Most people know that the council carries out services like recycling and road maintenance, but the scale and range of the authority’s services will surprise many.

In Northumberland all these services can now be accessed through a single number or email (0845 6006400 or ask@northumberland.gov.uk) handled by a dedicated customer services team.

Northumberland County Council provides hundreds of services to residents that you may not associate with a council, including the Fire and Rescue Service, education, archaeology, animal welfare, coastal protection, food safety, regeneration, royal visits and registrar services.

8,000,000 kerbside collections of refuse and recycling from homes and businesses.

• View more information on our household waste collections

395,585 calls dealt with by our dedicated customer service team. More than 81% of people had their call dealt with inside 20 seconds.

• Contact our Customer service team 

3,187 miles of road maintained by our highways workers; that’s the same distance as driving from Newcastle to New York!

• View a list of planned roadworks 

3,000 enquiries to trading standards from consumers and businesses.

• Contact our Trading Standards Team

161,015 people were able to vote at one of the 250 polling stations we set up.

• View more information on elections

2,000 local people attended cultural sites free of charge during our residents’ festival.

• View a list of Events in Northumberland

500 people helped back into work by the regeneration service.

• Find out more about our Northumberland Employability and Work Service (NEWS)

35 days is now the average processing time for benefits in the new fast track system, which has cut waiting time in half.

• View information on benefits pages

11,938 fire safety checks completed in local homes.

• For more information about Fire Safety in the Home

Every day we help educate 43,771 children across Northumberland.

• For more information on Schools in Northumberland

15 special community clean-ups carried out across the county.

• For more information on LOVE Northumberland

11,461 smoke alarms have been fitted by Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service.

• For more information on smoke alarms

500 samples of food are tested by environmental health to ensure public safety.

• For more information on food safety

1,055 businesses supported by our regeneration and economic development service. 

• For more information on our business support 

19,897 tonnes of paper and card recycled to help the environment and avoid landfill.

• For more information on recycling

129 fly tipping sites were cleaned in April 2010.

• To report fly tipping in Northumberland

73.2% of pupils achieved five or more A* to C GCSE grades, an increase on the previous year. 

• To apply for a place in a Northumberland School

10,286 people accessing adult social care services.

• For more information on adult social care services

*Please note that all statistics are for the last financial year unless otherwise stated.