The Durham County Council convened an extraordinary meeting to consider the conferment of the title of Honorary Alderman or Honorary Alderwoman upon deserving former councillors. The report pack outlined the criteria for eligibility and listed the former councillors who met those requirements.

Conferment of Honorary Aldermen/Alderwomen Titles

The council convened to consider conferring the title of Honorary Alderman or Alderwoman on former councillors who had rendered eminent service to the council. According to the report pack, Section 249 of the Local Government Act 1972 allows the council to bestow this title upon individuals who are no longer members but have significantly contributed to the council.

The council's criteria for conferring this title, agreed upon in July 2013 and clarified in October 2021, stipulate that eligible candidates must have completed 16 years of service as a councillor.

The report pack noted that 94 members either retired or were not re-elected at the local government elections in May 2025. Of these, 20 met the eligibility criteria. The following former councillors were listed as eligible for the title:

• David Boyes
• Jean Chaplow
• Kevin Earley
• Simon Henig
• Charlie Kay
• Carl Marshall
• Richard Ormerod
• George Richardson
• Stephen Robinson
• James Rowlandson
• Alan Shield
• Arnie Simpson
• David Stoker
• Paul Taylor
• Rob Yorke
• Sam Zair

The report pack stated that four eligible members – Lucy Hovvels, Bill Kellett, Watts Stelling, and Alex Watson – had already received the title from a former District Council, and therefore the honour did not need to be re-conferred.

The report pack indicated that all eligible candidates had confirmed their willingness to accept the title.

The report pack outlined the implications of the title, stating:

Honorary Aldermen / Alderwomen are presented with a framed certificate and are entitled to attend and take part in such Civic events and ceremonies as the Council may, from time to time, decide...

However, they do not have the right to attend council or committee meetings (except as a member of the public), influence council meetings, receive allowances or payments, or automatically attend Civic Ceremonies.

The report pack recommended that the council confer the title of Honorary Alderman/Alderwoman to the eligible former councillors, provided they had indicated their willingness to accept it. If the proposals were accepted, a presentation to the new Honorary Aldermen was scheduled to take place at the council meeting on 28 January 2026.