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Where your council tax goes in Darlington
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
A Band D council tax bill in Darlington is £2,493.83 for 2026-27, split between Darlington £2,017.69, Darlington: adult social care precept, this year's increase £39.18, Durham Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable £300.74, Durham Combined Fire and Rescue Authority £128.12, Parish and town councils (average for the area) £8.10. Shared out in proportion to what each body spends, the largest single line is adult social care at Darlington: £698.05 of the bill. Council tax pays for 24% of the council's own spending; the rest is government grant, business rates and fees.
Figures for the 2026–27 financial year. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Key figures
- £2,493.83Band D bill, 2026-27
- £2,017.69Goes to Darlington itself (81%)
- £698.05Largest line: adult social care
- 24.0%Of the council's money that comes from council tax, 2025-26
Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Who gets your bill
Figures are for a Band D home. Bands A to H pay a fixed fraction of this, set in law.
Parish precepts differ from parish to parish; this is the average across the area, and a home outside any parish pays none.
And where does that bit go?
Choose any part of the bill to see how it divides, then keep going as far as the published returns allow. Every level has its own link you can share.
Your bill: £2,493.83
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Darlington £2,017.69
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Parish and town councils (average for the area) £8.10
Darlington
£2,017.69 of your bill goes to Darlington. It is shared out below in proportion to how Darlington spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Adult social care £698.05
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Children's social care £613.57
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Environment and regulation £170.73
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Education £169.34
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Running the council £96.70
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Roads and transport £75.81
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Housing (not council homes) £42.73
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Planning and development £16.45
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Public health £10.67
Other services brought in £1.0m more than it cost in 2025-26, so it takes no share of your bill.
Before sharing out your bill, the part of education paid for by the Dedicated Schools Grant (£38.4m) and public health paid for by the public health grant (£10.1m) is taken off, because council tax does not pay for it.
Which councils count as similar
Medians are across the 10 unitary councils in England closest in population: Hartlepool, Halton, Bracknell Forest, Torbay, Redcar and Cleveland, Isle of Wight, Blackpool, Middlesbrough, Windsor and Maidenhead, North East Lincolnshire. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Adult social care
£698.05 of your bill goes to adult social care at Darlington. Here is how its £52.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Learning disability support £268.29
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Physical support £206.86
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Care assessment and safeguarding £65.93
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £60.30
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Mental health support £54.72
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £6.75
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Assistive equipment and technology £1.74
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Sensory support £0.54
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Information and early intervention £0.13
Learning disability support
£268.29 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Darlington. Here is how its £20.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £210.85
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Aged 65 and over £57.44
Physical support
£206.86 of your bill goes to physical support at Darlington. Here is how its £15.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £162.95
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Aged 18 to 64 £43.91
Mental health support
£54.72 of your bill goes to mental health support at Darlington. Here is how its £4.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £28.71
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Aged 18 to 64 £26.00
Support with memory and cognition
£32.79 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Darlington. Here is how its £2.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £25.88
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Aged 18 to 64 £6.91
Sensory support
£0.54 of your bill goes to sensory support at Darlington. Here is how its £41k of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £0.35
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.20
Children's social care
£613.57 of your bill goes to children's social care at Darlington. Here is how its £46.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Children looked after £399.05
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Safeguarding and social work £123.66
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Family support £55.86
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Youth justice £13.63
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Services for young people £12.34
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Children's centres and early years £7.25
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Other children's and families' services £1.77
Environment and regulation
£170.73 of your bill goes to environment and regulation at Darlington. Here is how its £12.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Waste disposal £56.71
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Street cleaning £39.28
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Recycling and waste minimisation £29.07
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Waste collection £17.92
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Environmental health, food safety, pest control and licensing £11.12
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Community safety and CCTV £11.01
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Trading standards £3.15
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Other environmental services £1.67
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Flood defence, land drainage and coast protection £0.80
Education
£169.34 of your bill goes to education at Darlington. Here is how its £51.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Early years and nursery £46.22
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Primary schools £41.99
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Special schools and alternative provision £39.82
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Other education £23.37
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Secondary schools £13.55
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Post-16 £4.39
Parks, leisure, libraries and culture
£123.63 of your bill goes to parks, leisure, libraries and culture at Darlington. Here is how its £9.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Museums, arts, heritage and archives £52.55
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Sport and leisure £32.45
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Parks and open spaces (including play areas) £20.28
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Libraries £18.36
Running the council
£96.70 of your bill goes to running the council at Darlington. Here is how its £7.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Corporate and democratic core £48.16
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Local welfare assistance £16.16
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Collecting council tax and business rates £15.78
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Non-distributed costs (past pensions, unused assets) £7.33
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Coroners' and other courts £5.97
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Elections and electoral registration £1.31
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Emergency planning £1.31
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Registering births, deaths and marriages £0.69
Roads and transport
£75.81 of your bill goes to roads and transport at Darlington. Here is how its £5.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Concessionary bus fares £26.71
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Road and bridge maintenance £16.98
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Street lighting (including energy) £12.44
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Traffic management and road safety £8.07
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Winter service (gritting) £5.87
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Transport planning and policy £4.66
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Support for bus, rail and other public transport £1.09
Road and bridge maintenance
£16.98 of your bill goes to road and bridge maintenance at Darlington. Here is how its £1.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenance £11.18
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) £5.81
Housing (not council homes)
£42.73 of your bill goes to housing (not council homes) at Darlington. Here is how its £3.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Homelessness and temporary accommodation £20.50
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Housing benefit administration and discretionary payments £10.71
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Supporting People and welfare services £10.67
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Private sector housing renewal £0.52
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Housing strategy, advice and enabling £0.28
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Other General Fund housing £0.05
Council homes are not in this. Council housing is paid for through the Housing Revenue Account, from tenants' rents, and the law keeps it separate from the General Fund that council tax goes into. Darlington's Housing Revenue Account took in £30.6m and spent £35.2m in 2025-26. What council tax does and doesn't pay for.
Planning and development
£16.45 of your bill goes to planning and development at Darlington. Here is how its £1.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Economic development and business support £5.18
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Planning policy £4.77
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Planning applications (development management) £2.26
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Community development £2.07
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Building control £1.85
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Environmental initiatives £0.32
Public health
£10.67 of your bill goes to public health at Darlington. Here is how its £10.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Drug and alcohol services £3.02
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Health visiting and children's 0-5 services £2.54
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Other public health £1.37
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Sexual health £1.06
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Obesity and physical activity £0.73
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Children's 5-19 programmes £0.72
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NHS health checks and health protection £0.44
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Public mental health £0.39
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Stop smoking and tobacco control £0.39
Darlington: adult social care precept, this year's increase
£39.18 of your bill is this year's adult social care precept, which councils may raise on top of the usual limit for adult social care. It is shown against how Darlington's adult social care spending of £52.5m divided in 2025-26. MHCLG publishes only this year's increase; the running total since 2016-17 printed on your bill is in the council part above.
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Learning disability support £15.06
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Physical support £11.61
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Care assessment and safeguarding £3.70
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Commissioning, strategy and administration £3.38
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Mental health support £3.07
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Social support (carers, substance misuse, isolation, asylum) £0.38
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Assistive equipment and technology £0.10
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Sensory support £0.03
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Information and early intervention £0.01
Learning disability support
£15.06 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Darlington. Here is how its £20.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 18 to 64 £11.83
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Aged 65 and over £3.22
Physical support
£11.61 of your bill goes to physical support at Darlington. Here is how its £15.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £9.15
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Aged 18 to 64 £2.46
Mental health support
£3.07 of your bill goes to mental health support at Darlington. Here is how its £4.1m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £1.61
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Aged 18 to 64 £1.46
Support with memory and cognition
£1.84 of your bill goes to support with memory and cognition at Darlington. Here is how its £2.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £1.45
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.39
Sensory support
£0.03 of your bill goes to sensory support at Darlington. Here is how its £41k of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Aged 65 and over £0.02
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Aged 18 to 64 £0.01
Durham Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable
£300.74 of your bill is this year's adult social care precept, which councils may raise on top of the usual limit for adult social care. It is shown against how Durham Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable's adult social care spending of £172.1m divided in 2025-26. MHCLG publishes only this year's increase; the running total since 2016-17 printed on your bill is in the council part above.
Durham Combined Fire and Rescue Authority
£128.12 of your bill goes to Durham Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. It is shared out below in proportion to how Durham Combined Fire and Rescue Authority spent its money in 2025-26, its latest published return.
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Fire and rescue £126.68
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Running the council £1.44
Which councils count as similar
Medians are across the 10 fire and rescue authorities closest in population: North Wales Fire Authority, Cleveland Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Bedfordshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Shropshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Hereford and Worcester Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Fire and Rescue Authority, Cumbria PCC-FRA, East Sussex Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, North Yorkshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Buckinghamshire Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Fire and rescue
£126.68 of your bill goes to fire and rescue at Durham Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. Here is how its £37.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Firefighting and rescue £101.61
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Community fire safety £25.06
Running the council
£1.44 of your bill goes to running the council at Durham Combined Fire and Rescue Authority. Here is how its £431k of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Corporate and democratic core £1.13
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Non-distributed costs (past pensions, unused assets) £0.31
Parks, street cleaning and roads here
What Darlington spent, net of income, on the lines readers ask about most. Roads and street cleaning are also shown per mile of road the council looks after, where it is the highway authority. Gully cleaning and verge cutting are inside routine maintenance; no return splits them out.
| Line | Net spending | Per resident | Similar councils, per resident | Per mile of road | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Parks and open spaces (including play areas)Details for Parks and open spaces (including play areas) | £1.5m | £13 | £17 | — | up 9.2% on 2024-25 |
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Street cleaningDetails for Street cleaning | £3.1m | £27 | £14 | £9,033 (similar: £5,583) | up 9.8% on 2024-25 |
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Road and bridge maintenanceDetails for Road and bridge maintenance | £1.6m | £14 | £20 | £4,846 (similar: £7,770) | up 8.5% on 2024-25 |
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenanceDetails for Environmental, safety and routine maintenance | £1.1m | £9.51 | £15 | £3,189 (similar: £5,446) | up 8.7% on 2024-25 |
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges)Details for Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) | £560k | £4.94 | £5.45 | £1,657 (similar: £2,160) | up 8.1% on 2024-25 |
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Winter service (gritting)Details for Winter service (gritting) | £566k | £4.99 | £2.06 | £1,675 (similar: £863) | down 3.7% on 2024-25 |
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Street lighting (including energy)Details for Street lighting (including energy) | £1.2m | £11 | £10 | £3,550 (similar: £4,297) | down 6.7% on 2024-25 |
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Miles of road: Department for Transport road lengths, 2025; locally managed major roads and all minor roads. More on what council tax does and doesn't pay for.
What it adds up to
| Service | Per resident | Median |
|---|---|---|
Adult social careDetails for Adult social care | £463 | £483 |
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EducationDetails for Education | £451 | £718 |
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Children's social careDetails for Children's social care | £407 | £300 |
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Environment and regulationDetails for Environment and regulation | £113 | £110 |
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Public healthDetails for Public health | £96 | £64 |
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Parks, leisure, libraries and cultureDetails for Parks, leisure, libraries and culture | £82 | £38 |
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Running the councilDetails for Running the council | £64 | £51 |
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Roads and transportDetails for Roads and transport | £50 | £49 |
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Housing (not council homes)Details for Housing (not council homes) | £28 | £34 |
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Planning and developmentDetails for Planning and development | £11 | £22 |
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Other servicesDetails for Other services | £-9.09 | £10 |
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- Darlington spent 24.8% of its gross service spending on its own staff in 2025-26 (median for unitary councils in England: 31.4%); the rest went on suppliers, contractors, grants, benefits and other running costs.
What this data does and doesn't show
- These are each body's own figures, as reported to government in its revenue outturn return. Net spending is after the fees, charges and grants a service brings in.
- Your bill is for 2026-27; it is shared out using the latest published return, which covers an earlier year. The mix of spending changes little from one year to the next, but it does change.
- Council tax is not ring-fenced: this shows your bill in proportion to spending, not what your money bought. Where a precept is set aside for adult social care, it is shown against adult social care.
- No council publishes spending at street or property level, so nothing here says what was spent near you.
- Sub-service lines are the ones the national returns itemise. Councils describe their own budgets differently; their budget books and statements of accounts have more detail.
Sources
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England: Table 10, local authority level data, published 25 March 2026. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Local authority revenue expenditure and financing: Revenue Outturn multi-year data set, published 28 September 2026. Open Government Licence v3.0.
How the split is worked out, and how the three nations' returns are matched to one list of services, is on the methodology page. The dataset is on the data page. See also council tax in Darlington and everything else about Darlington.
Common questions
- What does council tax pay for in Darlington?
- A Band D bill of £2,493.83 is split between Darlington, Darlington: adult social care precept, this year's increase, Durham Police and Crime Commissioner and Chief Constable, Durham Combined Fire and Rescue Authority, Parish and town councils (average for the area). In proportion to spending, the largest line is adult social care, £698.05.
- Is council tax ring-fenced for particular services?
- No. Council tax is pooled with grants, business rates and fees. The adult social care precept is the exception: councils raise it for adult social care.
Sources for this page
| Source | Publisher | Figures as of | Updated | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | the 2026–27 financial year | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
| Local authority revenue expenditure and financing: Revenue Outturn multi-year data set | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government | 28 September 2026 | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
Each source's figures are used under the licence shown. Our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, under CC BY 4.0.