This text is provided by Durham County Record Office

The preceding pages have traced the history of the County Council in its first hundred years. The theme of the story has been the gradual improvement of the way of life of the people of the county through the services provided by each department of the Council. First, the sanitary conditions of the inhabitants of many of the pit villages were improved and, as a consequence, rates of infectious disease were cut. Soon after, the Council took over primary and secondary education and twenty years later moved into the related field of libraries and the provision of books. Ten years later care for children, the old and the unemployed came under the Council's aegis. After the Second World War in the late 1940s, provision of fire fighting service became a duty of the County, as did responsibility for controlling the appearance of its landscape and removing many of the inherited scars of its industrial past. The end of the Council's first century sees many of its objectives achieved: the people of the County are better educated and live in more salubrious conditions, and more attractive towns and villages than did their predecessors a hundred years ago.


Durham County Council Centenary painting

As the County Council begins its second century of existence, it is addressing the problems of the 1980s and 1990s. It has played, and will continue to play, a significant part in the restructuring of the local economy to lessen the trauma experienced during the decline of the traditional industries such as shipbuilding, steel-making and mining. The local economy is now more broadly based and resilient as the result of the establishment and development of new local companies and the influx of some major international companies looking for a challenge and opportunities of the Single European Market. As a result of more jobs being created by these means, unemployment should continue to fall an migration from the area should also decline.

A stronger local economy will provide the basis for an improved quality of life. The people of County Durham already enjoy the benefits of a rural quality of life in an attractive rural environment. The increased attention being paid to environmental issues will result in greater investment to overcome problems and greater opportunities for leisure and tourism. People will live longer and better, with more congenial and satisfying jobs in a healthier and more attractive environment.