What is the County Council?

Surrey County Council (SCC) is the upper tier authority for the County of Surrey. There are 81 councillors, of which 58 are currently Conservative. SCC works in partnership with the 11 Boroughs and Districts which make up the County, and who are responsible for a different set of priorities than SCC.

What does the County Council do?

Surrey County Council is responsible for providing vital services that most of its 1.2 million residents use on a day-to-day basis, such as:

• Maintaining the highways and infrastructure network, from the County’s roads to transport services (and including winter maintenance)
• Ensuring enough school places for all the children in the County, at both primary and secondary level; a statutory duty which includes school provision and planning, as well as standards and achievement
• Providing the County with a network of over 50 libraries

There are also some services which many of us rarely, if ever, come into contact with, but which cover issues which may impact us at some point in our lives, such as:

• Looking after the vulnerable, commissioning adult social care and mental health services, and supporting carers
• Safeguarding looked after children, family and preventative services, and corporate parenting

The County Council is also responsible for:

• Promoting economic growth through joint initiatives like Superfast Broadband
• Fire and rescue provision, youth justice, and trading standards
• Delivering the Olympics in the County; the London 2012 Road Races, Time Trials and the Tour of Britain
• Surrey’s rich heritage, history, culture, arts and sport
• Keeping Surrey a great place to live by protecting the Environment, providing efficient and effective waste  management and excellent recycling rates.