London Government Act 1963

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Acts of Parliament of predecessor
states to the United Kingdom
Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England to 1601
Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England to 1659
Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England to 1699
Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of England to 1706
Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Scotland
Acts of Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland
Acts of Parliament of the United Kingdom
1707–1719 | 1720–1739 | 1740–1759 | 1760–1779
1780–1800 | 1801–1819 | 1820–1839 | 1840–1859
1860–1879 | 1880–1899 | 1900–1919 | 1920–1939
1940–1959 | 1960–1979 | 1980–1999 | 2000–Present
Acts of the Scottish Parliament
Acts of the Northern Ireland Parliament
Acts of the Northern Ireland Assembly
Orders in Council for Northern Ireland
United Kingdom Statutory Instruments

The London Government Act 1963 (1963 c. 33) was an Act of the UK parliament, which recognised officially the conurbation known as Greater London.

Contents

[edit] Provisions of the Act

The act abolished the administrative counties of Middlesex and London (created in 1889), and absorbed parts of Kent, Essex, Surrey and Hertfordshire plus the whole of the City of London to form the administrative area of Greater London. The new authorities came into their powers in 1965, although elections had been conducted beforehand.

The Greater London area set up by the Act was very similar to that proposed by the Herbert Report, with the exclusion of Banstead, Caterham and Warlingham, Esher, Walton and Weybridge in Surrey, Chigwell in Essex, Cheshunt in Hertfordshire, and Staines and Sunbury in Middlesex. Staines and Sunbury were put under the control of Surrey County Council.

The Act set up a two-tier local government system, with powers divided between the newly formed Greater London Council (GLC), and the 32 Borough Councils and the City. The Act also established the Inner London Education Authority to administer schools and colleges in the 12 London boroughs covering the former County of London. The remaining 20 outer boroughs became local education authorities in their own right. The London Traffic Area and the London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee, set up in 1924, were abolished, with the GLC gaining powers to regulate road traffic. An alteration was also made to the Metropolitan Police District to include the whole of Greater London, but the district continued to include a number of areas in surrounding counties.

Later the Local Government Act 1985 would abolish the GLC and devolve its functions to the London boroughs and to central government.

[edit] Distribution of functions

The split of functions between the new authorities were:[1]

Greater London Council Shared London boroughs
  • Education (ILEA / Outer boroughs)
  • Roads
  • Planning
  • Housing
  • Sewage
  • Traffic
  • Personal health services
  • Welfare services
  • Childrens services
  • Libraries
  • Refuse collection
  • Swimming baths
  • Weights and measures
  • Food and drugs
  • Public health inspection
  • Cemeteries and crematoria
  • Collection of rates

[edit] Background

[edit] Herbert Report

The Herbert Report proposed the creation of a Greater London with 52 London boroughs, as follows[2]

[edit] Passage through Parliament

The government felt that the boroughs should be fewer and larger, and published its plan for 34 London boroughs in late 1961.[3] In the County of London area this reorganised the proposed boroughs so that the pairings leading to the present boroughs of Camden, Westminster and Islington were achieved. The Hackney borough had Shoreditch rather than the Tower Hamlets borough, whilst south of the river, Lewisham would be standalone, Deptford would combine with Camberwell and Bermondsey, and Southwark and Lambeth would unite. Eastern Wandsworth was to form a borough in itself, with western Wandsworth being paired with Battersea.

Outside the county of London area the boroughs were to be:

  • Chigwell (north of the Roding)/Chingford/Leyton/Walthamstow/Wanstead and Woodford
  • Chigwell (south of the Roding)/Ilford
  • Hornchurch (part)/Romford
  • Barking/Dagenham/Hornchurch (Rainham and South Hornchurch wards)
  • East Ham/West Ham/North Woolwich
  • Bexley/Chislehurst and Sidcup/Crayford/Erith
  • Beckenham/Bromley/Orpington/Penge
  • Caterham and Warlingham/Coulsdon and Purley/Croydon
  • Banstead/Beddington and Wallington/Carshalton/Epsom and Ewell/Sutton and Cheam
  • Merton and Morden/Mitcham/Wimbledon
  • Esher/Kingston/Maldon and Coombe/Surbiton/Walton and Weybridge
  • Barnes/Richmond/Twickenham
  • Brenford and Chiswick/Feltham/Heston and Isleworth/Staines/Sunbury
  • Hayes and Harlington/Ruislip-Northwood/Uxbridge/Yiewsley and West Drayton
  • Acton/Ealing/Southall
  • Wembley/Willesden
  • Harrow
  • Barnet/Finchley/Hendon
  • East Barnet/Enfield (part)/Friern Barnet/Hornsey/Southgate/Wood Green
  • Cheshunt/Edmonton/Enfield (part)/Tottenham

The Minister of Housing and Local Government announced that Cheshunt, Chigwell, Esher, Staines and Sunbury were to be excluded from Greater London on May 18, 1961, having already announced the exclusion of Banstead, Caterham and Warlingham and Walton and Weybridge. The requests by Romford, Barnet, Carshalton, Coulsdon and Purley, Feltham, and Yiewsley and West Drayton to be removed from the area were turned down. Additionally, it was stated that the "northern part of the borough of Epsom and Ewell definitely forms part of Greater London and must be included", although Epsom was to be excluded.[4] Epsom and Ewell would ultimately be excluded from the area in its entirety.

Changes published in August 1962 saw a reduction from 33 to 32 boroughs with the association of Clapham/Streatham with the London Borough of Lambeth; Shoreditch joining Hackney - also Wanstead and Woodford would be added to Ilford to form the London Borough of Redbridge rather than the London Borough of Waltham Forest; Chislehurst and Sidcup would be divided between the London Borough of Bromley and the London Borough of Bexley, and that East Barnet, Friern Barnet, Hendon, and Finchley would form a single London Borough of Barnet, and that Enfield would join Edmonton and Southgate (in the London Borough of Enfield), and the association of Tottenham, Hornsey and Wood Green (to form the Haringey).[5]

The Local Government Bill was finally published in November 1962[6] proposed essentially the 32 London boroughs that were created.

[edit] Names

Keith Joseph, the Minister, asked local councils for suggestions as to possible names, asking that they be a single word if possible, and noting that "the best name will be the place recognised as the centre of the new borough". Double-barrelled names were to be prohibited.[7][8]

Nine names were without controversy and were proposed in September, 1963.[9]

Six new names were proposed in October, 1963 for boroughs unable to decide upon a name[10]

A further twelve names were proposed in January, 1964[11]

  • Greenwich (not Charlton as previously suggested)
  • Hillingdon (not Uxbridge)
  • Islington
  • Hackney
  • Lewisham
  • Southwark
  • Wandsworth
  • Kensington and Chelsea
  • Waltham Forest
  • Havering - after the former Royal Liberty of Havering which covered a similar area
  • Barking
  • Morden (ultimately changed to Merton)
  • Barnet
  • Enfield

Hammersmith and Fulham were unable to choose a single name, sending a short-list to the Minster including Riverside and Olympia. Wembley and Willesden wished to be called "Willesden and Wembley", but was ultimately titled Brent after the River Brent.

Chelsea was unwilling to lose its name, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea was the only double-barrelled name to be permitted. The name "Royal Borough of Charlton" was proposed for Greenwich/Woolwich, whilst Lewisham and Deptford were also unable to agree on whether the borough should be named Lewisham, Deptford or Ravensbourne. The councils to become part of the London Borough of Barnet suggested "Northgate" or "Northern Heights" as names. Islington and Finsbury were also unable to come to a decision, with Finsbury preferring "New River" and Islington preferring Islington. Richmond and Twickenham disagreed over which, if any of those names should appear in the new borough names. Suggestions for the Enfield included "Enfield Chase" and "Edmonton Hundred".

Kensington and Chelsea was the only double-barelled name to be used initially: with the London Borough of Hammersmith and the London Borough of Barking both changing their names after their creation to Hammersmith and Fulham and Barking and Dagenham.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Redcliffe-Maud & Wood, B., English Local Government Reformed, (1974)
  2. ^ A Council for Greater London Proposed. The Times. October 20, 1960.
  3. ^ Government Plan for 34 London Boroughs. The Times. December 19, 1961.
  4. ^ Five More Towns Now Out Of London Plan. The Times. May 19, 1962
  5. ^ Changes In Proposals For London Council Areas: Ministry Accepts Recommendations. The Times. August 3, 1962.
  6. ^ London Government Bill. Fewer, Bigger, Boroughs To Run Own Education, Central Control Over Water. The Times. November 23, 1962
  7. ^ Choosing Names For New Boroughs. The Times. June 25, 1963.
  8. ^ Where Judgement of Solomon Will Be Required: Minister to Have Final Word on Names of New London Boroughs. The Times. August 8, 1963.
  9. ^ Names for Nine New Boroughs of London. The Times. September 14, 1963.
  10. ^ Minister Names New Boroughs. The Times. October 30, 1963
  11. ^ Chelsea Name Retained: New Decisions on Three Boroughs. The Times. January 3, 1964.
v • d • e
Local government districts abolished (or transferred †) by the London Government Act 1963

from County of London: Battersea • Bermondsey • Bethnal Green • Camberwell • Chelsea • Deptford • Finsbury • Fulham • Greenwich • Hackney • Hammersmith • Hampstead • Holborn • Islington • Kensington • Lambeth • Lewisham • Paddington • Poplar • Shoreditch • Southwark • St Marylebone • St Pancras • Stepney • Stoke Newington • Wandsworth • Westminster • Woolwich

from Essex: Barking • Chingford • Dagenham • East Ham • Hornchurch • Ilford • Leyton • Romford • Walthamstow • Wanstead and Woodford • West Ham

from Hertfordshire: Barnet • East Barnet • to Hertfordshire: Potters Bar †

from Middlesex: Acton • Brentford and Chiswick • Ealing • Edmonton • Enfield • Feltham • Finchley • Friern Barnet • Harrow • Hayes and Harlington • Hendon • Heston and Isleworth • Hornsey • Potters Bar • Ruislip-Northwood • Southall • Southgate • Tottenham • Twickenham • Uxbridge • Wembley • Willesden • Wood Green • Yiewsley and West Drayton

from Kent: Beckenham • Bexley • Bromley • Chislehurst and Sidcup • Crayford • Erith • Orpington • Penge

from Surrey: Barnes • Beddington and Wallington • Carshalton • Coulsdon and Purley • Croydon • Kingston upon Thames • Malden and Coombe • Merton and Morden • Mitcham • Sutton and Cheam • Surbiton • Richmond • Wimbledon • to Surrey: Staines † • Sunbury-on-Thames †

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../l/o/n/London_Government_Act_1963_727e.html"