Indoor Built Facility Strategy
Durham County Council are producing a new Indoor Built Facility Strategy for indoor sport and leisure facilities in the council area.
The assessment of the physical, built, infrastructure is a supply and demand model to assess if there are enough facilities of the right quality to meet current and future demand as well as being accessible and affordable. This will help to safeguard existing provision and identify where new provision may be required. Town/ parish councils are key to providing facilities for community use therefore as part of this strategy, we would very much like to consult with your town/parish council to gauge your feedback and inform the future direction of indoor leisure and sports facilities in the Council area.
We would therefore be grateful if you could complete an online survey via the following this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DCCTownandParishCouncilSurvey.
Further information to the benefits of being part of this important piece of consultation is attached.
Consultation and Surveys
Durham County Council are inviting residents to take part in two new and important consultations that will help shape the spending and future direction of the council.
Consultation 1: Budget Proposals for 2026/27 and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) 2026/27-2029/30
Following the local elections in May 2025, our new leadership is focusing on finding efficiencies with a clear focus on ensuring value for money. We’re facing a significant budget gap of up to £71.019 million over the next four years, and we need your input on how best to address this.
Consulting on:
Proposed savings across back-office functions, frontline services, and income generation for the next financial year 2026/27.
Options for Council Tax increases over the next four years, including scenarios ranging from no increase to a 5% annual rise.
Where and in what services we might make savings in future years - Your feedback will help us shape and finalise our budget proposals for 2026/27, as well as look longer term to make future savings. We expect to consult you on further savings proposals in November 2025.
Consultation closes: Friday 14 November 2025
Consultation 2: Exceptions to the Empty and Unfurnished Properties and Second Homes Council Tax Premium
We’re also reviewing our Section 13A policy, which provides discretionary exceptions to the Council Tax premium on empty and unfurnished properties and second homes. This is over and above what the Government provides. The discretionary relief we apply through the Section 13A policy is above that offered by other local councils, with the few councils that do provide relief, doing so for a limited time period. We’re considering the following options:
Option 1: Fully align the existing Section 13A policy with the Government’s regulations. This option would see the local discretion removed.
Option 2: Introduce a 12 month time limit cap to our Section 13A policy. This would see the current local discretion retained, but the Section 13A policy would limit the time the relief could be in place for.
Option 3: No changes to the current Section 13A policy. This would see the local discretion remaining as it is, with no cap on the amount of time it is available.
Changing the Section 13A policy could help bring more homes back into use and generate additional income to support council services.
Consultation closes: Friday 14 November 2025
Learn more and share your views at https://letstalkcountydurham.co.uk