County Council

Suffolk County Council meets 6 times a year in February, March, May, July, October and December.

All 75 Councillors sit on the Council and each has a vote on the items which are debated at the meeting.

The Chairman of the Council chairs the meetings and is appointed by the Council at its Annual Meeting in May.

Responsibilities of the Council

The Council is also responsible for setting the budget for Suffolk County Council which is done at the February meeting.

The Leader of the Council is appointed by all Councillors for a four year term after Suffolk County Council's Elections at the Annual Meeting in May.

The Council:

• sets the strategic direction of the authority
• agrees and amends the terms of reference for Committees of the council and decides their composition,
• amends the Constitution
• approves the Councillor Allowances Scheme as recommended by The Independent Remuneration Panel
• appoints the Head of Paid Service

Council meetings

Councillors are able to ask questions of the Cabinet Members at County Council, these can be about any topic that is relevant to Suffolk County Council.

You can also present a petition to meetings of the County Council if your petition gathers more than 3,675 signatures. More information can be found on our petitions page.

All votes which are taken at meetings of the County Council are published on the records of votes at Suffolk County Council meetings pages.

Papers, agendas and minutes

The papers and agendas for the meetings are available online five days before the meeting.

You can view papers, agendas and minutes for meetings on the Committee Minutes website.

Get involved in a council meeting

Attend meetings

Members of the public are able to ask a question at County Council meeting. Details of the process are available on our speaking at public meetings page.

Watch meetings

You can watch County Council meetings live or from our library using our webcasting service.

Listen to meetings

You can access our audio library, with recordings of County Council meetings from December 2013 to February 2016 and September 2016, via our YouTube channel, or our audio recordings of County Council meetings page.

Meeting dates

Dates after May 2025 will be subject to reconsideration by Council on 22 May 2025.

Contact and further information

If you would like to contact us, please email committee.services@suffolk.gov.uk or call 01473 265119 from Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 4.00pm.

• Find documents for Council meetings
• See all committees