Lewisham London Borough Council is the local authority for the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London boroughs, London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Merid ...

in Greater London, England. It is a London borough 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 ...

. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a

directly elected mayor of Lewisham The mayor of Lewisham is a directly elected mayor responsible for the executive function of Lewisham London Borough Council in London, England. Steve Bullock held the position from 2002 until May 2018, when he was succeeded by Damien Egan. R ...

, currently Damien Egan. Lewisham is divided into 19 wards, each electing two or three councillors. There are currently 16 three member wards and 3 two member wards. Following the May 2018 election, Lewisham London Borough Council comprises 54 Labour Party councillors. The council was created by the London Government Act 1963 and replaced two local authorities: Deptford Metropolitan Borough Council and Lewisham Metropolitan Borough Council.

History

Lewisham London UK labelled ward map 2002

There have previously been a number of local authorities responsible for the Lewisham 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

on 1 April 1965. Lewisham London Borough Council replaced Deptford Metropolitan Borough Council and Lewisham Metropolitan Borough Council, which had been created in 1900. Deptford corresponded to the parish of St Paul Deptford and was governed by a vestry prior to 1900. Lewisham Metropolitan Borough Council replaced the Lewisham District Board of Works and the Lee District Board of Works, although the Lewisham District also included

Penge Penge () is a suburb of South East London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, west of Bromley, north east of Croydon and south east of Charing Cross. History Penge was once a small hamlet, which was recorded under the name Pence ...

and the Lee District also included Charlton, Kidbrooke and Eltham, which all went to other local authorities after 1900. It was envisaged that through 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 ...

Lewisham 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. This arrangement lasted until 1986 when Lewisham 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 ...

. Lewisham 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.

Data protection

In 2012 the Council was fined £70,000 by the

Information Commissioner's Office The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is a non-departmental public body which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). It is the independe ...

(ICO) after a social worker "left files containing GP and police reports and allegations of

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

and

neglect In the context of caregiving, neglect is a form of abuse where the perpetrator, who is responsible for caring for someone who is unable to care for themselves, fails to do so. It can be a result of carelessness, indifference, or unwillingness an ...

in a

shopping bag Shopping bags are medium-sized bags, typically around 10–20 litres (2.5–5 gallons) in volume (though much larger versions exist, especially for non-grocery shopping), that are used by shoppers to carry home their purchases. Some are intended ...

on a train". Commenting on Lewisham and other authorities who had made similar data protection breaches, the ICO said "It would be far too easy to consider these breaches as simple

human error Human error refers to something having been done that was " not intended by the actor; not desired by a set of rules or an external observer; or that led the task or system outside its acceptable limits".Senders, J.W. and Moray, N.P. (1991) Human ...

. The reality is that they are caused by councils treating sensitive personal data in the same routine way they would deal with more general correspondence. Far too often in these cases, the councils do not appear to have acknowledged that the data they are handling is about real people, and often the more vulnerable members of society." In August 2015, it was reported by the

News Shopper The ''News Shopper'' titles are local newspapers published in South East London and North West Kent by Newsquest. The newsroom is in Orpington. There are five local editions: Bexley Borough, Bexley & North Kent, Bromley, Dartford & Gravesend ...

that between April 2011 and April 2014, Lewisham Council had disclosed the public's sensitive data sixty-four times.Freedom of Information request reveals Lewisham Council lost public's sensitive data 64 times
newsshopper.co.uk. Retrieved February 29, 2016. However, the neighboring councils Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich did not commit any data breaches.

Spending cuts and savings

In December 2015, it was reported by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' that the Mayor of Lewisham predicted that casualties of the next round of cuts would include youth work, libraries, parks, crime reduction, social care and street cleaning.The ‘atomised’ council is here to stay: stripped back to the most basic services
theguardian.com. Retrieved February 29, 2016. In February 2016, Lewisham Council announced that it would be raising Council Tax by 3.99 percent in order to help meet the 15 million pounds of savings that is required each year.Lewisham Council has agreed to increase council tax by 3.99 per cent
newsshopper.co.uk. Retrieved February 29, 2016. In February 2019, ''

'' reported that Lewisham Council needs to cut £30 million by 2021, but that they had only found where £21 million of these cuts would be made.

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.

Summary results of elections

References

{{Local authorities in London Local authorities in London London borough councils Politics of the London Borough of Lewisham Mayor and cabinet executives Local education authorities in England Billing authorities in England