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Hertfordshire: what’s happening where you live

What the council itself has published on the five things it most shapes for a household: homes, getting about, the bill, the local environment and schools. Each line is quoted from the council’s own document, with the link. This page says what was decided or proposed; it never says whether it was right.

This page is built from official registers only; the council’s own publications have not been read yet, and every line below says so where that leaves a gap.

Hertfordshire County Council: County (upper tier), England, East of England. GOV.UK lists it as a county council. ONS code E10000015.

Council website · Publication scheme

Do it online

The council’s own service pages as listed by GOV.UK’s Local Links Manager (Open Government Licence), refreshed weekly; the same list of everyday services, in the same order, for every council, in GOV.UK’s wording.

Housing

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Transport

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Council tax

Band D set by Hertfordshire for 2026–27: £1,858.19. MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027 (Open Government Licence).

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Environment

The council’s climate-emergency motion, in its own words, 16 July 2019:

“To fortify and coordinate the Council’s existing initiatives, contribute to the national imperatives and provide local leadership:  This Council agrees the declaration of a “Climate Emergency”;  Calls upon the Leader of the Council to commit to the development and implementation of an overarching Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy.”

The council's document is dated 16 July 2019: it shows what the council resolved then, not what it does now. Hertfordshire County Council's document (Hertfordshire County Council), found through mySociety and Climate Emergency UK, Local authority climate emergency declarations (CC BY 4.0); the sentence was checked word for word on 26 October 2026.

Beyond that document, we haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Education

We haven't read this council's own publications yet. The council’s website

Changes to schools recorded by the Department for Education Updated automatically

No school here is currently recorded as proposed to open or close.

In the last twelve months: 9 opened (4 academy converter, 3 new provision, 1 fresh start, 1 academy free school), 8 closed (4 academy converter, 3 closure, 1 fresh start)

Get Information about Schools, DfE’s register of every school in England, refreshed daily (Open Government Licence). The register’s own reason is shown: most closures and openings are a school becoming an academy, which changes who runs it, not whether it is there.

What the council plans to spend, 2026–27

The budget for each service, as Hertfordshire reported it to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The same headings, in the same order, for every council in England.

Hertfordshire: budget by service, 2026 to 2027
ServiceBudget
Education services£1,158.2 million
Highways and transport services£92.6 million
Children's social care£271.4 million
Adult social care£588.7 million
Public health£67.4 million
Housing services (general fund only)£7.2 million
Cultural and related services£20.1 million
Environmental and regulatory services£59.8 million
Planning and development services£4.5 million
Police servicesnone budgeted
Fire and rescue services£52.3 million
Central services£11.7 million
Other services£1.7 million
Total service expenditure£2,335.6 million

Net current expenditure: net of sales, fees and charges; spending funded by the NHS, such as through the Better Care Fund, is excluded.A minus figure means the service’s income is budgeted to be more than its spending. “None budgeted” usually means another body runs that service here. Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Revenue Account Budget 2026 to 2027, individual local authority data (part 1), updated 11 June 2026 (Open Government Licence).

Life in Hertfordshire: the official facts

Facts about the people who live here: their pay, homes, health and more, from official statistics. They describe the place, not you, and every council gets the same list. Each shows when it was measured.

Show the figures for:

Showing: Hertfordshire.

People living here
1,239,398 people 30 June 2025 · Office for National StatisticsAn official estimate of everyone who lives in the area, in the middle of the year.
Typical age
41 years 30 June 2025 · Office for National StatisticsHalf the people who live here are younger than this and half are older.
Money to live on, per person, per year
£32,081 2024 · Office for National StatisticsAverage household income per person after taxes, with benefits added: what people have to spend or save.
Typical weekly pay, before tax
£774 30 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsFor employees who live here: half earn more than this each week, half earn less.
Children growing up in poverty
18.5% April 2024 to March 2025 · Department for Work and PensionsThe share of children under 16 in families on low incomes once housing costs are paid.
People claiming unemployment-related benefits
2.9% 2025 · Office for National StatisticsThe share of people aged 16 to 64 claiming Jobseeker's Allowance or Universal Credit while looking for work.
Average price of a home
£469,651 August 2026 · HM Land RegistryThe average price of a home here in the month shown.
How many years of pay a home costs
9.7 times yearly pay 1 April 2025 · Office for National StatisticsA typical home's price divided by the typical yearly pay of people who live here.
Years in good health: women
65.5 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsHow many years a girl born here can expect to live in good health, at current rates.
Years in good health: men
65.4 years 2022 to 2024 · Office for National StatisticsHow many years a boy born here can expect to live in good health, at current rates.
Greenhouse gases, per person
4.4 tonnes per person 2024 · Department for Energy Security and Net ZeroEmissions from the area in a year, shared out per resident, in tonnes of carbon dioxide or its equivalent.
Homes and businesses that can get the fastest broadband
89.4% 1 January 2026 · OfcomThe share of addresses that can get gigabit broadband (1,000 Mbps).
Public chargers for electric cars
207.8 per 100,000 people 1 July 2026 · Department for Transport, sourced from ZapmapPublic charging points at all speeds, for every 100,000 people.
Businesses trading here
66,440 businesses 2024 · Office for National StatisticsBusinesses with sales or staff in the year.

More figures for Hertfordshire from the ONS

Gathered by the Office for National Statistics in Explore Local Statistics (Open Government Licence), refreshed daily. Some figures aren’t published for every nation, so the list can be shorter outside England.

Who runs the council

78 seats in 2026. Run by: Liberal Democrats, as a minority administration. Open Council Data (public domain).

Councillors by party: Liberal Democrats 32, Conservative and Unionist 22, Reform UK 13, Green Party (E&W) 5, Labour Party 4, Restore Britain 1, Independent / Other 1.

Next scheduled council election: 3 May 2029.

Elections here now: Letchworth North ward (19 November 2026).

All 78 councillors, by ward
  • Stephen Giles-Medhurst (Liberal Democrats) — Abbots Langley
  • Alistair Willoughby (Labour Party) — Baldock & Letchworth East
  • Peter Colley (Restore Britain) — Bedwell
  • Nigel Taylor (Liberal Democrats) — Berkhamsted
  • Calvin Horner (Liberal Democrats) — Bishops Stortford East
  • Mark Pope (Conservative and Unionist) — Bishops Stortford Rural
  • Miriam Swainston (Liberal Democrats) — Bishops Stortford West
  • Simon Rhodes (Reform UK) — Borehamwood North
  • Saul Jacob (Reform UK) — Borehamwood South
  • Caroline Smith-Wright (Liberal Democrats) — Bridgewater
  • Janet Bainbridge (Reform UK) — Broadwater
  • Terry Smith (Reform UK) — Buntingford
  • Laurence Brass (Liberal Democrats) — Bushey North
  • Seamus Quilty (Conservative and Unionist) — Bushey South
  • Peter Taylor (Liberal Democrats) — Central Watford & Oxhey
  • Robin Parker (Liberal Democrats) — Chells
  • Paul Seeby (Conservative and Unionist) — Cheshunt Central
  • John Hale (Liberal Democrats) — Colney Heath & Marshalswick
  • Chris Lloyd (Liberal Democrats) — Croxley
  • Lesley Greensmyth (Conservative and Unionist) — Flamstead End & Turnford
  • Anthony Owen (Reform UK) — Goffs Oak & Bury Green
  • Hillary Skoczylas (Liberal Democrats) — Haldens
  • Gemma Moore (Liberal Democrats) — Handside & Peartree
  • Stuart Roberts (Liberal Democrats) — Harpenden North East
  • Allison Wren (Liberal Democrats) — Harpenden Rural
  • Matt Cowley (Conservative and Unionist) — Harpenden South West
  • Michael Blissett (Reform UK) — Hatfield East
  • Beth Kelly (Labour Party) — Hatfield North
  • Fiona Thomson (Conservative and Unionist) — Hatfield Rural
  • Paul Zukowskyj (Liberal Democrats) — Hatfield South
  • Andrew Williams (Conservative and Unionist) — Hemel Hempstead East
  • Colette Wyatt-Lowe (Conservative and Unionist) — Hemel Hempstead North East
  • David Herring (Reform UK) — Hemel Hempstead North West
  • Jan Maddern (Independent / Other) — Hemel Hempstead South East
  • Christopher Wright (Reform UK) — Hemel Hempstead St. Pauls
  • Adrian England (Liberal Democrats) — Hemel Hempstead Town
  • Ben Crystall (Green Party (E&W)) — Hertford All Saints
  • Ken Crofton (Conservative and Unionist) — Hertford Rural
  • Rachel Carter (Green Party (E&W)) — Hertford St. Andrews
  • Ian Albert (Labour Party) — Hitchin North
  • David Barnard (Conservative and Unionist) — Hitchin Rural
  • Chris Lucas (Liberal Democrats) — Hitchin South
  • Alexander Curtis (Conservative and Unionist) — Hoddesdon North
  • Steve Wortley (Conservative and Unionist) — Hoddesdon South
  • Richard Roberts (Conservative and Unionist) — Kings Langley
  • Ralph Muncer (Conservative and Unionist) — Knebworth & Codicote
  • Tina Bhartwas (Liberal Democrats) — Letchworth North
  • Sean Prendergast (Liberal Democrats) — Letchworth South
  • Liz Needham (Liberal Democrats) — London Colney
  • Penelope Hill (Liberal Democrats) — Meriden Tudor
  • Mark Watkin (Liberal Democrats) — Nascot Park
  • Richard Short (Liberal Democrats) — North Watford
  • Doug Bainbridge (Reform UK) — Old Stevenage
  • John Graham (Conservative and Unionist) — Potters Bar East
  • Morris Bright (Conservative and Unionist) — Potters Bar West & Shenley
  • Vishal Patel (Conservative and Unionist) — Rickmansworth East & Oxhey Park
  • Paula Hiscocks (Conservative and Unionist) — Rickmansworth West
  • Ruth Brown (Liberal Democrats) — Royston East & Ermine
  • Steve Jarvis (Liberal Democrats) — Royston West & Rural
  • Eric Buckmaster (Conservative and Unionist) — Sawbridgeworth
  • Wendy Rouse (Reform UK) — Shephall
  • Christopher Alley (Conservative and Unionist) — South Oxhey & Eastbury
  • Matt Fisher (Green Party (E&W)) — St. Albans Central
  • Anthony Rowlands (Liberal Democrats) — St. Albans East
  • Helen Campbell (Liberal Democrats) — St. Albans North
  • Sandy Walkington (Liberal Democrats) — St. Albans South
  • Matthew Hurst (Reform UK) — St. Nicholas
  • Ajanta Hilton (Liberal Democrats) — St. Stephen's
  • Louise Price (Liberal Democrats) — Three Rivers Rural
  • Sally Symington (Liberal Democrats) — Tring
  • Dee Hart (Conservative and Unionist) — Waltham Cross
  • Kirsty Taylor-Moran (Green Party (E&W)) — Ware North
  • Steven Watson (Green Party (E&W)) — Ware South
  • Caroline Clapper (Reform UK) — Watling
  • Tony Kingsbury (Conservative and Unionist) — Welwyn
  • Mark Biddle (Reform UK) — Welwyn Garden City South
  • Nigel Bell (Labour Party) — West Watford
  • Tim Williams (Liberal Democrats) — Woodside Stanborough

Each councillor’s register of interests is on the council’s own website; we have not yet located the page. Councillors from Open Council Data as recorded after the May 2026 elections; a by-election since then may have changed one seat. Attendance and allowances are not shown.

This council’s meeting papers are not yet read automatically, so decisions and motions are not listed here; they are on the council’s website.

Write to your councillors → WriteToThem (mySociety) finds them from your postcode; nothing is sent through this site.

Cite this page

Harvard style. Every figure on the page also names its original source, which is usually the better thing to cite.

Every council page has the same five headings in the same order. Sources are the council’s own publications and official statistics. Council list: mySociety, UK Local Authorities (CC BY 4.0) and WhatDoTheyKnow authorities (CC BY-SA 4.0); council websites, tiers and service links: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence); codes: ONS Code History Database (Open Government Licence). Corrections: hello@whatsittome.org.