Your council

Darlington: 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.

Darlington Borough Council: Unitary authority (unitary), England, North East; part of the TVCA combined authority. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code E06000005.

Council website

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

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 Darlington for 2026–27: £2,056.87 of a £2,493.83 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

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Darlington reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Darlington: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
Service	Budget
Education services	£54.2 million
Highways and transport services	£6.6 million
Children's social care	£43.5 million
Adult social care	£57.8 million
Public health	£11.7 million
Housing services (general fund only)	£3.5 million
Cultural and related services	£7.7 million
Environmental and regulatory services	£13.4 million
Planning and development services	£1.5 million
Police services	none budgeted
Fire and rescue services	none budgeted
Central services	£9.6 million
Other services	−£1.7 million
Total service expenditure	£207.9 million

Net current expenditure: net of sales, fees and charges; spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is excluded.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Revenue Account Budget 2026 to 2027, individual local authority data (part 1), updated 11 June 2026 (Open Government Licence).

Darlington in numbers

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

Total population: 112,489 people 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMid-year estimate of the total number of people
Median age: 42 years 30 June 2024 · Office for National StatisticsMedian age of people
Gross disposable household income per head: £21,587 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage income per person (£) after taxes and direct benefits
Gross median weekly pay: £630 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsGross median weekly pay based on where people live (£)
Children in relative poverty after housing costs: 28.7% 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: 3.7% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsPercentage of people aged 16 to 64 who are claiming unemployment-related benefits
Average house price: £159,988 July 2026 · HM Land RegistryAverage monthly price of a property (£)
Housing affordability ratio (residence-based): 4.9 affordability ratio 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsRatio of median house price to median gross annual residence-based earnings
Female healthy life expectancy: 58.6 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: 58.6 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: 5.0 tCO2e per capita 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroGreenhouse gas emissions (tCO2e) per capita
Gigabit capable broadband: 92.7% 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: 143.1 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: 3,605 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

50 seats in 2026. Run by: a coalition or arrangement of Labour and Liberal Democrats. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Labour Party 23, Conservative and Unionist 13, Green Party (E&W) 6, Independent / Other 5, Liberal Democrats 2, Reform UK 1.

Next scheduled council election: 6 May 2027.

All 50 councillors, by ward

Andrew Anderson (Labour Party) — Bank Top & Lascelles
David Ray (Labour Party) — Bank Top & Lascelles
Helen Crumbie (Labour Party) — Bank Top & Lascelles
David Beckett (Labour Party) — Brinkburn & Faverdale
Rebecca Baker (Labour Party) — Brinkburn & Faverdale
Scott Durham (Conservative and Unionist) — Brinkburn & Faverdale
Jan Cossins (Labour Party) — Cockerton
Jim Garner (Labour Party) — Cockerton
Neil Johnson (Labour Party) — Cockerton
Bryony Holroyd (Green Party (E&W)) — College
Matthew Snedker (Green Party (E&W)) — College
Joe Dillon (Labour Party) — Eastbourne
Jonathan Dulston (Conservative and Unionist) — Eastbourne
Kevin Nicholson (Independent / Other) — Eastbourne
Anna-Maria Toms (Green Party (E&W)) — Harrowgate Hill
Richard Lawley (Green Party (E&W)) — Harrowgate Hill
Roz Henderson (Green Party (E&W)) — Harrowgate Hill
Chris McEwan (Labour Party) — Haughton & Springfield
Dawn Storr (Labour Party) — Haughton & Springfield
Nick Wallis (Labour Party) — Haughton & Springfield
Gerald Lee (Conservative and Unionist) — Heighington & Coniscliffe
Paul Crudass (Conservative and Unionist) — Heighington & Coniscliffe
Kate Mammolotti (Green Party (E&W)) — Hummersknott
Thomas Robinson (Independent / Other) — Hummersknott
Lorraine Tostevin (Conservative and Unionist) — Hurworth
Paul Walters (Conservative and Unionist) — Hurworth
Alan Marshall (Conservative and Unionist) — Mowden
Pauline Culley (Conservative and Unionist) — Mowden
Anne-Marie Curry (Liberal Democrats) — North Road
Hilary Allen (Liberal Democrats) — North Road
James Coe (Independent / Other) — North Road
Sajna Ali (Labour Party) — Northgate
Sonia Kane (Labour Party) — Northgate
Libby McCollom (Labour Party) — Park East
Matthew Roche (Labour Party) — Park East
Michael Nicholson (Labour Party) — Park East
Bob Donoghue (Conservative and Unionist) — Park West
Heather Scott (Conservative and Unionist) — Park West
James McGill (Labour Party) — Pierremont
Mary Layton (Labour Party) — Pierremont
Stephen Harker (Labour Party) — Pierremont
Mandy Porter (Labour Party) — Red Hall & Lingfield
Michael Walker (Reform UK) — Red Hall & Lingfield
Colin Pease (Independent / Other) — Sadberge & Middleton St George
Deborah Laing (Conservative and Unionist) — Sadberge & Middleton St George
Yvonne Renton (Independent / Other) — Sadberge & Middleton St George
Ian Haszeldine (Labour Party) — Stephenson
Mohammad Mahmud (Labour Party) — Stephenson
Andy Keir (Conservative and Unionist) — Whinfield
Jamie Bartch (Conservative and Unionist) — Whinfield

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.