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Unitary authority · North East

How fast Durham County Council pays its suppliers

Durham County Council took an average of 13.6 days to pay suppliers in April to September 2026, in line with the typical council, and paid 96.1% of invoices within 30 days. It is the 63rd fastest of 137 councils.

April to September 2026

13.6 days

average time to pay an invoice

  • Within 30 days
  • 31 to 60 days
  • Over 60 days
Paid within 30 days
96.1%
Paid in 31 to 60 days
2.6%
Paid after 60 days
1.3%
Paid within agreed terms
95%
Rank
63rd fastest of 137

Source: payments compliance notice 100902-2026, published 26 October 2026, Find a Tender, Cabinet Office.

Previous notice

11.3 days average, 97.3% within 30 days

Oct 2025 to Mar 2026. Notice 037352-2026.

2.3 days slower in the latest period

Companies in County Durham

How fast the large companies registered in County Durham pay their suppliers.

See the County Durham companies

County Durham against every other council

Average days to pay suppliers, April to September 2026: 137 councils, one dot each. Dots past 30 days are councils whose average was longer than the 30 days the law allows for each invoice. 01020304050 30 days: the legal limit for each invoice Average days to pay Vale of Glamorgan: 1 days Hackney: 1.6 days Oxfordshire: 2.1 days Westminster: 2.7 days Salford: 3.4 days Fylde: 4.1 days Bromley: 5 days Stroud: 6.1 days Dartford: 6.1 days Mid Sussex: 6.4 days East Cambridgeshire: 6.8 days Bradford: 7.1 days Breckland: 7.2 days Wolverhampton: 7.4 days Telford and Wrekin: 7.7 days East Devon: 7.8 days Kensington and Chelsea: 7.8 days Hertsmere: 7.9 days Worcestershire: 8 days Harrow: 8 days South Cambridgeshire: 8 days East Sussex: 8 days Folkestone and Hythe: 8.2 days Gateshead: 8.2 days Staffordshire: 8.3 days Havering: 8.4 days West Lancashire: 8.8 days North Yorkshire: 8.8 days Cumberland: 9 days Ceredigion: 9 days Torridge: 9 days Wrexham: 9 days Newcastle upon Tyne: 9.4 days Wokingham: 9.6 days Caerphilly: 9.6 days East Suffolk: 10 days Huntingdonshire: 10 days Sunderland: 10.5 days North Kesteven: 10.8 days Chorley: 11 days Solihull: 11 days Bath and North East Somerset: 11 days Coventry: 11 days Wychavon: 11 days Braintree: 11.4 days Barnsley: 11.5 days Bolton: 11.5 days Torbay: 11.7 days Blackpool: 12 days Hartlepool: 12 days Newport: 12 days Norfolk: 12.2 days Isle of Anglesey: 12.3 days Cambridgeshire: 12.3 days Walsall: 13 days Surrey: 13 days Great Yarmouth: 13 days West Northamptonshire: 13 days Rotherham: 13.1 days Gravesham: 13.2 days Castle Point: 13.4 days Stevenage: 13.4 days County Durham: 13.6 days Rother: 13.8 days North Northamptonshire: 13.9 days Richmond upon Thames: 14 days Hart: 14 days New Forest: 14 days South Norfolk: 14 days Milton Keynes: 14 days Herefordshire: 14.2 days Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole: 14.3 days Hyndburn: 14.3 days Haringey: 14.4 days Warwickshire: 14.4 days Hastings: 14.7 days Worcester: 14.8 days Burnley: 15 days South Oxfordshire: 15 days Peterborough: 15 days City of London: 15 days East Riding of Yorkshire: 15 days Tendring: 15 days Newham: 15 days East Lindsey: 15 days South Holland: 15 days Broadland: 15.1 days Suffolk: 15.2 days Blaenau Gwent: 15.4 days Welwyn Hatfield: 15.4 days South Kesteven: 15.9 days Oxford: 16 days Essex: 16 days Malvern Hills: 16 days Monmouthshire: 16.1 days East Hertfordshire: 16.1 days Redcar and Cleveland: 16.2 days Cambridge: 16.4 days Bedford: 16.4 days Brighton and Hove: 17.1 days Lincolnshire: 17.1 days Cheshire East: 17.7 days East Hampshire: 17.9 days Kirklees: 18 days Cheshire West and Chester: 18 days Westmorland and Furness: 18.3 days Wyre: 18.4 days Hertfordshire: 18.5 days Dacorum: 18.8 days Cornwall: 19 days Tower Hamlets: 19 days Boston: 19 days Liverpool: 19 days Nuneaton and Bedworth: 20 days Nottinghamshire: 20 days Basingstoke and Deane: 20.4 days Pembrokeshire: 21 days Chesterfield: 21.1 days Wigan: 22 days Bristol: 22 days Sefton: 22 days Gwynedd: 22.2 days Halton: 22.3 days Southampton: 24 days Leicestershire: 24.6 days Leicester: 25 days Nottingham: 26 days Sandwell: 29.6 days Enfield: 29.6 days North East Lincolnshire: 30.8 days Bromsgrove: 32 days Warwick: 32 days Redditch: 33 days Vale of White Horse: 33 days Windsor and Maidenhead: 35 days Southwark: 50.5 days West Berkshire: 52 days County Durham: 13.6 days
One dot per council that reported all its payments, April to September 2026. Hover or tap a dot for the council; on a phone, swipe the chart sideways.

Councils in North East

#CouncilAverage daysWithin 30 daysPayment bands
41Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council 16.298.5%
75Durham County Council 13.696.1%
88Hartlepool Borough Council 1297%
100Sunderland City Council 10.596.3%
105Newcastle City Council 9.497.2%
115Gateshead Borough Council 8.296.7%

# is the rank among all 137 councils, where 1 is the slowest. The full league table.

County Durham's finances

For context. How fast a council pays is a matter of its own processes as well as its money: across England, councils with more to spend per resident do not pay faster.

Spending power, 2026-27
£729.3 million
£1,339 a resident; typical unitary authority: £1,197
Net budget, 2026-27
£1.28 billion
Net current expenditure, as budgeted
Reserves forecast, 1 April 2026
£186.2 million
26% of a year's spending power; typical unitary authority: 19%
Emergency government support
None
No Exceptional Financial Support since 2024-25

Sources: Core spending power 2026-27 and local authority revenue expenditure and financing 2026-27 budget, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Exceptional Financial Support lists on GOV.UK. Open Government Licence v3. Reserves are unallocated plus earmarked reserves the council forecast for 1 April 2026.

What the law asks of County Durham

Pay within 30 days. Under section 68 of the Procurement Act 2023, a council must pay an undisputed invoice within 30 days of receiving it.

Publish every six months. Section 69 requires a payments compliance notice on Find a Tender within 30 days of 31 March and 30 September.

Owed money by a council? Suppliers can claim statutory interest on a late commercial invoice. Work it out with our late payment interest calculator.

Figures are as the council published them and are not audited. Source: payments compliance notices, Find a Tender, Cabinet Office, Open Government Licence v3.

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