Find out about changes to our services and Christmas opening times on our Festive information page. To find out when your bin will be collected over the festive period, visit Changes to County Durham bin collections at Christmas.

Due to maintenance, the following systems will be unavailable from 11.45am on Tuesday 24 December until 8.00am on Thursday 2 January: our online Council Tax, business rates and housing benefit services, and our welfare assistance form. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

2021 Census

Every ten years the Government undertakes a census, which includes a wide range of information on population, health, ethnicity, lone parents, households, and the economic status of residents.

It's not too late to fill in your Census return: www.census.gov.uk

The census is unique in providing one source of comparable statistics about the population of England and Wales down to local levels.

The 2021 census is to be conducted mainly online, with households required to fill in the census questionnaire electronically, although paper copies and support will be made available on request.

Further information is available on the Census 2021 website or by calling the Census 2021 contact centre on 0800 141 2021.