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

Suffolk County Council.

Council with no overall control county. £743m net revenue. 138 wards across 8 parliamentary constituencies. Comprises 5 districts: Babergh, East Suffolk, Ipswich, Mid Suffolk, West Suffolk.

Typecounty
Seats0 councillors · 138 wards
Net revenue · 2025-26
£743m
Core spending power (MHCLG)
Band-D bill
For the council slice (incl. precepts)
Composition
/0
Westminster
8
constituencies overlap · 4 MP parties
Dispatch
8 Jun 2026

Council chamber, 4-party MP geography.

Suffolk County Council is a county with no overall control. Net revenue is £743m for 2025-26. It covers 138 wards spanning 8 parliamentary constituencies. The MP geography crosses 4 parties — a heterogeneous setup.

§Districts.5 districts · Band D £2,208–£2,359
DistrictBand D billCounty tax sourcedWards
Babergh£2,233.16£59.8m24
East Suffolk£2,222.36£151.5m29
Ipswich£2,358.54£65.3m16
Mid Suffolk£2,208.43£71.9m26
West Suffolk£2,243.00£97.9m43

Band D is the full household bill (county + district + police + fire + parish). “County tax sourced” is Suffolk County Council’s own precept (£1649.43/yr at Band D) collected through each district’s tax base — totalling £444.3m.

§ 01Composition.0 seats

Who sits in the chamber.

Councillors — the people.

Councillor data not yet ingested for Suffolk County Council.

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

Where revenue comes from.

60%
Council tax
£444.3m · median 66%
31%
Central grants
£231.2m · median 27%
9%
Business rates
£67.9m · median 7%

This is a grant-heavy councils (county): 60% from council tax vs the cohort median of 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£1,649

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 Suffolk 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.

Education37.9% of net spend · cohort median 40%
14 of 21-6% vs median
Adult Social Care36.6% of net spend · cohort median 31%
1 of 21+17% vs median
Children's Services12.6% of net spend · cohort median 14%
14 of 21-9% vs median
Public Health3.4% of net spend · cohort median 3%
11 of 210% vs median
Highways & Transport3.3% of net spend · cohort median 4%
17 of 21-18% vs median
Protective Services3.1% of net spend · cohort median 3%
1 of 9+9% vs median
Corporate & Central1.9% of net spend · cohort median 1%
6 of 21+35% vs median
Waste & Recycling1.4% of net spend · cohort median 3%
20 of 21-59% vs median
Culture & Leisure1.1% of net spend · cohort median 1%
7 of 21+9% vs median
Housing & Homelessness0.3% of net spend · cohort median 0%
8 of 18+27% vs median
Planning & Economic Development-1.4% of net spend · cohort median 0%
21 of 21-579% 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.77,264 payments · £372.5m gross · 3 Dec 202531 Mar 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
ACCESS UK LTD£26.59m7.1%18
INLAND REVENUE£22.00m5.9%41
M GROUP HIGHWAYS LTD£19.73m5.3%4
SUFFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL£15.61m4.2%21
REDACTED PERSONAL DATA£9.95m2.7%7,690
SUEZ£8.59m2.3%5
VERTAS IPSWICH LTD£7.75m2.1%372
FCC ENVIRONMENT£5.46m1.5%61
UNITY SCHOOLS PARTNERSHIP£4.97m1.3%131
CONCERTUS SUFFOLK£3.66m1.0%349

By service area · top supplier

ServiceTop supplierPaid
Highways And TransportACCESS UK LTD£19.48m
Corporate And CentralINLAND REVENUE£16.51m
Adult Social CareREDACTED PERSONAL DATA£4.26m
Childrens ServicesREDACTED PERSONAL DATA£3.60m
Public HealthTURNING POINT SERVICES LTD£3.17m
§ 05Westminster constituencies — the overlap.138 wards split across 8 parliamentary seats

Suffolk County Council’s territory crosses 8 Westminster constituencies, with 4 MP parties represented. The middle column shows how much of the council each seat carries.

ConstituencyWards% of councilCurrent MP
West Suffolk2820% Nick TimothyCon
South Suffolk2417% James CartlidgeCon
Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket2317% Peter PrinsleyLab
Central Suffolk and North Ipswich1511% Patrick SpencerInd
Ipswich139% Jack AbbottInd
Suffolk Coastal139% Jenny Riddell-CarpenterLab
Waveney Valley139% Adrian RamsayGrn
Lowestoft97% Jess AsatoLab
Of note · the mixed-MP geography

This council holds 3 Lab, 2 Con, 1 Ind and 1 Grn 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
77,264 payments · 3 Dec 202531 Mar 2026
Westminster overlapONS Open Geography Portal
2023 boundaries
PopulationONS mid-year estimates
Pending ingest at LAD level