And, as of May 2022, nine out of the 10 combined authorities have mayors, including Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester and Andy Street in the West Midlands . In the 2024 local elections , new Combined Authorities were elected; they were the new York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority , North East Mayoral Combined Authority , East Midlands Combined County Authority . They are all controlled by

1710-481: The Startforth Rural District came under County Durham. Most of the former riding is now represented by the larger North Yorkshire District . The boroughs of Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland are wholly inside the former North Riding's area. They are also some parts of the former area in the council areas of Stockton-on-Tees , York and County Durham . On three occasions a re-use of

1767-518: The administrative county in 1968 to become part of the County Borough of Teesside . 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

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1824-405: The agreement of the relevant local authorities, and under the Localism Act 2011 eligible parish councils can be granted a " general power of competence " (GPC) which allows them within certain limits the freedom to do anything an individual can do provided it is not prohibited by other legislation, as opposed to being limited to the powers explicitly granted to them by law. To be eligible for this

1881-604: The billing authority. Between financial years 2009/10 and 2021/22, council tax rates increased by 30% in real terms, in light of reduced grants from the UK Government. Business rates is a tax on business premises. It is based on the rateable value of the premises (set by the Valuation Office Agency ) and a business rate multiplier. It is set and collected by billing authorities. Reforms in 2013 now mean that local authorities keep 50% of business rate revenues raised locally. The UK Government then distributes

1938-536: The composition of the council was: 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

1995-415: 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: Administrative county Two-tier non-metropolitan county Unitary authority The leaders of the council since 2001 have been: Following the 2021 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2024,

2052-412: The county and district columns. Metropolitan districts and London boroughs are also shown straddling the county and district columns. In much of the country there is also a lower tier of civil parishes . This administrative hierarchy differs from the ceremonial hierarchy . North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire , England, alongside York ,

2109-560: The county council. 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. Durham was the first county council to be controlled by the Labour Party , which won the most seats in 1919. In 1974, the county was redesignated as a non-metropolitan county under

2166-500: The county is also covered by civil parishes , which form a lower tier of local government for their areas. 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,

2223-576: The financial year 2019/20, local authorities received 22% of their funding from grants, 52% from council tax and 27% from retained business rates. In the financial year 2023/24, 51% of revenue expenditure is expected to come from UK Government grants, 31% from council tax and 15% from retained business rates. Local government can also receive some money from fees and charges for the use of services, returns and interest from investments , commercial income, fixed penalty notices and capital receipts. The Information Commissioner's Office has ruled that there

2280-703: The functions of both county and district councils and have replaced two-tier local government in some areas. The creation of these first became possible under the Local Government Act 1992 , but now takes place under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 . In the 2023/24 financial year, 33% of budgeted service expenditure across local government as a whole is set to be on education , 19% on adult social care , 13% on police , 11% on children's social care and 24% on all other services. Notably, Cornwall Council has been subject to

2337-436: 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 . In 1997, Darlington became a unitary authority, removing it from county council control. Durham County Council itself became

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2394-413: The lowest tier of local government, and primarily exist in rural and smaller urban areas. The responsibilities of parish councils are limited and generally consist of providing and maintaining public spaces and facilities. Local authorities cover the entirety of England, and are responsible for services such as education, transport, planning applications, and waste collection and disposal. In two-tier areas

2451-484: The name of the North Riding for local government purposes has been considered. During the 1990s UK local government reform , the Banham Commission suggested uniting Richmondshire , Hambleton , Ryedale and Scarborough districts in a new unitary authority called North Riding of Yorkshire. Later, the government proposed renaming the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire the North Riding of Yorkshire. This

2508-570: The non-metropolitan county, and includes Darlington , Hartlepool , and the parts of Stockton-on-Tees north of the River Tees . 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

2565-620: The number of urban and rural districts in the county: In 1968 a new Teesside county borough was created, taking in Middlesbrough and parts of the administrative areas of Durham and North Riding councils. From the North Riding came the Redcar Borough and Saltburn-Marske Urban District, Thornaby-on-Tees Borough (formerly part of the Stokesley's rural district) and Eston's urban district. Tees-Side also included parts north of

2622-463: 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. The next election is due in 2025. 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. New division boundaries have been drawn up to take effect from

2679-523: The people within government are unsure at times where powers and responsibility, and hence accountability, rest, this lack of clarity is magnified for individuals who have little knowledge or experience of the structures. This has the potential to leave individuals less likely to be able to access what they need from government, leaving them often unable to know who is responsible, and as a result are not properly able to hold their democratic representatives to account. The Committee also said that "[t]he evidence

2736-773: The relevant police force and/or fire brigade , bus franchising and spatial strategy. Lower-tier of a two-tier system. Upper-tier of a two-tier system. De facto unitary authorities since abolition of metropolitan county councils . Metropolitan county councils were abolished in 1986 and most of their functions were devolved to the metropolitan boroughs making them unitary authorities in all but name. Some combined and regional authorities may assume responsibility for policing, e.g. South Yorkshire . Some combined and regional authorities may assume responsibility for policing, e.g. Greater Manchester . In England, local authorities have three main sources of funding: UK Government grants, council tax and business rates . In

2793-478: The remaining 50% of business rate revenues according to its own judgement. It was initially planned to increase the proportion of business rates that local authorities retain to 100%, but this was indefinitely delayed in 2021. In 2022, the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee said that it had "significant concerns about the current governance arrangements for England": If

2850-527: The request of two or more local authorities. Combined authorities do not replace the local authorities in question, but can receive separate functions and funding. As of May 2022, there are 10 combined authorities covering some of England. The Secretary of State was first granted the power to create combined authorities by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 . The Cities and Local Government Devolution Act 2016 gave

2907-513: The responsibility of the executive of a local authority, but local authorities must also have at least one overview and scrutiny committee to hold the executive to account. The London Government Act 1963 established 32 London borough councils. It also established the Greater London Council , covering the whole of Greater London , but this was later abolished by the Local Government Act 1985 . Greater London also includes

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2964-411: The value of the property on 1 April 1991. Various discounts are set out in law and exist at the discretion of billing authorities. On a yearly basis, local government bodies review and consider whether to increase or decrease the level of council tax to fund their spending plans. The level at which a local authority can increase council tax each year without holding a local referendum is regulated by

3021-560: The whole of England. There are five main types of local authorities: London borough councils , two-tier county and district councils , metropolitan district councils and unitary authorities . Some local authorities have borough , city or royal borough status, but this is purely stylistic. All local authorities are made up of councillors , who represent geographical wards . There are 7,026 wards as of December 2021. Local authorities run on four year cycles and councillors may be elected all at once, by halves or by thirds; although

3078-430: The whole of the country as many urban parishes were abolished in 1974. The only specific statutory function of parish councils, which they must do, is establishing allotments . However, there are a number of other functions given by powers in the relevant legislation, which they can do, such as providing litter bins and building bus shelters . Their statutory functions are few, but they may provide other services with

3135-520: Was deemed inappropriate and rejected, after a "chorus of disapprobation". During a further local government review in the 2000s as part of the preparations for the regional assembly referendums , a unitary authority with the name North Riding of Yorkshire, consisting of Richmondshire, Hambleton, Ryedale and Scarborough was again suggested. However, the Commission withdrew this in favour or two unitary authorities, one for Hambleton and Richmondshire,

3192-477: Was elected by and provided services to the rest of the county, which area was termed the administrative county . 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

3249-590: 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. Since 2009, Durham County Council has provided both county-level and district-level services. Much of

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