Promoted by Nicola Dinan at Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP, on behalf of Reform UK at the same address. Reform UK Hertsmere is an approved local branch of Reform UK.
What Is a County Councillor? | Reform UK Hertsmere
Council & GovernanceExplainer15 June 2026•1 min read
What Is a County Councillor?
County councillors represent larger areas and help oversee important services including education, highways, social care, libraries and public transport.
Article Summary
At a Glance
The key points you need to know.
What This Means For Residents
Your county councillor is your elected representative for services delivered by Hertfordshire County Council. You can contact them to raise concerns, ask questions or seek help with issues involving highways, education, social care, libraries, public transport and other countywide services.
Key Facts
✓County councillors are elected to represent larger areas called electoral divisions.
✓They make and scrutinise decisions about services provided by Hertfordshire County Council.
✓County services include education, highways, social care, libraries, public transport, fire and rescue, and recycling centres.
✓County councillors represent every resident within their division, regardless of how that person voted.
✓They can raise concerns and challenge decisions, but cannot personally guarantee an outcome or override legal procedures.
✓The current county councillor role will change when Hertfordshire’s new unitary councils take over on 1 April 2028.
What Happens Next
The next article in our Know Your Local Government series explains what a borough councillor does and which services are currently provided by Hertsmere Borough Council. The separate county and borough council roles will continue until the new unitary councils take over on 1 April 2028. From then, newly elected unitary councillors will oversee services currently divided between the two levels of local government.
The Full Story
County councillors are elected to Hertfordshire County Council to represent residents within a specific area known as an electoral division.
Unlike borough councillors, who focus on services provided within Hertsmere, county councillors deal with larger services delivered across Hertfordshire.
Their role is to represent local people, help shape council policy, scrutinise decisions and oversee how countywide services are delivered.
What services does the County Council provide?
Hertfordshire County Council is responsible for many essential services used by residents throughout their lives.
It is important to understand that the County Council does not directly run every school or public transport service. However, it has important responsibilities for areas such as school admissions, education support, home-to-school transport, maintaining the highway network and planning local transport provision.
It is also responsible for recycling centres and the disposal of household waste, while Hertsmere Borough Council currently handles household bin collections.
Representing local residents
A county councillor represents everyone living within their electoral division, regardless of whether those residents voted for them.
They can raise residents’ concerns with council officers, ask questions, challenge decisions and make sure local issues are considered when countywide policies are developed.
Residents may contact their county councillor about matters such as:
✓Potholes, pavements and street lighting
✓School admissions and education services
✓Adult or children’s social care
✓Public transport and road safety
✓Libraries and recycling centres
✓Public rights of way
A county councillor may help pursue an issue or direct a resident to the correct service. However, they cannot personally guarantee a particular outcome or overrule legal procedures and professional decisions.
Making and scrutinising decisions
County councillors attend meetings, examine reports and vote on decisions affecting Hertfordshire.
Some councillors serve on committees that examine particular services or scrutinise the work of the council’s Cabinet. Others may become Cabinet members with responsibility for a specific area of council policy.
All county councillors also have a responsibility to consider how decisions affect both their own communities and Hertfordshire as a whole.
Supporting the community
County councillors can support community organisations and local projects. Hertfordshire County Council currently provides each county councillor with a locality budget that can be used to recommend grants for eligible projects benefiting their area.
This could include projects supporting education, health, community activities or local wellbeing.
County councillor or borough councillor?
Knowing which councillor to contact can save time.
A county councillor is usually the correct person for concerns involving highways, education, social care, libraries, public transport or other services delivered by Hertfordshire County Council.
A borough councillor is usually the correct person for issues involving bin collections, local planning applications, housing, parks, parking, licensing or environmental health.
If an issue involves both councils, the two councillors may work together or help ensure it reaches the correct authority.
Unitary councillors will combine the responsibilities currently divided between county and borough councillors, overseeing the full range of local council services.
Borough councillors represent local wards and help oversee services including planning, housing, bin collections, parking, parks and environmental health.
Hertfordshire’s existing 11 principal councils will be replaced by four unitary councils, bringing county and borough services together under one authority for each area.
