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.

Make a difference with a career in local government

Working in local government enables you to make a difference to the local community and the lives of those who live there.

Local government is constantly changing, and for those working in this sector, there are new challenges every day.

Opportunities are wide-ranging, and more interesting than you may think! Local council roles include IT Technician, Safer Places Officer, Librarian, Social Worker, Public Health Practitioner and Engineer. There are opportunities to move between different departments too, as well as upwards into more senior roles.

There is a great deal of flexibility in all areas of local government work and many employees benefit from flexible work arrangements, which can help achieve a better work and life balance.

As well as a fair and competitive salary and a variety of learning and development opportunities, there are many other benefits to which local government employees may be entitled, such as generous leave and a local government pension scheme.

If you're passionate about making a real difference, then a career in local government is for you!

You can view our current vacancies on North East Jobs.