Latest news

Non domestic rates

Non domestic rates - often referred to as business rates - are charged on most non-domestic properties (including commercial ones) such as shops, offices, pubs, warehouses and factories. If you use a building or part of a building for non-domestic purposes, you will probably have to pay business rates.

Click here to view Copeland Council's current Council Tax and Business Rates booklet which includes explanatory notes for business rates.

There is plenty of support available to help you improve and grow your business in Copeland. If you contact us we can help with matters such as:

Building Control

Our Building Control team deals with the enforcement of building regulations as well as dangerous structures and controlling demolitions.

From time to time we have land or property for sale or to rent. When available it will be listed below. For further information email joanne.weir@copeland.gov.uk

You can contact us in a variety of ways:

Face to Face

We have two offices open to the public and staffed by our Customer Services team.

Whitehaven Customer Service Centre location

Our Market Hall office is open and you can visit without an appointment. However, it may be helpful for you to plan ahead and book an appointment, especially if you need to see an officer from a particular department..

We regularly consult customers to find out how satisfied you are with the level of service we provide and how we can improve. We also ask organisations we work with to tell us how we can improve our services.

Comments: If you have any comments about our services, please tell us – your comments and suggestions may help us to improve our services.

Compliments: If we do something well, please tell us - we appreciate your positive feedback.

Corporate Leadership Team

Details of our Corporate Leadership Team are available.

Finance

We publish our annual accounts and monthly expenditure of over £500.

Consultations

View a list of current consultations, including details of how to respond.

We carry out public consultations on a range of issues, including our budget, policies and governance.

Local Validation List consultation

We are currently running a consultation on the official adoption of a Local Validation List.

Licensing

We regularly receive applications for new, or variations of, premises licences that are available for inspection and comments.

Copeland borough councillors

Copeland Council has a Directly Elected Mayor and 33 councillors representing 17 wards. To view contact details, attendance records and declarations of interests for the Mayor and our councillors, click here.

Cumbria county councillors

Cumbria County Council has 84 divisions and has one councillor representing each. To search for your county councillor, click here.

We are currently leading on two major regeneration projects in the borough.

Towns Fund

We were invited by the Government to bid for up to £25 million for Millom and Cleator Moor.

In November 2022 The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities announced both Town Deal bids had been successful.

Millom received £20.6 million and Cleator Moor £22.5 million.

Our Parks & Open Spaces team maintains 354 hectares of council-owned land. This includes two public parks, 14 play areas, five open cemeteries, 12 churchyards and over 200 hectares of woodland. Our open spaces cover 25 per cent of our major towns and are highly valued by our communities.

Maintenance regimes vary according to how often it is needed and the type of site it is. These range from regularly mown amenity areas like Castle Park to semi-natural habitats such as woodlands, wetlands and flower-rich grasslands. These latter sites have a higher value for wildlife.

Copeland Borough Council

For the latest cost of living support