Surrey County Council

Surrey County Council is the county council administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in England. The council is composed of 81 elected Councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has held the majority.[3] The leader of the council is Tim Oliver.[4]

Surrey County Council
Coat of arms
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan council
Leadership
Chair of the Council	Cllr Tony Samuels, Conservative
Leader of the Council	Cllr Tim Oliver, Conservative since 11 December 2018
Chief Executive	Joanna Killian[1] since March 2018
Structure
Seats	81 councillors
Political groups	Administration (59)      Conservative (59) Opposition (22)      Liberal Democrats (9)      Residents Association (9)      Labour (1)      Green Party (1)      Independent (1)      Vacant (1)
Length of term	4 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post[2]
Last election	4 May 2017[2]
Next election	6 May 2021
Meeting place
County Hall Penrhyn Road Kingston upon Thames
Website
www.surreycc.gov.uk

History

Formation

Surrey County Council was created in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888, which established the county council local government system in England and Wales. The council was originally headquartered in Newington;[5] however it moved to County Hall, Kingston upon Thames in 1893 as Newington had become part of the County of London in 1889 instead of Surrey.[6] Kingston upon Thames became part of Greater London in 1965, but the headquarters remain there.

Post-1974

The Local Government Act 1972 led to Surrey becoming a non-metropolitan county.[7][8]

Responsibilities

The council is responsible for a number of local public services in Surrey. These include the standard responsibilities of county councils in England and Wales such as transport and highway management, waste disposal (but not collection) and education.[9]

Parents are taking Surrey County Council to court because they claim their disabled children's needs are not met due to cuts. Debbie Butler with an autistic son and daughter stated, "The support that these children get could enable them to be independent. Without that support, they're always going to need help from society, so in the long term it's actually cheaper to put the provision in now."[10]

District and borough councils

There are 11 borough or district councils that govern at a more local level than Surrey County Council.[11]

• Elmbridge Borough Council
• Epsom and Ewell Borough Council
• Guildford Borough Council
• Mole Valley District Council
• Reigate and Banstead Borough Council
• Runnymede Borough Council
• Spelthorne Borough Council
• Surrey Heath Borough Council
• Tandridge District Council
• Waverley Borough Council
• Woking Borough Council

Elections

Main article: Surrey County Council elections

The public have elected a majority of Conservative councillors to its political body since 1965, with one exception — from 1993 to 1997 a status of no overall control in the declared affiliations of councillors prevailed.[12]

The most recent 2017 election altered the composition of the council chamber and committees to a total of: 61 Conservatives, 9 Liberal Democrats, 8 residents association councillors, 1 independent councillor, and 1 councillor each from Labour and the Green Party.[3][13]

The next elections will take place in May 2021.[14][14]

Coat of Arms

The escutcheon is described as 'Per pale Azure and Sable two Keys in bend wards upwards and outwards bows interlaced Or between in dexter base a Woolpack and in sinister chief a Sprig of Oak fructed Argent', with the badge 'On a Roundel per pale Azure and Sable in chief a Sprig of Oak fructed Argent and in base two Keys [in saltire] wards upwards and outwards Or'. These arms were granted in 1974 [15]

References

1. "New chief executive starts at Surrey County Council". Surrey News. 5 March 2018.
2. "Election results declared". 5 May 2017.
3. "Tories increase power in county amid UKIP wins". 3 June 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
4. https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/weybridge-councillor-tim-oliver-announced-15458072
5. "Surrey History : Exploring Surrey's past - County Hall, Kingston". Retrieved 15 October 2011.
6. Peter Ward (31 May 2011). "County Hall". Archived from the original on 20 March 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
7. "Surrey County Council". Retrieved 15 October 2011.
8. Peter Reed (2006). "Surrey". Retrieved 15 October 2011.
9. Nicola Morris (24 May 2011). "County district and parish council functions". Retrieved 15 October 2011.
10. Parents head to High Court over special needs cuts BBC
11. Web Operations Team (11 October 2011). "District and borough councils". Retrieved 15 October 2011.
12. "Elections 2009 - Surrey council". 5 June 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
13. "Surrey County Council elections 2017". www.surreycc.gov.uk.
14. Boxall, Tricia. "Surrey County Council elections". www.waverley.gov.uk.
15. "SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL". Robert Young. Retrieved 31 October 2019.