The London boroughs are the 32
local authority districts that together with the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
make up the administrative area of
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
* Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality
* ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
* Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
* "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014
* Greater Bank, an Austra ...
; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at the same time as Greater London on 1 April 1965 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 ...
'' and are a type of local government district. Twelve were designated as
Inner London boroughs and twenty as
Outer London boroughs. The
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
, the historic centre, is a separate ceremonial county and local government district that functions quite differently from a London borough. However, the two counties together comprise the administrative area of
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
* Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality
* ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
* Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
* "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014
* Greater Bank, an Austra ...
as well as the London
Region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
, all of which is also governed by the
Greater London Authority.
The London boroughs have populations of between 150,000 and 400,000. Inner London boroughs tend to be smaller, in both population and area, and more densely populated than Outer London boroughs. The London boroughs were created by combining groups of former local government units. A review undertaken between 1987 and 1992 led to a number of relatively small alterations in borough boundaries. London borough councils provide the majority of local government services (schools, waste management, social services, libraries), in contrast to the strategic
Greater London Authority, which has limited authority over all of Greater London.
The councils were first
elected in 1964, and acted as shadow authorities until 1 April 1965. Each borough is divided into
electoral wards, subject to periodic review, for the purpose of electing councillors. Council elections take place every four years, with the
most recent elections in 2022, and
the next elections due in 2026. The
political make-up of London borough councils is dominated by the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
,
Labour and
Liberal Democrat parties. Twenty-eight councils follow the
leader and cabinet model of executive governance, while five have
directly elected mayors
Directly elected Mayors or Leaders in England, informally known as Metro Mayors or Leaders, are local government executive leaders who are directly elected by the residents of a local authority area (typically, but not always, a metropolitan are ...
(
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...
,
Hackney,
Lewisham,
Newham, and
Tower Hamlets). The City of London is instead governed by the
City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...
(and the
Inner and
Middle
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek (d ...
Temples, which are not governed by the City of London Corporation).
List
There are four boroughs that do not have "London Borough" in their names: the
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...
of Westminster, and the
Royal Boroughs of Kingston upon Thames, Kensington and Chelsea, and Greenwich.
History
Creation
From the mid-1930s, the Greater London area comprised four types of local government authorities. There were
county borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent t ...
s,
municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in ...
s,
urban districts and
metropolitan boroughs. The large county boroughs provided all local government services and held the powers usually invested in county councils. The municipal borough and urban district authorities had fewer powers. The situation was made more complex because county councils could delegate functions such as elementary education and library provision to the municipal borough and district councils, and this was implemented piecemeal. Reform of London local government sought to regularise this arrangement.
The
Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London was established in 1957 and the report was published on 19 October 1960. It proposed 52 "Greater London Boroughs" with a population range of 100,000 to 250,000. This was made up of a mixture of whole existing units, mergers of two or three areas, and two boroughs formed as the result of a split. In December 1961 the government proposed that there would be 34 boroughs rather than 52, and detailed their boundaries. The proposed number was further reduced to 32 in 1962.
On 1 April 1965, the 32 London boroughs and
Greater London
Greater may refer to:
* Greatness, the state of being great
*Greater than, in inequality
* ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film
* Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record
* "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014
* Greater Bank, an Austra ...
were 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 ...
''. Twelve boroughs in the former County of London area were designated
Inner London boroughs and the 20 others were designated
Outer London boroughs. Outer London borough councils were
local education authorities, but Inner London borough councils were so designated primarily to continue the existence of an
Inner London Education Authority, praised by official Opposition and government who further noted that unusually the former County of London's many small local authorities had no history of providing education. The
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
continued to be administered by the
City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...
, and the
Inner and
Middle
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek (d ...
Temples continued to govern their own areas.
Elections were held on
7 May 1964, with the new councils acting as shadow authorities before coming into their powers the following year.
Former authorities
The boroughs were created as follows. Some relatively minor changes have been made to the boundaries of boroughs since 1965, and two have changed their names.
Greater London Council
Between 1965 and 1986 the boroughs were part of a two-tier system of government and shared power with the
Greater London Council (GLC). 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 London borough councils responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. Several London borough councils and the GLC were involved in the
rate-capping rebellion
The rate-capping rebellion was a campaign within English local councils in 1985 which aimed to force the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher to withdraw powers to restrict the spending of councils. The affected councils were almost all r ...
of 1985. On 1 April 1986 the GLC was abolished and the borough councils gained responsibility for some services that had been provided by the Greater London Council, such as
waste disposal. The
Inner London Education Authority continued to exist as an authority. In 1990 it was abolished and the Inner London borough councils also became local education authorities.
Name and boundary changes
The
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
provided a mechanism for the name of a London borough and its council to be changed. This was used by the London Borough of Hammersmith (changed to Hammersmith and Fulham) on 1 April 1979 and the London Borough of Barking (changed to Barking and Dagenham) on 1 January 1980. Borough names formed by combining two locality names had been discouraged when the boroughs were created.
The London boroughs were created by combining whole existing units of local government and it was realised that this might provide arbitrary boundaries in some places. The London Government Act 1963 provided a mechanism for communities on the edge of Greater London to petition for transfer from London boroughs to a neighbouring county district. This was used in 1969 in the transfers of
Knockholt in Bromley to Kent, and of
Farleigh and
Hooley
Hooley is a village in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. Within its small grid of streets is the 13th-century church of Chipstead which has been, since time immemorial, its ecclesiastical parish. Hooley is connected via pa ...
in Croydon to Surrey. The Act also provided for transfers between London boroughs and neighbouring counties where there was consensus for the change between all the relevant local authorities. This provision was used to exchange two islands on the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...
between Richmond upon Thames and Surrey. (See
List of Greater London boundary changes.)
The
Local Government Boundary Commission for England
The Local Government Boundary Commission for England (LGBCE) is a parliamentary body established by statute to conduct boundary, electoral and structural reviews of local government areas in England. The LGBCE is independent of government and pol ...
was established by the Local Government Act 1972 to review periodically the boundaries of Greater London and the London boroughs. The first review of boundaries commenced on 1 April 1987 and reported in 1992. Following the review a series of relatively minor adjustments were made to borough boundaries, for example uniting the whole of the
Becontree estate in
Barking and Dagenham. The commission noted that many of its recommendations were strongly opposed and were not implemented. The boundary of the City of London with adjacent boroughs was adjusted to remove some anomalies.
In the London boroughs the legal entity is not the council as elsewhere in the country, but the inhabitants incorporated as a legal entity by
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
(a process abolished elsewhere in England and Wales under the
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...
). Thus, a London authority's official legal title is "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of X" (or "The Lord Mayor and Citizens of the City of Westminster").
Greater London Authority
In 2000 the
Greater London Authority was created, comprising the
Mayor of London
The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
The current ...
and the
London Assembly
The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to rejec ...
. As a strategic authority, it absorbed only limited powers, such as major highways and planning strategy, from the borough councils.
London borough councils
The London boroughs are administered by London borough councils (sometimes abbreviated LBCs), which are elected every four years. They are the principal
local authorities
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
in London and are responsible for running most local services, such as schools, social services, waste collection and roads. Some London-wide services are run by the
Greater London Authority, and some services and lobbying of government are pooled within
London Councils
London Councils is the local government association for Greater London, England. It is a cross-party organisation that represents London's 32 borough councils and the City of London. It was formed in 1995 as a merger of the London Boroughs Ass ...
. Some councils group together for services such as
waste collection and disposal. The boroughs are
local government districts and have similar functions to
metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropoli ...
s. Each borough council is a
local education authority
Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...
.
Shared services
Shared services are borough council services shared between two or more boroughs. Shared services were previously resisted due to councils guarding their authority. However, as the need for budget cuts in the late 2000s became apparent some councils have sought service mergers. Westminster and Hammersmith & Fulham were due to merge their education services, including school admissions and transport, by 2011. In October 2010,
Hammersmith & 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 bo ...
,
Kensington & Chelsea and
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...
announced
plans to merge all their services to create a "super-council". Each would retain its own political identity, leadership and councillors but staff and budgets would be combined for cost savings. Lambeth and Southwark likewise expressed an interest in sharing services.
The management thinker and inventor of
the Vanguard Method
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, Professor
John Seddon, claims that shared service projects based on attempts to achieve
economies of scale
In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables a ...
are a mix of a) the plausibly obvious and b) a little hard data, brought together to produce two broad assertions, for which there is little hard factual evidence. He argues that shared service projects fail (and often end up costing more than they hoped to save) because they cause a disruption to the service flow by moving the work to a central location, creating waste in hand-offs, rework and duplication, lengthening the time it takes to deliver a service and consequently creating
failure demand (demand caused by a failure to do something or do something right for a customer). Seddon referred directly to the so-called
tri-borough shared services in an article in 2012.
Gallery of London-wide election results
See also
*
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle ...
*
ISO 3166-2:GB, subdivision codes for the United Kingdom
*
Political make-up of local councils in the United Kingdom
This article documents the strengths of political parties in the 333 local authorities of England, 32 local authorities of Scotland, 22 principal councils of Wales and 11 local councils of Northern Ireland.
England's 333 local authorities are ...
Notes
References
External links
London Councils' page on the Boroughs
{{DEFAULTSORT:London Borough
Local government in London
Interested parties in planning in England
Types of subdivision in the United Kingdom
*