The local authorityCouncil · county · england · 1 of 21 councils (county)

Hertfordshire County Council.

Council with no overall control county. £1146m net revenue. 176 wards across 12 parliamentary constituencies. Comprises 10 districts: Broxbourne, Dacorum, East Hertfordshire, Hertsmere, North Hertfordshire, St Albans, Stevenage, Three Rivers, Watford, Welwyn Hatfield.

Typecounty
Seats0 councillors · 176 wards
Net revenue · 2025-26
£1,146m
Core spending power (MHCLG)
Band-D bill
For the council slice (incl. precepts)
Composition
/0
Westminster
12
constituencies overlap · 3 MP parties
Dispatch
8 Jun 2026

Council chamber, 3-party MP geography.

Hertfordshire County Council is a county with no overall control. Net revenue is £1,146m for 2025-26. It covers 176 wards spanning 12 parliamentary constituencies. The MP geography crosses 3 parties — a heterogeneous setup.

§Districts.10 districts · Band D £2,198–£2,343
DistrictBand D billCounty tax sourcedWards
Broxbourne£2,198.11£64.9m10
Dacorum£2,294.23£107.5m25
East Hertfordshire£2,339.63£116.3m26
Hertsmere£2,289.22£77.0m16
North Hertfordshire£2,332.61£89.8m25
St Albans£2,305.95£113.8m20
Stevenage£2,281.28£50.9m13
Three Rivers£2,306.47£70.8m13
Watford£2,343.38£63.8m12
Welwyn Hatfield£2,333.46£78.2m16

Band D is the full household bill (county + district + police + fire + parish). “County tax sourced” is Hertfordshire County Council’s own precept (£1769.87/yr at Band D) collected through each district’s tax base — totalling £833.2m.

§ 01Composition.0 seats

Who sits in the chamber.

Councillors — the people.

Councillor data not yet ingested for Hertfordshire County Council.

§ 02Revenue mix & Band-D bill.MHCLG — Final LGFS 2025-26 Core Spending Power table

Where revenue comes from.

73%
Council tax
£833.2m · median 66%
21%
Central grants
£241.9m · median 27%
6%
Business rates
£71.1m · median 7%

This is a high-council-tax councils (county): 73% of revenue from council tax, above the cohort median (66%).

Source · MHCLG — Final LGFS 2025-26 Core Spending Power table · derived (CT exact; grants/rates split from SFA baseline)

Band-D bill.

Council slice£1,770

Parish precepts apply on top, vary by parish

For household tax breakdown

Use the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings.

§ 03Service spend, ranked against peers.11 buckets · vs 20 other councils (county)

How does Hertfordshire County Council split its revenue across services, compared with peer councils (county)-class councils? Each row is one of the ten standard service buckets. The vertical line at the centre is the cohort median share; the coloured square is where this council sits. Squares to the right of centre mean a bigger share of revenue than the median peer; to the left, a smaller share.

Education44.1% of net spend · cohort median 40%
4 of 21+9% vs median
Adult Social Care30.2% of net spend · cohort median 31%
13 of 21-4% vs median
Children's Services11.3% of net spend · cohort median 14%
21 of 21-18% vs median
Highways & Transport4.4% of net spend · cohort median 4%
7 of 21+9% vs median
Public Health2.8% of net spend · cohort median 3%
15 of 21-16% vs median
Waste & Recycling2.7% of net spend · cohort median 3%
17 of 21-21% vs median
Protective Services2.4% of net spend · cohort median 3%
9 of 9-16% vs median
Culture & Leisure0.9% of net spend · cohort median 1%
12 of 21-2% vs median
Corporate & Central0.4% of net spend · cohort median 1%
21 of 21-68% vs median
Planning & Economic Development0.4% of net spend · cohort median 0%
8 of 21+48% vs median
Housing & Homelessness0.3% of net spend · cohort median 0%
7 of 18+39% vs median
How to read these bars

The subtitle on each row (“X% of net spend”) is what share of this council’s revenue goes to that service. The rank (“15 of 61”) is where this council sits within the cohort, sorted by that share descending. The delta (“+26% vs median”) is a relative reading: the council allocates 26% more of its revenue to that service than the median peer would. A small absolute difference can still be a big relative one.

Higher share doesn’t mean waste — it can reflect demographic need (more older residents), rurality, or a policy choice (e.g. keeping a service in-house). Lower share doesn’t mean efficiency — some councils move costs to fees, ringfenced accounts, or grants. £-per-head would be sharper than share-of-revenue; LAD population is pending ingest. Comparisons are within the same council type only.

§ 04Top suppliers.84,157 payments · £744.1m gross · 3 Dec 202530 Apr 2026

Every invoice over £500, published under the Local Government Transparency Code. Best-effort, not statutory — counts and totals net negatives (refunds/reversals).

Top by total — last 180 days

SupplierPaidSharePmts
HERTS PARTNERSHIP NHS FOUNDATION TR£123.26m16.6%53
IDENTITY REDACTED£59.33m8.0%29,610
RINGWAY INFRASTURCTURE (CONTRACT 2)£45.63m6.1%6
HERTFORDSHIRE COMMUNITY NHS TRUST£11.60m1.6%62
CARE BY US LTD£6.79m0.9%260
ONE YMCA£5.47m0.7%40
CHANGE GROWLIVE SERVICES£4.95m0.7%16
ST ELIZABETH HOME£4.95m0.7%120
ABBOTS CARE LTD£4.82m0.6%112
CARETECH COMMUNITY SERVICES LTD£4.76m0.6%289

By service area · top supplier

ServiceTop supplierPaid
Adult Social CareHERTS PARTNERSHIP NHS FOUNDATION TR£49.60m
Corporate And CentralHERTS PARTNERSHIP NHS FOUNDATION TR£24.87m
Childrens ServicesIDENTITY REDACTED£10.55m
Waste And RecyclingRINGWAY HH INTERFCE 405126 (CONTACT£7.65m
§ 05Westminster constituencies — the overlap.176 wards split across 12 parliamentary seats

Hertfordshire County Council’s territory crosses 12 Westminster constituencies, with 3 MP parties represented. The middle column shows how much of the council each seat carries.

ConstituencyWards% of councilCurrent MP
North East Hertfordshire2112% Chris HinchliffLab
Harpenden and Berkhamsted1810% Victoria CollinsLD
Hertford and Stortford169% Josh DeanLab
Hertsmere169% Oliver DowdenCon
Stevenage169% Kevin BonaviaLab
Welwyn Hatfield159% Andrew LewinLab
Hemel Hempstead148% David TaylorLab
South West Hertfordshire148% Gagan MohindraCon
Watford137% Matt TurmaineLab
Broxbourne127% Lewis CockingCon
St Albans127% Daisy CooperLD
Hitchin95% Alistair StrathernLab
Of note · the mixed-MP geography

This council holds 7 Lab, 3 Con and 2 LD MPs. That’s an unusually heterogeneous geography for a -controlled county — most weeks one MP is asking the council for something and another is praising it.

Sources, methods & last update
Method The dispatch paragraphs are AI-generated from the public sources listed below. Every figure links to its source. If we’re wrong, please tell us — corrections within 48 hours.
CompositionDemocracy Club (live)
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (historic)
Net revenueMHCLG Final LGFS
Core Spending Power table · 2025-26
Service spendDerived from MHCLG CSP shares
vs 20 other councils (county)
SuppliersCouncil publication under LGTC
84,157 payments · 3 Dec 202530 Apr 2026
Westminster overlapONS Open Geography Portal
2023 boundaries
PopulationONS mid-year estimates
Pending ingest at LAD level