Surrey County Council (SCC) and Surrey Police have both reached the final for two categories at this year’s Local Government Awards.

A project to streamline the procurement process by SCC has been shortlisted for the local government procurement award, which will be presented to the local authority that has best demonstrated value to the taxpayer in this area.

SCC said its new procurement system had led to a 75 per cent reduction in manual processing and a 50 per cent cut in invoicing costs.

Surrey Police also have the chance to win a public safety award for tackling antisocial behaviour.

Last month, a British Crime Survey showed Surrey residents have more confidence in their police and local authority’s ability to combat antisocial behaviour than in anywhere else in England and Wales.

Leader of SCC, Councillor Andrew Povey, said: "I am delighted to hear the hard work of two of our teams is being recognised at a national level.

"Although very different in content, both of these projects required expertise and huge amounts of effort and the staff involved deserve high praise indeed."

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony hosted by BBC newsreader Nicholas Owen on March 18, at Arsenal FC’s Emirates Stadium.