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).

Life in Darlington: 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: Darlington.

People living here: 113,402 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: 43 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: £21,587 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: £630 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: 28.7% 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: 3.7% 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: £159,770 August 2026 · HM Land RegistryThe average price of a home here in the month shown.
How many years of pay a home costs: 4.9 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: 58.6 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: 58.6 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: 5.0 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: 92.7% 1 January 2026 · OfcomThe share of addresses that can get gigabit broadband (1,000 Mbps).
Public chargers for electric cars: 143.1 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: 3,605 businesses 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with sales or staff in the year.

More figures for Darlington 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

This council’s area is covered by Tees Valley combined authority, with its elected mayor.

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.