What’s It To Me?
My profile

Your council

Cumberland: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Cumberland Council: Unitary authority (unitary), England, North West. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code E06000063.

Council website

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Cumberland for 2026–27: £2,002.64 of a £2,511.32 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Changes to schools in this area recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

  • Millom Infant School (primary) — proposed to open; reason recorded: new provision; proposed date 1 October 2026
In the last twelve months: 3 opened (2 new provision, 1 academy converter), 2 closed (1 for academy, 1 academy converter)

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s table has no figures for Cumberland for 2026–27: “RA return not received in time for publication.” The table

Cumberland in numbers

Official statistics for the whole council area. Each figure is the latest published, with the period it covers.

Total population
280,495 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age
46 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head
£22,684 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay
£662 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs
22.9% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsPercentage of children aged under 16 living in relative low income families After Housing Costs (AHC)
Claimant Count
2.4% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price
£170,966 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based)
4.2 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Female healthy life expectancy
60.1 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for females born in the given year
Male healthy life expectancy
59.0 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage years expected to be lived in good health for males born in the given year
Greenhouse gas emissions
7.8 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband
84.8% 1 January 2026 · OfcomPercentage of premises that have coverage from a gigabit-capable service (download speeds of 1,000 Mbps or more)
Public electric vehicle chargers
156.5 per 100,000 population 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublicly available electric vehicle chargers at all speeds per 100,000 people
Active businesses
9,050 number of enterprises 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with turnover or employment in current year

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

46 seats in 2026. Run by: Labour, with a majority. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Labour Party 26, Conservative and Unionist 8, Independent / Other 5, Liberal Democrats 4, Green Party (E&W) 3.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 46 councillors, by ward
  • Kevin Thurlow (Independent / Other) — Aspatria
  • Helen Davison (Green Party (E&W)) — Belah
  • Abdul Harid (Labour Party) — Belle Vue
  • Robert Betton (Independent / Other) — Botcherby
  • Jill Perry (Green Party (E&W)) — Bothel and Wharrels
  • Mike Mitchelson (Conservative and Unionist) — Brampton
  • Joseph Ghayouba (Labour Party) — Bransty
  • Anne Glendinning (Labour Party) — Castle
  • Linda Jones-Bulman (Independent / Other) — Cleator Moor East and Frizington
  • Michael Eldon (Labour Party) — Cleator Moor West
  • Helen Tucker (Green Party (E&W)) — Cockermouth North
  • Andrew Semple (Labour Party) — Cockermouth South
  • Roger Dobson (Liberal Democrats) — Corby and Hayton
  • Lisa Hinton (Labour Party) — Currock
  • Trevor Allison (Conservative and Unionist) — Dalston and Burgh
  • Martin Harris (Labour Party) — Dearham and Broughton
  • Christopher Southward (Labour Party) — Denton Holme
  • Sam Pollen (Labour Party) — Egremont
  • Graham Minshaw (Labour Party) — Egremont North and St Bees
  • David Moore (Conservative and Unionist) — Gosforth
  • Justin McDermott (Labour Party) — Harraby North
  • Lucy Patrick (Labour Party) — Harraby South
  • Denise Rollo (Labour Party) — Harrington
  • Jeanette Forster (Labour Party) — Hillcrest and Hensingham
  • John Mallinson (Conservative and Unionist) — Houghton and Irthington
  • Gillian Troughton (Labour Party) — Howgate
  • Emma Williamson (Labour Party) — Kells and Sandwith
  • Sally Lansbury (Labour Party) — Keswick
  • Tim Pickstone (Liberal Democrats) — Longtown
  • Carni McCarron-Holmes (Labour Party) — Maryport North
  • Bill Pegram (Labour Party) — Maryport South
  • Bob Kelly (Labour Party) — Millom
  • Andy Pratt (Conservative and Unionist) — Millom Without
  • Mike Hawkins (Independent / Other) — Mirehouse
  • Anne Quilter (Labour Party) — Morton
  • Stephen Stoddart (Independent / Other) — Moss Bay and Moorclose
  • Jimmy Grisdale (Labour Party) — Seaton
  • Tony Markley (Conservative and Unionist) — Solway Coast
  • Barbara Cannon (Labour Party) — St John's and Great Clifton
  • Mark Fryer (Labour Party) — St Michael's
  • Brian Wernham (Liberal Democrats) — Stanwix Urban
  • Mike Johnson (Conservative and Unionist) — Thursby
  • Chris Wills (Liberal Democrats) — Upperby
  • Gareth Ellis (Conservative and Unionist) — Wetheral
  • Elaine Lynch (Labour Party) — Wigton
  • Jeanette Whalen (Labour Party) — Yewdale

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.