London Borough of Sutton: local authority assessment

How we assess local authorities

Assessment published: 12 November 2025

About London Borough of Sutton

Demographics

Sutton is an outer London borough in southwest London and was home to 211,123 people in August 2024. It borders Croydon to the east, Merton to the north, Kingston to the northwest, and the Surrey boroughs of Epsom and Ewell to the west, and Reigate and Banstead to the south.

Sutton has become more ethnically diverse in the last decade with 43% of the population identifying as Asian, Black and other white backgrounds with the remaining 57% identifying as white British. 16% of residents in Sutton identify as having a disability and the 2021 census showed the borough was home to 15,999 unpaid carers.

The borough has an Index of Multiple Deprivation score of 2 (1 is the least deprived, 10 is the most deprived), placing it 132nd out of 153 local authorities for deprivation in England. 7 wards in the borough are among the 20% most deprived in the country, indicating a wide gap in deprivation throughout the borough.

The local authority is part of the South West London Integrated care system (SWLICS), alongside Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Wandsworth local authorities.

The local authority has been led by the Liberal Democrats since 1990, with Liberal Democrat majority control, and is composed of 55 councillors.

Financial facts

The Financial facts for Sutton Borough Council are:

• The local authority estimated that in 2023/24, its total budget would be £326,708,000.00 Its actual spend for that year was £379,479,000.00 which was £52,771,000.00 more than estimated.
• The local authority estimated that it would spend £66,223,000.00 of its total budget on adult social care in 2023/24 Its actual spend was £86,599,000.00 which is £20,376,000.00 more than estimated.
• In 2023/24, 22.82% of the budget was spent on adult social care.
• The local authority has raised the full adult social care precept for 2023/24, with a value of 2%. Please note that the amount raised through ASC precept varies from local authority to local authority.  
• Approximately 3045 people were accessing long-term adult social care support, and approximately 1050 people were accessing short-term adult social care support in 2023/24. Local authorities spend money on a range of adult social care services, including supporting individuals. No two care packages are the same and vary significantly in their intensity, duration, and cost.

This data is reproduced at the request of the Department of Health and Social Care. It has not been factored into our assessment and is presented for information purposes only.