Surrey County Council is the

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

administering certain services in the non-metropolitan county of Surrey in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The council is composed of 81 elected councillors, and in all but one election since 1965 the Conservative Party has held the majority. The leader of the council is Tim Oliver.

History

Formation

Surrey County Council was created in 1889 by the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administra ...

, which established the county council local government system in England and Wales. It replaced the Surrey Quarter Sessions for local government functions in the administrative county of Surrey. The council was originally headquartered in Newington where the quarter sessions court had been located. However it moved to County Hall,

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable a ...

in 1893 as Newington and the part of Surrey that had been in the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Coun ...

district had become part of the

County of London The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Governmen ...

in 1889. Kingston upon Thames became part of

Greater London Greater may refer to: * Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film * Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 * Greater Bank, an Austra ...

in 1965, but the headquarters remained there. In November 2019 Surrey County Council announced that the headquarters would relocate to

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

. The move to Woking was scrapped in 2020; a move to

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

was announced instead. The council held its first full council meeting at its new premises at Woodhatch Place in Reigate in May 2021.

Post-1974

The

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

led to Surrey becoming a

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...

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.

District and borough councils

There are 11 borough or district councils that govern at a more local level than Surrey County Council. * 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 Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

* Tandridge District Council * Waverley Borough Council * Woking Borough Council

Elections

The public have elected a majority of

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

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. The most recent 2021 election altered the composition of the council chamber and committees to a total of: 47 Conservatives, 14 Liberal Democrats, 12 residents association councillors, 4

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

councillora, and 2 councillors each from Labour and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...

. The next elections will take place in May 2025.

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

n saltire N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet# ...

wards upwards and outwards Or'. These arms were granted in 1974.

References

{{Authority control County councils of England 1889 establishments in England Local education authorities in England Local authorities in Surrey Major precepting authorities in England Leader and cabinet executives