Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council is the local authority for the

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan Boroughs of Hammersmith and Fulham. The borou ...

in Greater London, England. It is a

London borough The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at ...

council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Hammersmith and Fulham is divided into 21 wards, electing a total of 50 councillors. The council was created by the

London Government Act 1963 The London Government Act 1963 (c. 33) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which created Greater London and a new local government structure within it. The Act significantly reduced the number of local government districts in the ...

as the Hammersmith London Borough Council and replaced two local authorities:

Hammersmith Metropolitan Borough Council Hammersmith was a Civil parishes in England, civil parish and Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropolitan borough in London, England. It was formed as a civil parish in 1834 from the chapelry of Hammersmith that had existed in the ...

and

Fulham Metropolitan Borough Council The Metropolitan Borough of Fulham was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, Metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith to form the London Borough ...

. The council was renamed on 1 January 1980.

History

Hammersmith and Fulham London UK labelled ward map 2002

There have previously been a number of local authorities responsible for the Hammersmith and Fulham area. The current local authority was first elected in 1964, a year before formally coming into its powers and prior to the creation of the London Borough of Hammersmith on 1 April 1965. Hammersmith London Borough Council replaced

and

. Both had been created in 1900, replacing parish vestries. Fulham was an ancient parish covering broadly the same area as the current borough. Hammersmith was governed by a separate vestry from 1631 and was formally split off as a separate civil parish in 1834. They were joined for local government from 1855 to 1886 as the Fulham District of the Metropolis, governed by the Fulham District Board of Works. It was envisaged that through the

Hammersmith and Fulham as a London local authority would share power with the Greater London Council. 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 local authorities responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. The council was renamed on 1 January 1979. The two tier arrangement lasted until 1986 when Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council gained responsibility for some services that had been provided by the Greater London Council, such as

waste disposal Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitorin ...

. Hammersmith and Fulham became an

education authority The Education Authority ( ga, Údarás Oideachais) is a non-departmental body sponsored by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland. It was established under the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 (c. 12) which was passed by the North ...

in 1990. Since 2000 the Greater London Authority has taken some responsibility for highways and planning control from the council, but within the English local government system the council remains a "most purpose" authority in terms of the available range of powers and functions.

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the London Government Act 1963 and subsequent legislation, and has the powers and functions of a London borough council. It sets council tax and as a billing authority also collects precepts for Greater London Authority functions and business rates. It sets planning policies which complement Greater London Authority and national policies, and decides on almost all planning applications accordingly. 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. The council was found to have exceeded its powers in a landmark

English administrative law United Kingdom administrative law is part of UK constitutional law that is designed through judicial review to hold executive power and public bodies accountable under the law. A person can apply to the High Court to challenge a public body's dec ...

case, Hazell v Hammersmith and Fulham LBC, which declared that local authorities had no power to engage in interest rate swap agreements because they were beyond the council's borrowing powers. Their actions were held to contravene the Local Government Act 1972. In 2021 the council was found by the Housing Ombudsman to be the worst performing landlord in the country with regards to damp and mould in its properties.

Elections

Since 1964 political control of the council has been held by the following parties:

References

External links

* {{LB Hammersmith and Fulham, state=collapsed Local authorities in London London borough councils Politics of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Leader and cabinet executives Local education authorities in England Billing authorities in England

History

Powers and functions

Elections

See also

References

External links