Suffolk County Council

Elected county councils were created in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, taking over administrative functions that had previously been performed by unelected magistrates at the court of quarter sessions. In most counties the quarter sessions were held at a single location, but in Suffolk the custom was long-established of holding the quarter sessions across several days, sitting in different towns.{{cite book |title=Reports of cases argued and determined in the Queen's Bench Practice Court |date=1848 |page=628 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GgDAAAAQAAJ |access-date=2 January 2024}} Prior to 1860 the court sat in the four towns of Beccles, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Woodbridge. In 1860 the Beccles and Woodbridge divisions merged with the Ipswich one to form the eastern division, and the area administered from Bury St Edmunds became known as the western division.{{cite book |last1=White |first1=William |title=History, Gazetteer and Directory of Suffolk |date=1874 |location=Sheffield |page=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A1syAQAAMAAJ&dq=beccles+division+quarter+sessions&pg=PA1 |access-date=2 January 2024}}

Officially it remained one court of quarter sessions which adjourned after each day of hearings and travelled to a new venue, and the original draft bill in 1888 therefore envisaged that there would be a single Suffolk County Council. As the bill progressed through its parliamentary processes an amendment was proposed by Frederick Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol, who lived at Ickworth House near Bury St Edmunds, that the eastern and western divisions of the county should instead become separate administrative counties. The amendment was agreed by 59 votes to 20 in the House of Lords.{{cite news |title=Parliamentary Intelligence: The Local Government Bill in the House of Lords |work=The Times |date=7 August 1888 |location=London |page=7}} It was also agreed that the borough of Ipswich was large enough to provide its own county-level functions and so it was made a county borough. Suffolk therefore had three county-level authorities after 1889: West Suffolk County Council, East Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Corporation.{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1888|year=1888|chapter=41|access-date=2 January 2024}}

This system continued until 1974, when the Local Government Act 1972 abolished the separate county councils for East Suffolk and West Suffolk and downgraded Ipswich to providing district-level services only. In their place, Suffolk County Council was created with responsibility for county-level services across the whole county. Initially based at East Suffolk County Hall in Ipswich, the council relocated to Endeavour House in 2004.{{cite web |last1=Noble |first1=Jason |title=New plans revealed for former County Hall in Ipswich |url=https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/plans-for-flats-revealed-for-former-county-hall-in-ipswich-1-5832299 |website=Ipswich Star |access-date=25 August 2020 |date=27 December 2018 |quote=The historic former County Hall offices in St Helen’s Street have been unoccupied since Suffolk County Council moved out in 2004 to Endeavour House.}}

In September 2010, the council announced that it would seek to outsource a number of its services, in an attempt to cut its budget by 30%.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11398678 |title=Suffolk County Council to outsource most services |publisher=BBC News |access-date=2010-09-23 |date=2010-09-23}} Controversy surrounding the then chief executive Andrea Hill, some concerning £122,000 spent on management consultants, featured in the local and national press in 2011;[http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=rotten_boroughs&issue=1264 Private Eye] this led to her facing a disciplinary hearing, and subsequently resigning.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14038222 |publisher=BBC News |title=Council chief Andrea Hill quits Suffolk Council |date=2011-07-06}}

Suffolk County Council provides county-level services. District-level services are provided by the area's five district councils:{{cite legislation UK|type=act|act=Local Government Act 1972|year=1972|chapter=70|access-date=31 May 2023}}

• Babergh District Council
• East Suffolk District Council
• Ipswich Borough Council
• Mid Suffolk District Council
• West Suffolk District Council

With the exception of Ipswich, the rest of the county is covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.{{cite web |title=Election Maps |url=https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/election-maps/gb/ |publisher=Ordnance Survey |access-date=18 November 2023}}

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 2017.

The first election to the county council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:{{cite web |title=Compositions Calculator |url=https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/composition_calc.html |access-date=21 May 2025 |website=The Elections Centre |publisher=University of Exeter}} (Put "Suffolk" in search box to see specific results.){{cite news| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/elections/local_council/09/html/3882.stm | title = Suffolk | accessdate = 2010-03-18 | work = BBC News Online | date=2009-04-19}}

The leaders of the council since 1984 have been:

Following the 2021 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2025, the composition of the council was:{{cite web |title=County councillors |url=https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/councillors-and-elected-representatives/county-councillors |website=Suffolk County Council |access-date=3 June 2025}}

The Greens, Liberal Democrats, West Suffolk Independent and one of the independent councillors sit as a group.{{cite web |title=Councillors by group |url=https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/asset-library/councillor-assets/councillors-by-group.pdf |website=Suffolk County Council |access-date=2 January 2024}}

In February 2025, the government postponed the elections that were due to take place in May 2025 for a year, to allow for alternative local government structures for the area to be considered.{{cite news |last1=Whannel |first1=Kate |title=Council shake-up sees elections delayed in nine areas |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9qjdex1ed8o |access-date=7 February 2025 |work=BBC News |date=5 February 2025}}{{cite web |title=Suffolk |url=https://www.localcouncils.co.uk/councils/?council=suffolk |website=Local Councils |publisher=Thorncliffe |access-date=3 June 2025}}

File:West Suffolk House - geograph.org.uk - 1724161.jpg.]]

The council is based at Endeavour House at 8 Russell Road in Ipswich. It also maintains area offices in Bury St Edmunds and Lowestoft.{{cite web |title=Suffolk County Council offices |url=https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/about/how-to-find-us |website=Suffolk County Council |access-date=3 January 2024}} Endeavour House was built in 2003. It was originally commissioned as private offices but was bought by the county council whilst still under construction; the council moved into the building in 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.building.co.uk/unite-and-rule/3036201.article|publisher=Building.co.uk |title=Unite and Rule|date=28 May 2004|access-date=18 August 2019}} Since 2017 the council has shared the building with Babergh District Council and Mid Suffolk District Council.{{cite news |last1=Geater |first1=Paul |title=Babergh and Mid Suffolk councils set to move to Ipswich in September |url=http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/babergh-and-mid-suffolk-councils-set-to-move-to-ipswich-in-september-1-5139064 |access-date=3 January 2024 |work=East Anglian Daily Times |date=7 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807193919/http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/babergh-and-mid-suffolk-councils-set-to-move-to-ipswich-in-september-1-5139064 |archive-date=7 August 2017}}

File:Ipswich IP4, Suffolk. - geograph.org.uk - 3489685.jpg, St Helen's Street, Ipswich: Council's headquarters until 2004.]]

Previously the council was based at County Hall on St Helen's Street in Ipswich, the oldest parts of which had been built in 1837 as a jail and courthouse, which had been one of the meeting places of the quarter sessions.{{NHLE|num=1207685|desc=County Hall Main Entrance Block, St Helen's Street|grade=II|access-date=3 January 2024}} The building had become the meeting place of East Suffolk County Council after 1889, and that council had built substantial extensions to the building, notably in 1906 with an office block, new council chamber and clock tower at the corner of St Helen's Street and Bond Street.{{cite web|url=http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/news/ipswichs-former-county-hall/|title=Ipswich's former County Hall|publisher=Victorian Society|accessdate=27 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121182552/http://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/news/ipswichs-former-county-hall/|archive-date=21 January 2013|url-status=dead}}

Both County Hall and the Shire Hall in Bury St Edmunds had been inherited by Suffolk County Council from the two former county councils when local government was reorganised in 1974; Shire Hall served as an area office until 2009 when the council moved its Bury St Edmunds office to West Suffolk House, a new building shared with St Edmundsbury Borough Council (West Suffolk Council after 2019).{{cite web |title=Contact us |url=http://www.suffolkcc.gov.uk/central/contactus/contactus.html |website=Suffolk County Council |access-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040411163333/http://www.suffolkcc.gov.uk/central/contactus/contactus.html |archive-date=11 April 2004}}{{cite web |last1=Bunn |first1=Roderic |title=West Suffolk House |url=https://www.usablebuildings.co.uk/UsableBuildings/Unprotected/LCBPWestSuffolkHouse.pdf |website=Usable Buildings |access-date=4 July 2023}}

{{also|Suffolk County Council elections}}

Elections were held every four years from 1973 to 2021. The next election has been postponed from 2025 to 2026.https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/consultations-petitions-and-elections/elections?nodeId=a9248d58-2526-5233-865f-b6d7a85bd0b6&entryId=96b2f871-67bd-5ee8-8c20-29f7a132b5bc

Since the last boundary changes in 2005 the council has comprised 75 councillors representing 63 electoral divisions, with each division electing one or two councillors. {{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The County of Suffolk (Electoral Changes) Order 2002|year=2002|number=3252|access-date=3 January 2024}} New division boundaries reducing the number of councillors to 70 have been drawn up to come into effect for the 2026 election.{{cite legislation UK|type=si|si=The Suffolk (Electoral Changes) Order 2022|year=2022|number=823|access-date=3 January 2024}}

{{main article|List of electoral wards in Suffolk#County Council}}

As of 2021, there were 63 divisions of which 51 each returned a single member, a further 12 divisions each being represented by two members.{{cite web |title=Electoral Divisions – Key to Map |url=https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/assets/council-and-democracy/councillors-and-elected-representatives/Key-to-Electoral-Divisions-Map.pdf |website=www.suffolk.gov.uk |publisher=Suffolk County Council |access-date=6 May 2020}} Each councillor is responsible for their own Locality budget which amounted to £8,000 for the 2021/2022 financial year.{{cite web |title=Councillor's Locality Budget |url=https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/councillors-and-elected-representatives/councillors-locality-budget/ |website=www.suffolk.gov.uk |publisher=Suffolk County Council |access-date=4 March 2022}}

Sandy Martin (politician)

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/ Suffolk County Council]

{{England county councils}}

{{Local authorities in Suffolk}}

{{Suffolk elections}}

Category:County councils of England

Category:1974 establishments in England

Category:Local authorities in Suffolk

Category:Local education authorities in England

Category:Major precepting authorities in England

Category:Leader and cabinet executives