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.

Credit licence

The Financial Conduct Authority is responsible for authorising businesses and individuals to carry out regulated financial service activities and offer credit to consumers.

Financial Services and Markets Act 2000

Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, most businesses and individuals will need to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority if they:

provide goods and services on credit or for hire
lend money
introduce a consumer to a business providing a loan
provide debt collection
offer help with debt problems

If you plan to carry out any of the above activities you will first need to apply for Financial Conduct Authority authorisation.

Further information can be found on the Financial Conduct Authority website.

Contact Community Protection

Email ehcp@durham.gov.uk
Telephone 03000 261 016

Offsite links