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Northumberland: 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.

Read on 25 September 2026. Councils publish at different rates and in different places, so “nothing found” means nothing found, not nothing happening.

Northumberland County Council: Unitary authority (unitary), England, North East; part of the NTCA combined authority. GOV.UK lists it as a unitary council. ONS code E06000057.

Council plan · Budget · Meeting papers · Councillors · Register of interests · Consultations

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.

Open consultations

Listed automatically from the council’s own consultation site, refreshed daily. Standing surveys open for more than a year are left out.

Housing

Northumberland's Local Plan (Policy HOU 2) requires at least 17,700 new homes from 2016 to 2036 (about 885 a year).

“Policy HOU 2 identifies a requirement for a minimum of 17,700 net additional dwellings from 2016 to 2036 (an average of 885 dwellings per annum).”

Northumberland County Council, undated. Read 25 September 2026. Housing Delivery and Supply Summary dated May 2025 (no exact day). Same document: 12,416 delivered to date, residual requirement 5,284. The council says it is 'starting work on a new Local Plan' (https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning/planning-policy-and-local-plan).

Local plans on the national planning register Updated automatically

MHCLG planning data platform (planning.data.gov.uk), as supplied by the council; Open Government Licence. Stages are as recorded there, and some entries are old: each shows when the council last updated it.

Transport

Northumberland County Council consulted on the A193 Seafront Active Travel Scheme between Kingsway and Old Hartley (12-29 May 2026).

“The A193 Seafront Active Travel scheme will bring improvements to existing infrastructure and new infrastructure established between Kingsway to Old Hartley.”

Northumberland County Council, 12 May 2026. Read 25 September 2026. Consultation opened 12 May 2026, closed 29 May 2026. Scheme includes 'Reducing speed limits' and 'Improving bus stop facilities'. No transport consultation was open on Have Your Say at time of reading (4 open: gambling policy, social care charges, council tax support, priorities).

Council tax

Band D set by Northumberland for 2026–27: £2,279.36 of a £2,596.94 total bill in the area. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

Northumberland's council tax report to County Council on 18 February 2026 set a 4.99% increase for 2026-27 (including 2% adult social care precept); Band D £2,279.33 excluding police and parish.

“the Council Tax for 2026-27, excluding the Police Precept, will be increased by 4.99% (including the Adult Social Care Precept of 2.00%), equating to a charge per Band D household of £2,279.33 (excluding Special Expenses).”

Northumberland County Council, 18 February 2026. Read 25 September 2026. 1(c)); curl re-verification blocked by a Cloudflare challenge (HTTP 403) on northumberland.moderngov.co.uk. Cross-check from the council's own charges page (https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/council-tax/council-tax-charges): Band D Northumberland County Council 1,890.37 + Adult Social Care Precept 388.96 = 2,279.33, and 'For 2026-2027, we have applied a 2% increase' (adult social care). The quote is from the report's recommendation text.

Environment

Northumberland County Council aims to make the county carbon neutral by 2030 and reach net zero for all greenhouse gases by 2040.

“We've declared a ‘climate emergency’ - committing to halve our carbon footprint by 2025 and work with government to make the county carbon neutral by 2030, and net zero for all greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.”

Northumberland County Council, 8 May 2026. Read 25 September 2026. Date is the page's 'Last updated on 08/05/2026'.

Education

Northumberland's Cabinet approved making permanent the Specialist Support Bases at Cambois, Newsham and Seaton Sluice schools, from 13 July 2026.

“On Tuesday 7 July 2026 the Council’s Cabinet met to consider the proposal to formalise (make permanent) Specialist Support Bases at Cambois, Newsham and Seaton Sluice.”

Northumberland County Council, 9 July 2026. Read 25 September 2026. Same page: 'Cabinet approved the implementation of the proposals (subject to call-in) from 13 July 2026.' Date is the page's 'Last updated on 09/07/2026'.

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

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 3 opened (2 academy converter, 1 new provision), 5 closed (3 closure, 2 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 Northumberland is deciding

Every item on the agendas of Full Council and the Cabinet, as the council titled it, from about six months back to three months ahead. Left out: section headings, procedural items (apologies, minutes, declarations of interest, announcements, questions, appointments), anything about councillors’ attendance or allowances (which this site does not show), and private items the council itself withholds. Motions are shown with whoever the council’s agenda says proposed them; a councillor’s party is from Open Council Data.

Coming up

Recently

3 earlier meetings

  • Tue, 7 July 2026 · Cabinet

    • Financial Performance 2025-26 - Final OutturnResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Blyth Sports Centre - Pool Hall Refurbishment WorksResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Northumberland Cultural StrategyResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Outcomes of Statutory Consultation on proposals to formalise (make permanent) Specialist Support Bases at Cambois Primary, Newsham Primary and Seaton Sluice First SchoolsResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Corporate Risk ManagementResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Summary of New Capital Proposals considered by the Capital Strategy GroupResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • A193 Seafront Active Travel SchemeResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Update on former Hexham Middle School site disposalResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Alnwick Bus Station Improvements – Delegation to Enter into LeaseResult not yet read from the minutes.

  • Tue, 9 June 2026 · Cabinet

    • Financial Performance 2025-26 - Provisional Out-turnResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Blyth Relief Road - Appropriation of LandResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Q3 & Q4 Corporate Performance ReportResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Update on the delivery of Sustainable Visitor Economy Growth : Visit Northumberland.Result not yet read from the minutes.
    • Integrated Sexual Health Service for NorthumberlandResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Advance Northumberland UpdateResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Summary of New Capital Proposals considered by the Capital Strategy GroupResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Northumberland Food Strategy - Food Action Plan UpdateResult not yet read from the minutes.

  • Tue, 12 May 2026 · Cabinet

    • Adult Social Care - Progressing our Next Steps and Commissioning IntentionsResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal - UpdateResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Summary of New Capital Proposals considered by Capital Strategy GroupResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Housing Enforcement and Civil penalty PoliciesResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Expansion of the regionalisation of mainstream fostering and development of Regional Care CooperativesResult not yet read from the minutes.
    • Nominations to Outside BodiesResult not yet read from the minutes.

From the council’s own meeting papers (Modern.gov), read 9 November 2026. Refreshed weekly. Once a meeting’s minutes are published, each item shows the result in the minutes’ own words (carried, lost, withdrawn, deferred, noted or agreed), the recorded vote where the minutes give one, and a link to the minutes; where those words are not found, the page says so rather than guessing.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

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

Northumberland: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
ServiceBudget
Education services£244.4 million
Highways and transport services£11.6 million
Children's social care£85.5 million
Adult social care£160.1 million
Public health£22.9 million
Housing services (general fund only)£6.9 million
Cultural and related services£14.1 million
Environmental and regulatory services£53.7 million
Planning and development services£3.6 million
Police servicesnone budgeted
Fire and rescue services£24.5 million
Central services£13.2 million
Other servicesnone budgeted
Total service expenditure£640.5 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 Northumberland: 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: Northumberland.

People living here
333,975 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
49 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
£24,195 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
£591 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
24.2% 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
2.9% 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
£213,113 August 2026 · HM Land RegistryThe average price of a home here in the month shown.
How many years of pay a home costs
5.4 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
59.9 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
59.8 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
5.2 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
82.1% 1 January 2026 · OfcomThe share of addresses that can get gigabit broadband (1,000 Mbps).
Public chargers for electric cars
238.4 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
10,480 businesses 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with sales or staff in the year.

More figures for Northumberland 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 North East combined authority, with its elected mayor.

69 seats in 2026. Run by: Conservatives, as a minority administration. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Conservative and Unionist 28, Reform UK 19, Independent / Other 9, Labour Party 8, Liberal Democrats 3, Green Party (E&W) 2.

Next scheduled council election: 3 May 2029.

All 69 councillors, by ward
  • Gordon Castle (Conservative and Unionist) — Alnwick Castle
  • Martin Swinbank (Green Party (E&W)) — Alnwick Hotspur
  • Arty Hume (Reform UK) — Amble
  • Pauline Davidson (Reform UK) — Amble West with Warkworth
  • Caroline Ball (Labour Party) — Ashington Central
  • Guy Renner-Thompson (Conservative and Unionist) — Bamburgh
  • Denise Nicholson (Reform UK) — Bebside & Kitty Brewster
  • Christine Taylor (Independent / Other) — Bedlington Central
  • Trevor Austin (Reform UK) — Bedlington East
  • Malcolm Robinson (Independent / Other) — Bedlington West
  • John Riddle (Conservative and Unionist) — Bellingham
  • Georgina Hill (Independent / Other) — Berwick East
  • Nicole Brooke (Independent / Other) — Berwick North
  • Isabel Hunter (Liberal Democrats) — Berwick West with Ord
  • Scott Amery (Reform UK) — Bothal
  • David FitzGerald (Reform UK) — Choppington & Hepscott
  • Steven Roberts (Reform UK) — College with North Seaton
  • Nicholas Oliver (Conservative and Unionist) — Corbridge
  • Rick Baker (Reform UK) — Cowpen
  • Scott Lee (Conservative and Unionist) — Cramlington East & Double Row
  • Alan Smith (Conservative and Unionist) — Cramlington Eastfield
  • Wayne Daley (Conservative and Unionist) — Cramlington North
  • Mark Morris (Conservative and Unionist) — Cramlington North West
  • Paul Ezhilchelvan (Conservative and Unionist) — Cramlington South East
  • Neil Graham (Conservative and Unionist) — Cramlington South West
  • Mark Swinburn (Conservative and Unionist) — Cramlington Village
  • Mark Peart (Reform UK) — Croft
  • Scott Dickinson (Labour Party) — Druridge Bay
  • Rachel Mathieson (Labour Party) — Haltwhistle
  • Stephen Flower (Reform UK) — Hartley
  • Sonia Simm (Reform UK) — Haydon
  • Alan Sharp (Liberal Democrats) — Haydon & Hadrian
  • Suzanne Fairless-Aitken (Liberal Democrats) — Hexham East
  • Trevor Cessford (Conservative and Unionist) — Hexham North
  • Derek Kennedy (Independent / Other) — Hexham West
  • John Allen (Independent / Other) — Hirst
  • Les Bowman (Labour Party) — Holywell
  • Antonia Azocar-Nevin (Green Party (E&W)) — Humshaugh
  • David Johnson (Reform UK) — Isabella
  • Ed Dungait (Conservative and Unionist) — Longhirst
  • Glen Sanderson (Conservative and Unionist) — Longhorsley
  • Wendy Pattison (Conservative and Unionist) — Longhoughton
  • Elizabeth Dunn (Labour Party) — Lynemouth
  • Richard Wearmouth (Conservative and Unionist) — Morpeth Kirkhill
  • David Bawn (Conservative and Unionist) — Morpeth North
  • John Beynon (Conservative and Unionist) — Morpeth Stobhill
  • Ben Audsley (Reform UK) — Newbiggin-by-the-Sea
  • Barry Elliott (Reform UK) — Newsham
  • Patrick Lambert (Independent / Other) — Norham & Islandshires
  • Vicky Oakley (Labour Party) — Pegswood
  • David Swinhoe (Reform UK) — Plessey
  • Lyle Darwin (Conservative and Unionist) — Ponteland East & Stannington
  • Richard Dodd (Conservative and Unionist) — Ponteland North
  • Michaela Horncastle (Conservative and Unionist) — Ponteland South with Heddon
  • Veronica Jones (Conservative and Unionist) — Ponteland West
  • Lawrence O'Donnell (Labour Party) — Prudhoe North & Wylam
  • Gordon Stewart (Conservative and Unionist) — Prudhoe South
  • Angie Scott (Labour Party) — Prudhoe West & Mickley
  • Steven Bridgett (Independent / Other) — Rothbury
  • Karl Green (Reform UK) — Seaton with Spital
  • Eve Chicken (Conservative and Unionist) — Seghill with Seaton Delaval
  • Trevor Thorne (Conservative and Unionist) — Shilbottle
  • Roger Spriddell (Reform UK) — Sleekburn
  • Daniel Carr (Conservative and Unionist) — South Blyth
  • Colin Horncastle (Conservative and Unionist) — South Tynedale
  • Martin Jackson (Reform UK) — Stakeford
  • Patricia Dale (Independent / Other) — Stocksfield & Bywell
  • Natalie Rolls (Reform UK) — Wensleydale
  • Mark Mather (Conservative and Unionist) — Wooler

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own site, linked rather than summarised, because summarising means choosing. 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.

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.