Society of
County Treasurers
County Treasurers
The Society of County Treasurers represents the chief financial officers of the twenty-four county councils in England as well as sixteen unitary councils that share similar interests in local government issues. Together, these authorities represent 47% of the population of England and provide services across 87% of its land area.
The Society provides a forum for members to share expertise on financial issues affecting large local authorities. It also enables counties to speak with a united voice; as a Treasurers’ Society it is recognised as a key local government stakeholder by central government and the Local Government Association.
The origins of the Society of County Treasurers date to 11 June 1903 when the County Accountant of Warwickshire called a meeting in Birmingham ‘to consider various matters in relation to the Education Act 1902’. The eight County Accountants present at the meeting passed a resolution to form the County Accountants’ Society. Membership was open to the County Accountants and Finance Clerks of the counties of England and Wales.
The Society held several meetings each year, usually in London, at which members discussed a wide variety of issues connected with local government finance. From 1906 the Society collected statistics on county councils’ finances and activities, and the returns produced were made available for sale. Some of the returns were also published in the County Councils Association Gazette. In 1975 CIPFA’s Statistical Information Service was established and assumed responsibility for collecting much of this data.
In September 1927 a formal constitution was adopted by the Society, which redefined membership to the Chief Financial Officers of English and Welsh counties. The membership of the Society, which was renamed the Society of County Treasurers in 1950, has survived successive reorganisations of local government and continues to successfully represent the collective voice of counties in local government finance issues.
Following the retirement of the Society's Honorary Treasurer (and Essex County Treasurer) in 1997 Essex Archives Online (EAO) accepted custody of the SCT's archives.
The Society holds a minimum of four meetings a year in London and is supported by the Technical Support Team, who provide an update report detailing the latest issues in local government finance.
In addition to the Society’s regular meetings, two seminars are held annually. The Spring Seminar is held in Warwickshire for chief financial officers and their deputies and the autumn seminar is held in the President’s local authority for Treasurers only. The Society also annually hosts a dinner for current and former SCT members in December. The Society is funded by a small annual subscription from each member authority which contributes towards the costs of the Society’s events.
The Society is represented on the national stage by the President and supported by several other officers as follows:
A number of Society members act as lead advisers on policy areas of interest to the Society. The current list of Society lead advisers are for the following areas:
The Society also has close links with the County Councils Network (CCN) with the President performing as the SCT's Lead Advisor to the CCN. The Lead Adviser delivers a report on developments in local government finance to the meetings CCN holds each year, and attends meetings between CCN and central government when finance issues are being discussed.