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.

Durham Schools Forum

The Durham Schools Forum is a formal advisory and decision making body on matters relating to school funding.

It consists of school and academy representatives, headteachers, governors, non-school members, 14-19 partnership, early years private, voluntary/independent sector providers, diocese and union representatives.

The forum meets at least four times a year and is open to the public.

It provides a means of communication between local authorities and schools on funding matters affecting schools. It must be consulted on any changes to the formula used to fund schools, and the financial effects of any proposed changes. Finally, it is consulted annually on financial issues relating to:

pupils with special educational needs
use of pupil referral units and education of children otherwise at school
early years
administration of the allocation of central government grants paid to schools via the local council
contracts for provision of services to schools

The next meeting

The next meetings of the Durham Schools Forum will take place on:

Tuesday 24 September 2024 - face-to-face at Durham Leadership Centre, Spennymoor, DL16 6YP
Tuesday 28 January 2025 - online via Microsoft Teams
Thursday 27 March 2025 - face-to-face at Durham Leadership Centre, Spennymoor, DL16 6YP
Wednesday 25 June 2025 - online via Microsoft Teams
Tuesday 23 September 2025 - face-to-face at Durham Leadership Centre, Spennymoor, DL16 6YP

Meetings will begin at 9.30am.