Northumberland County Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1 April 1889[a] |
| Leadership | |
Helen Paterson since 6 February 2023[4] | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 69 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
Joint committees | North East Combined Authority |
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 1 May 2025 |
Next election | 3 May 2029 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| County Hall,Morpeth, NE61 2EF | |
| Website | |
www | |
Northumberland County Council is thelocal authority for thenon-metropolitan county ofNorthumberland inNorth East England. Since 2009 it has been aunitary authority, having also taken over district-level functions when the county's districts were abolished.
The council has been underno overall control since 2021, being led by aConservative minority administration. It is based atCounty Hall, Morpeth. Since 2024 the council has been a member of theNorth East Mayoral Combined Authority.
Elected county councils were established in 1889 under theLocal Government Act 1888, taking over administrative functions previously carried out by unelectedmagistrates at thequarter sessions. The city ofNewcastle upon Tyne had been acounty corporate since 1400 with its own quarter sessions, and Newcastle's independence from the county was maintained by making it acounty borough. The county council was elected by and provided services to the remainder of the county, which area was termed theadministrative county.Berwick-upon-Tweed was also a county corporate, but was not considered large enough to provide its own county-level services. It was therefore included in the administrative county of Northumberland.[5]Tynemouth subsequently also became a county borough in 1904, removing it from the administrative county.[6]
The first elections were held in January 1889. The council formally came into being on 1 April 1889, on which day it held its first official meeting at theMoot Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne, the courthouse (built 1811) which had served as the meeting place of the quarter sessions which preceded the county council.[7] The first chairman of the council wasMatthew White Ridley, who was also theConservativeMP forBlackpool (inLancashire).[8]
The county was reformed in 1974, becoming anon-metropolitan county and ceding further territory around the Newcastle conurbation to the newmetropolitan county ofTyne and Wear. Until 1974 the lower tier of local government comprised numerousboroughs,urban districts andrural districts. In 1974 the lower tier was reorganised and Northumberland was left with sixdistricts:Alnwick,Berwick-upon-Tweed,Blyth Valley,Castle Morpeth,Tynedale andWansbeck.[9]
Until 1981 the county council met at the Moot Hall in central Newcastle, and had its main administrative offices at the adjoiningCounty Hall. The Moot Hall area formed anexclave of the administrative county.[10] The exclave became part of the city in 1974 and therefore outside the county council's territory.[11] The council moved toMorpeth in 1981.
As part of the2009 structural changes to local government in England, Northumberland's six districts were abolished and their functions were taken over by the county council.[12][13] As part of the 2009 changes the council was given the option of changing its name to "Northumberland Council".[14] After consultation with the public the council decided to keep the name "Northumberland County Council".[15]
In 2024 acombined authority was established covering Northumberland,County Durham,Gateshead,Newcastle upon Tyne,North Tyneside,South Tyneside andSunderland, called theNorth East Mayoral Combined Authority. The combined authority is chaired by the directly electedMayor of the North East and oversees the delivery of certain strategic functions across the area.[16]
Since 2009, Northumberland County Council has provided bothcounty-level anddistrict-level services. The whole county is also covered bycivil parishes, which form an additional tier of local government.[17]
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In February 2022 the council leader commissioned an independent governance review led by former intervention commissioner Max Caller and Solace in Business. The review, delivered on 8 June 2022, concluded that the council had “forgotten much of what good local government looks like” and had lost its way amid internal conflicts, and recommended a fundamental reset of philosophy, processes and relationships.
Key recommendations included establishing experienced professional leadership, redrafting the corporate plan and constitution, reviewing the Members’ code of conduct and officer protocol, developing data-driven performance management and a governance framework for council-owned companies, and creating a challenge board to scrutinise improvement programmes. According to the council’s annual governance statement, a cross‑party task-and-finish group and an external challenge board were set up to implement the recommendations; an action plan is monitored by the audit committee.
A 2024 Local Government Association peer review noted that improvements in culture, governance and working relationships were evident but more work was required to embed changes and rebuild trust.
The council has been underno overall control since 2021, being led by a minority Conservative administration. At the2021 election the Conservatives won a majority of the seats, but they lost their majority later that year following aLiberal Democrat gain in a December 2021 by-election.[18][19] A Conservative minority administration continues to run the council following the2025 election.[20]
Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:[21][22][23]
Two-tier non-metropolitan county
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 1974–1981 | |
| Labour | 1981–1985 | |
| No overall control | 1985–1989 | |
| Labour | 1989–2008 | |
| No overall control | 2008–2009 | |
Unitary authority
| Party in control | Years | |
|---|---|---|
| No overall control | 2009–2021 | |
| Conservative | 2021–2021 | |
| No overall control | 2021–present | |
Until 1979, the chairman of the council was also its political leader. In 1979 the separate position ofleader of the council was created, and the chair became a more ceremonial position.[24] The leaders since 1979 have been:
| Councillor | Party | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Baxter[25][26] | Conservative | 1979 | May 1981 | |
| Jack Thompson[27][28] | Labour | 20 May 1981 | May 1983 | |
| Robin Birley[28][29] | Labour | May 1983 | 12 Oct 1984 | |
| Keith Robinson[30][31] | Labour | 21 Nov 1984 | May 1988 | |
| Ian McArthur[32][33] | Liberal Democrats | May 1988 | May 1989 | |
| Ian Swithenbank[33][34] | Labour | May 1989 | May 1998 | |
| Michael Davey[35][36] | Labour | May 1998 | May 2005 | |
| Bill Brooks[37][38] | Labour | May 2005 | 2007 | |
| Peter Hillman[39][40] | Labour | 2007 | 2008 | |
| Jeff Reid[41][42] | Liberal Democrats | 21 May 2008 | May 2013 | |
| Grant Davey[43][44] | Labour | 22 May 2013 | May 2017 | |
| Peter Jackson[45][46][47] | Conservative | 24 May 2017 | 2 Sep 2020 | |
| Glen Sanderson[48] | Conservative | 23 Sep 2020 | ||
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The council’s chief executive is the head of paid service. Former chief executive Daljit Lally was suspended in 2021 and left the authority in July 2022 following a settlement. The full council appointed Rick O’Farrell as interim head of paid service and chief executive on 27 July 2022, with the appointment confirmed to continue until a permanent chief executive was recruited. O’Farrell served as interim chief executive from July 2022 until February 2023; during his eight‑month tenure he was thanked by councillors for his leadership. On 6 February 2023, Dr Helen Paterson, previously chief executive of Walsall Council, took up the post of permanent chief executive.
Following the2025 election, the composition of the council is:
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 26 | |
| Reform | 23 | |
| Labour | 8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 3 | |
| Green | 2 | |
| Independent | 7 | |
| Total: | 69 | |
Six of the seven independent councillors form the "Independent Group" and the other is not aligned to any group. The next election is due in 2029.[49]
Between 2022 and 2025 the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) issued annual review letters to Northumberland County Council. For the year ending 31 March 2023 the Ombudsman received 19 complaints about the council and upheld 16 of them (an 84 % uphold rate); the council complied with 100 % of the recommendations and provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman in four cases (25 %).[50]
For the year ending 31 March 2024 there were 26 investigations and 18 complaints (69 %) were upheld; the council again complied with all recommendations but only two cases (11 %) were remedied before the Ombudsman’s involvement.[51] The Ombudsman’s letter for 2024–2025, sent in May 2025 and followed up in July 2025, welcomed that the council agreed and implemented recommendations in 12 cases but expressed concern that four of those remedies were completed late and highlighted ongoing delays and poor-quality responses to Ombudsman enquiries.[52]
Since the last full review of boundaries in 2013 the council has comprised 67councillors representing 66electoral divisions, each of which elects one councillor exceptAlnwick which elects two. Elections are held every four years.[53] New division boundaries have been drawn up to come into effect for the 2025 elections, increasing the number of councillors to 69.[54]
The council is based atCounty Hall on the southern outskirts of Morpeth, which was purpose-built for the council and opened in 1981.[55] Proposals to move the council's headquarters toAshington were considered between 2014 and 2017, with building work starting on the new site in Ashington. In 2017 work on the new site was aborted after the proposed sale of the Morpeth site fell through. The council subsequently decided to stay in Morpeth and renovate County Hall instead.[56]
Prior to 1981 the council was based in Newcastle. Meetings were held at the Moot Hall. A large office building calledCounty Hall was built opposite the Moot Hall in 1910 to serve as the council's main offices.[57]
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