Hackney London Borough Council | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Chief Executive (interim) | Dawn Carter-McDonald since August 2023 [2] |
Structure | |
Seats | 57 councillors plus elected mayor [3] |
Political groups |
|
Elections | |
First past the post | |
Last election | 5 May 2022 |
Next election | 7 May 2026 |
Meeting place | |
Town Hall, Mare Street, Hackney, London, E8 1EA | |
Website | |
hackney |
Hackney London Borough Council, also known as Hackney Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Hackney, in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2002. Since 2002 the council has been led by a directly elected mayor. The council meets at Hackney Town Hall and has its main offices in the adjoining Hackney Service Centre.
The area of the modern borough had historically been part of the county of Middlesex. From 1856 the area was governed by the Metropolitan Board of Works, which was established to provide services across the metropolis of London. [4] In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made the County of London. From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised various parish vestries and district boards, including the Shoreditch Vestry and the Hackney District Board, the latter covering the parishes of Hackney and Stoke Newington. The Hackney district was dissolved in 1894 when the vestries for its two parishes took on district functions. [5]
In 1900 the lower tier was reorganised into metropolitan boroughs. In this area the three vestries which had been in operation prior to 1900 each became a borough: Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington. [6]
The modern borough was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963. It was a merger of the old Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke Newington metropolitan boroughs. [5] The council's full legal name is "The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Hackney". [7]
From 1965 until 1986 the council was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by 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 boroughs (including Hackney) responsible for "personal" services such as social care, libraries, cemeteries and refuse collection. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the London Boroughs, with some services provided through joint committees. [8] Hackney became a local education authority in 1990 when the Inner London Education Authority was dissolved. [9]
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. [10]
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. [11] 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. [12]
The council has been under Labour majority control since 2002.
The first election was held in 1964, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1965. Political control of the council since 1965 has been as follows: [13]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Labour | 1965–1968 | |
Conservative | 1968–1971 | |
Labour | 1971–1998 | |
No overall control | 1998–2002 | |
Labour | 2002–present |
Prior to 2002, political leadership was provided by the leader of the council. The leaders from 1965 to 2002 were: [14]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Martin Ottolangui | Labour | 1965 | 1968 | |
Charles Hegerty | Conservative | 1968 | 1970 | |
Don Bridgehouse | Conservative | 1970 | 1971 | |
Martin Ottolangui | Labour | 1971 | 1981 | |
John Kotz | Labour | 1981 | 1982 | |
Anthony Kendall | Labour | 1982 | 1985 | |
Tony Milwood | Labour | 1985 | 1986 | |
Andrew Puddephat | Labour | 1986 | 1990 | |
John McCafferty | Labour | 1990 | 1995 | |
Nick Tallentire | Labour | 1995 | 1996 | |
No leader (committees chaired by rotation) | 1996 | 2001 | ||
Jules Pipe [15] | Labour | Jun 2001 | 20 Oct 2002 |
In 2002 the council changed to having a directly elected Mayor of Hackney with executive powers. The mayors since 2002 have been: [16]
Mayor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jules Pipe | Labour | 21 Oct 2002 | 20 Jul 2016 | |
Philip Glanville | Labour Co-op | 19 Sept 2016 | 22 Sept 2023 | |
Caroline Woodley | Labour | 10 Nov 2023 |
The council meets at Hackney Town Hall on Mare Street, which was completed in 1937 for the old Hackney Borough Council. [17]
The council has its main offices at the Hackney Service Centre at 1 Hillman Street, immediately west of the Town Hall. The Service Centre was completed for the council in 2010. [18] [19]
Since the last boundary changes in 2014 the council has comprised 57 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. [20]
The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; 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 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 historic centre, is a separate ceremonial county and sui generis local government district that functions quite differently from a London borough. However, the two counties together comprise the administrative area of Greater London as well as the London Region, all of which is also governed by the Greater London Authority, under the Mayor of London.
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough in Inner London, England. The historical and administrative heart of Hackney is Mare Street, which lies 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Charing Cross. The borough is named after Hackney, its principal district. Southern and eastern parts of the borough are popularly regarded as being part of east London that spans some of the traditional East End of London with the northwest belonging to north London. Its population is estimated to be 281,120.
The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the structure of local government in England is not uniform, there are currently four principal types of district-level subdivision. There are a total of 296 districts made up of 36 metropolitan boroughs, 32 London boroughs, 164 two-tier non-metropolitan districts and 62 unitary authorities, as well as the City of London and the Isles of Scilly which are also districts, but do not correspond to any of these other categories. Some districts are styled as cities, boroughs or royal boroughs; these are purely honorific titles and do not alter the status of the district or the powers of their councils. All boroughs and cities are led by a mayor who in most cases is a ceremonial figure elected by the district council, but—after local government reform—is occasionally a directly elected mayor who makes most of the policy decisions instead of the council.
The County of London was a county of England from 1889 to 1965, corresponding to the area known today as Inner London. It was created as part of the general introduction of elected county government in England, by way of the Local Government Act 1888. The Act created an administrative County of London, which included within its territory the City of London. However, the City of London and the County of London formed separate ceremonial counties for "non-administrative" purposes. The local authority for the county was the London County Council (LCC), which initially performed only a limited range of functions, but gained further powers during its 76-year existence. The LCC provided very few services within the City of London, where the ancient Corporation monopolised local governance. In 1900, the lower-tier civil parishes and district boards were replaced with 28 new metropolitan boroughs. The territory of the county was 74,903 acres (303.12 km2) in 1961. During its existence, there was a long-term decline in population as more residents moved into the outer suburbs; there were periodic reviews of the local government structures in the greater London area and several failed attempts to expand the boundaries of the county. In 1965, the London Government Act 1963 replaced the county with the much larger Greater London administrative area.
Islington was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in London, England. It was an ancient parish within the county of Middlesex, and formed part of The Metropolis from 1855. The parish was transferred to the County of London in 1889 and became a metropolitan borough in 1900. It was amalgamated with the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury to form the London Borough of Islington in Greater London in 1965.
The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. Its area became part of the London Borough of Hackney.
The Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington was a metropolitan borough in the County of London between 1900 and 1965 when it became part of the London Borough of Hackney.
The Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch was a metropolitan borough of the County of London between 1899 and 1965, when it was merged with the Metropolitan Borough of Stoke Newington and the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney to form the London Borough of Hackney.
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Conservative Party members. The council was created by the London Government Act 1963 and replaced three local authorities: Paddington Metropolitan Borough Council, St Marylebone Metropolitan Borough Council and Westminster Borough Council.
The London Government Act 1963 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 area, resulting in local authorities responsible for larger areas and populations. The upper tier of local government was reformed to cover the whole of the Greater London area and with a more strategic role; and the split of functions between upper and lower tiers was recast. The Act classified the boroughs into inner and outer London groups. The City of London and its corporation were essentially unreformed by the legislation. Subsequent amendments to the Act have significantly amended the upper tier arrangements, with the Greater London Council abolished in 1986, and the Greater London Authority introduced in 2000. As of 2016, the London boroughs are more or less identical to those created in 1965, although with some enhanced powers over services such as waste management and education.
The Metropolis Management Act 1855 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the Metropolitan Board of Works, a London-wide body to co-ordinate the construction of the city's infrastructure. The Act also created a second tier of local government consisting of parish vestries and district boards of works. The Metropolitan Board of Works was the forerunner of the London County Council.
Islington London Borough Council, also known as Islington Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Islington in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2010. The council meets at Islington Town Hall.
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Hackney was a local government district within the metropolitan area of London, England from 1855 to 1894. It was formed by the Metropolis Management Act 1855 and was governed by the Hackney District Board of Works, which consisted of elected vestrymen. It was in the part of the county of Middlesex that was within the area of the Metropolitan Board of Works. In 1889 it became part of the County of London and the district board functioned as a local authority under the London County Council.
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