About us

Durham County Council employs 16,500 people (including schools) and serves a population of 522,100 people.

Established in 1888, the council was reorganised in 2009, becoming the seventh largest unitary council in the country, in terms of population.

We are responsible for providing a wide range of public services to the people of the county, and also represent and promote the interests of County Durham when dealing with regional, national and international affairs.

Our powers and responsibilities are determined by Parliament with county council elections held every four years. The most recent elections were held in May 2021.

We have 126 elected Members and are the largest directly elected assembly outside of Westminster.

Political composition

The current political make-up of the council can be found here.

Council structure

To deliver our services, there are six directorates:

• Adult and Health Services
• Chief Executive's Service
• Children and Young People's Services
• Neighbourhoods and Climate Change
• Regeneration, Economy and Growth
• Resources

Management structure

Our highly commended corporate management team (MJ Awards, 2021) is as follows:

• John Hewitt - Chief Executive
• Alan Patrickson - Corporate Director of Neighbourhoods and Climate Change
• Michael Laing - Interim Corporate Director of Adult and Health Services
• Amy Harhoff - Corporate Director of Regeneration, Economy and Growth
• Paul Darby - Corporate Director of Resources
• John Pearce - Corporate Director of Children and Young People's Services

In 2018 we were highly commended for highways services in the MJ Achievement Awards and we were also highly commended in the 2021 MJ Achievement Awards for our approach to senior leadership.

Council Plan 2024 to 2028

The Council Plan is our high-level plan and is underpinned by a series of plans for service groupings. These plans cover three years and are updated annually, the most recent plan can be viewed here.

Find out more about the council at www.durham.gov.uk/aboutus