Society of
County Treasurers
County Treasurers
The Society of County Treasurers was established by the County Accountant of Warwickshire in 1903, with membership open to County Accountants and Finance Clerks. However, a constitution adopted by the Society in September 1927 redefined membership to the Chief Financial Officers of English and Welsh counties.
The membership of the Society of County Treasurers has survived successive reorganisations of local government. Traditionally, members have been derived from upper-tier county council authorities known as shire counties. Following the establishment of single-tier unitary authorities in the 1992 Local Government Act, membership expanded to include unitary authorities with similar interests in local government issues.
The three unitary authorities of Herefordshire, Isle of Wight and East Riding of Yorkshire became members of the Society following local government reorganisation in the mid-1990s.
In April 2009 five county councils became unitary authorities without changes to their boundaries and two further county councils (Bedfordshire and Cheshire) were each split into two unitaries along district borders. Dorset County area became a unitary in 2019 followed by Buckinghamshire in 2020. More recently, in 2021 Northamptonshire split into two unitaries along district borders and finally in 2023 North Yorkshire and Somerset both became unitary authorities whilst Cumbria divided to create two unitary councils (Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness) covering the old county borders. All of these authorities have retained Society membership.
As such, the SCT membership represents almost every upper-tier authority in England outside large metropolitan areas.
The Society of County Treasurers currently has forty members, consisting of the Chief Financial Officers, or Treasurers, of twenty-one upper-tier shire counties and twenty unitary shire councils in England. Member authorities can access the Members Directory, which contains s151 member profiles and contact details to help familiarise themselves with each other. The Directory also contains the contact details of deputies likely to attend SCT meetings.
Collectively, member authorities have similar interests in local government issues, represent 47% of the population of England and provide services across 87% of its land area. Society members may also act as Treasurers of other bodies such as fire authorities and/or police and crime commissioners. Former county treasurers remain honorary members of the Society.
A list of current Society member authorities can be found below, (unitary authorities are identified by an asterisk).