The council meets at Croydon Town Hall and has its main offices in the adjoining Bernard Weatherill House.

[7] When elected county councils were established in 1889, Croydon was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services.

The split of powers and functions meant that the Greater London Council was responsible for "wide area" services such as fire, ambulance, flood prevention, and refuse disposal; with the boroughs (including Croydon) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection.

[15] On 11 November 2020, the council issued a Section 114 Notice, under the Local Government Finance Act 1988, due to its difficult financial position, a de facto declaration of bankruptcy.

[16] Private Eye magazine named Croydon the most rotten borough in Britain for six years in a row from 2017 to 2022.

It is a local education authority and is also responsible for council housing, social services, libraries, waste collection and disposal, traffic, and most roads and environmental health.

[30] The council has its main offices at Bernard Weatherill House on Mint Walk, immediately south of the Town Hall.

[33] Notable former councillors include former MPs Andrew Pelling, Vivian Bendall, David Congdon, Geraint Davies and Reg Prentice, London Assembly member Valerie Shawcross, Lord Bowness, John Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Lymington (Master of the Rolls) and H.T.

The first Mayor of the newly created county borough was Jabez Balfour, later a disgraced Member of Parliament.