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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 December 2026
  • Millom Infant School (primary) — open, but proposed to close; reason recorded: for academy; proposed date 30 November 2026
  • West Lakes Academy (secondary) — open, but proposed to close; reason recorded: fresh start; proposed date 30 November 2026
  • West Lakes Academy (secondary) — proposed to open; reason recorded: fresh start; proposed date 1 December 2026
In the last twelve months: 3 opened (2 new provision, 1 academy converter), 3 closed (1 for academy, 1 academy converter, 1 closure)

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

Life in Cumberland: the official facts

Facts about the people who live here: their pay, homes, health and more, from official statistics. They describe the place, not you, and every council gets the same list. Each shows when it was measured.

Show the figures for:

Showing: Cumberland.

People living here
282,343 people 30 June 2025 · Office for National StatisticsAn official estimate of everyone who lives in the area, in the middle of the year.
Typical age
46 years 30 June 2025 · Office for National StatisticsHalf the people who live here are younger than this and half are older.
Money to live on, per person, per year
£22,684 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage household income per person after taxes, with benefits added: what people have to spend or save.
Typical weekly pay, before tax
£662 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsFor employees who live here: half earn more than this each week, half earn less.
Children growing up in poverty
22.9% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsThe share of children under 16 in families on low incomes once housing costs are paid.
People claiming unemployment-related benefits
2.4% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsThe share of people aged 16 to 64 claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit while looking for work.
Average price of a home
£172,654 August 2026 · HM Land RegistryThe average price of a home here in the month shown.
How many years of pay a home costs
4.2 times yearly pay 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsA typical home's price divided by the typical yearly pay of people who live here.
Years in good health: women
60.1 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsHow many years a girl born here can expect to live in good health, at current rates.
Years in good health: men
59.0 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsHow many years a boy born here can expect to live in good health, at current rates.
Greenhouse gases, per person
7.8 tonnes per person 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroEmissions from the area in a year, shared out per resident, in tonnes of carbon dioxide or its equivalent.
Homes and businesses that can get the fastest broadband
84.8% 1 January 2026 · OfcomThe share of addresses that can get gigabit broadband (1,000 Mbps).
Public chargers for electric cars
156.5 per 100,000 people 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublic charging points at all speeds, for every 100,000 people.
Businesses trading here
9,050 businesses 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with sales or staff in the year.

More figures for Cumberland from the ONS

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.